River Bank Plan Testing 1,2,3,4....

Knowing that I could never train in the winter like I do in the Spring and Summer for a fall marathon I have decided to give the Furman FIRST training plan a try for the 2012 Riverbank run in May. This will be an experiment for me.  This type of plan focuses on quality over quantity and follows from what I can tell the Jack Daniels Formula method when it comes to defining what a quality run is.  I have my doubts, but its worth a try.  If this works for me I will be amazed.  

I have months to go before I start training for Riverbank, but I am going to start working on my speed work so I can be comfortable when the time comes.  The basic workouts behind this type of plan are the following:

1. The Long run @ MP or + up to 20 Seconds per mile
2. The Tempo run Anywhere from a 5k - 16k where parts of the run are worked at 10k pace or + up to 30-35 seconds.
3. The speed work - Sets of anything from 400m  - sets of 1600m run at a really fast pace depending on the workout.

The only thing that is different about training like this is that you only run these 3 workouts.  The other four days of the week are spent resting (2 days between the Key workouts) or Cross Training.  Honestly I think that this is very similar to what I would be doing in the summer except for the fact that I will not rest as much and I will run about 25 more miles of easy runs per week.. So, we replace easy mileage with cross training and a little rest.  I know that I am going to get what I need from a quality stand point, but I am excited to see how my body deals with not being stressed out with the extra high mileage that I tend to put into my training runs.
This past year I basically stayed away from the speed work and focused on high mileage and a weekly tempo run.  I was exhausted when I hit September, so this may help me understand what a Quality Workout consists of for my body.  Why not?  Right?