This is interesting. I have seen this discussed as well. It sounds like what the Hansons promote. See Marathoning The Hansons' Way Smashing the Myth of the 20 Miler. The longest run is 16 mile, and the article mentions the same "depleted" concept you did: "...it also means that when a Hansons-trained runner sets off on a 16-miler, there’s already three workouts’ worth of fatigue in their legs. "So it’s not like running the first 16 miles of a marathon, it’s more like the last," says Kevin." I think their plan has strong similarities to the FIRST program, with 3 key runs a week (speed, tempo, and long). They call them 3 "Somethomg of Substance" workouts. The main difference is they have 3 easy days of running, as compared with FIRST's 2-3 days of cross training. The Hansons plan looks hard. It has the 3 key work-outs of the FIRST plan plus lots of easy miles. On the other hand, it has the shorter long runs, and I think the recommended paces may be slower.

I'm not sure how many people frequent this forum as it looks like the FIRST program isn't very popular on RA, but I just wanted to say 'hello'. I read the entire FIRST book yesterday and couldn't put it down. Basically, I'm a triathlete who is looking for a program that would help me concentrate my training efforts in order to produce the best results that I can with the least amount of weekly 'time'. I'm starting the FIRST program this week. I had been running 5 days per week-- with a lot of easy days (junk miles). Running is my weak triathlon leg and I was constantly told here and on other forums that I need to increase my mileage, run more slowly, etc... What did this get me? I slower run split by nearly 20 seconds per mile in my last triathlon. Slow running, appears to have made me a slow runner. But, I digress... the FIRST program looks to be exactly what I need right now and I'm very excited to begin it. I have an Olympic distance tri coming up at the beginning of November, so I plan on using the FIRST 10K program. The workouts look challenging, but I'm up for the challenge.

Hello all -- I just came across this site/forum today -- I happen to also be starting the 10K FIRST program, just finished week 1. I have been running for about a year now, and have trouble running more than 4x/wk due to my legs getting beat up -- also enjoy running fast. Thus my interest in the FIRST plan. I am hoping to improve my "speed endurance", ie hoping to be able to run at my current 5k pace for more than 5k. my goals when I started running were sub 20m 5k, sub 40m 10k, and then sub 60m 15k. So far I got the sub 20m 5k on my first race (barely), am now starting to work on the sub 40 10k, hence the 10k FIRST plan. I don't expect to break 10k in 1 12 week training schedule, of course, but if I can get sub 42 min I'll be thrilled. My experience with week 1 is that I am a bit slow on the tempo runs, and can hold the pace on the speed day - typical for me, I seem to have relatively more speed than endurance, which I was surprised to discover, but the track workouts seem to show this. Hopefully all the long tempo work on this plan will speed me up on longer stuff.