Training Plans: Which To Choose?

So, as per Runner's World, here's one option for our training. This is a nine week program. I picked the intermediate program, because I think we're slightly past the beginner stage.

Pros: In contrast to the FIRST program, the workouts don't seem so intense as to be completely exhausting each time.

Cons: A) More workouts per week. B) Lots of categories of pace. Can I really be expected to remember my CI, as opposed to my PI and my SI? This sounds suspiciously like a recipe for roasted confusion with a frustration reduction, topped with a foam of contempt.

Judge for yourself:

Profile
You have a solid aerobic base. You have been running consistently for several years, tried various kinds of speed training, average 25 to 30 miles a week, and may even have finished a half-marathon. But now you want to race a half. That is, you have a specific finishing time in mind, and you're willing to train hard to achieve it.

Schedule Tips
"Intermediate runners have enough experience and strength to support some faster running--but within the context of increased weekly mileage and an adequate long run, which remains the key to improvement at this level," says Anaerobic Management coach Jon Sinclair (anaerobic.net). "So be careful when you add speed, because what we're after here is greater endurance, the ability to run longer at race pace." That's the crux of the Intermediate plan. To that end, Sinclair also suggests "adding some tempo to at least some of the long runs when they're maybe going just a bit faster over the final 10 to 15 minutes." That's a bit faster, okay? No bug-eyed straining.

"I would also include some interval miles at faster than projected race pace," Sinclair adds. "Interval tempo here should be challenging, but not too crazy. And the recovery should be enough to support the effort--down to a 120 heart rate, 400-meter jog, whatever it takes. If the rest isn't long enough, you can't maintain the quality."

Week	M	T	W	T	F	S	S	Total
1	Rest	1x1200 PI (400), 2x800 CI (200), 4x200 SI (200)	3-4 miles, or rest	2x2 miles PI (800) + 4x100 S	Rest	4 miles + 4x100 S	8-9 miles	26-30 miles
2	Rest	1x1200 PI (400), 2x800 CI (200), 4x200 SI (200)	3-4 miles, or rest	2x2miles PI (800) + 4x100S	Rest	4 miles + 4x100 S	8?9 miles (include 4:00 TUT)	26-30 miles
3	Rest	2x[1200 CI (600), 800 CI (400), 400 SI (200)]	2 miles	3 miles + 4x100 S	Rest	5-K race	6 miles	24 miles
4	Rest	2x1-mile, CI (800), 6x200 SI (200)	3-4 miles, or Rest	4 miles PI (800), 1 mile CI + 6x100 S	Rest	5 miles + 6x100 S	10 miles, incl. 6:00 TUT	28?32 Miles
5	Rest	2x1-mile CI (800), 6x200 SI (200)	3?4 miles, or Rest	4 miles PI (800), 1 mile CI + 6x100 S	Rest	5 miles + 6x100 S	11 miles	28?32 Miles
6	Rest	2x[800 SI (400), 400 SI (200), 200 SI (200), 1200 PI]		4 miles (incl. 6x1:00 SI) + 4x100 S	Rest	10-K race	8 miles	30 Miles
7	Rest	2x1200 CI (600), 4x400 SI (200), 4x200 SI (100)	3?4 miles, or Rest	4 miles PI (800), 1x800 CI (400), 2 miles PI	Rest	6 miles + 6x100 S	11?12 miles, incl. 8:00 TUT	32?36 Miles
8	Rest	2x1200 CI (600), 4x400 SI (200), 4x200 SI (100)	3?4 miles, or Rest	4 miles PI (800), 1x800 CI (400), 2 miles PI	Rest	6 miles + 6x100 S	6 miles	32?36 Miles
Taper	Rest	4x400 CI (200), 2x200 SI (100)	2 miles PI + 4x100 S	2x400 CI (200), 1x 200 SI	Rest	3 miles easy	Half- marathon race

Pace Intervals (PI): Relatively lengthy repetitions at your goal half-marathon per-mile pace to build endurance and develop pace judgment. Note: All numbers in parentheses above denote distance of recovery jog.

Cruise Intervals (CI): Run at 10-K race pace to promote stamina and the ability to run strong when tired. For 10:00-per-mile half-marathon pace (2:11:06), run 7:07 (1200), 4:45 (800); for 9:00 pace (1:57:59), run 6:24 (1200), 4:16 (800); for 8:00 pace (1:44:52), run 5:42 (1200), 3:48 (800).

Speed Intervals (SI): Run at 5-K race pace to promote relaxed speed and a sense of comfort at your considerably slower half-marathon pace. For 10:00 half-marathon pace, run 4:30 (800), 2:15 (400), 1:07 (200); for 9:00 half-marathon pace, run 4:04 (800), 2:02 (400), 1:01 (200); for 8:00 half-marathon pace, run 3:37 (800), 1:48 (400), 0:54 (200).

Strides (S): Over 100 meters, gradually accelerate to 90 percent of all-out, hold it for 5 seconds, then decelerate. Walk to full recovery after each.

Total Uphill Time (TUT): Work the uphill sections during your run, at something near a strong 10-K effort in the total time called for.

Race Day Rules: To warm up, jog just 800 meters, then do a few fast strides. That's it. Keep your glycogen tanks topped off and your legs fresh. Divide your half like this: 10-mile run, 5-K race. Run the first mile just slower than goal pace, then work into a rhythm and run just below your lactate threshold level so you don't implode an hour out. And draft off other runners to conserve energy. Do all these things, and you'll be fine.