Reflections on Sergey Rudnev's LC template

I just completed Sergey Rudnev's Long Cycle training template, as taken from one of my favorite sites, http://girevoysportafter40.blogspot.com/.
I tried to follow the recommended workouts, to the letter, with the following exceptions:

1. The template is written for GS athletes who are at/near the Master of Sport level, using the 32kg KB's. I am shooting for my Level I amateur ranking, so whenever it recommended using 32kg KB's, I used 24kg bells. When it called for 24kg KB's, I used 20kg KB's.

2. I was out of town for a few days of the cycle, and only had access to non-competition-style KB's. During that time I did a few workouts of one-armed long cycle using 60 lb Kb's. The night I returned home I resumed the program as written.

Other than that, I followed the plan very closely.
The program finishes with an 8 minute test set, with a recommended number of reps of 56-64. I completed 63 reps, with the following rpm's: 9,9,9,8,7,7,8,6. I averaged just under 8 rpm for the entire set. This was a pr for me for total reps, and tied my pr for time with this weight.
That being said, I was somewhat disappointed, in that I seemed to be progressing faster under the AKC approach.
I will say that I have grown used to a much faster pace, especially with the 20kg bells. With the shorter sets I am much faster with the 24kg than I previosuly was. And I think that is something to build on.
Additionally, I think the use of sprint work, so prevelant in this and other Russian programs, is less mentally taxing than what I've done before. It just was easier.
Honestly, I think the AKC approach may have gotten me faster and better results. But I rarely had a day when I dreaded looking at the kettlebells. Rarely did I finish a set and feel mentally exhausted as I did before. So I think this may be a more sustainable approach.
I am going to continue using Russia templates for my training. The next plan will be Russian EDT. This is plan I took from the same website, http://girevoysportafter40.blogspot.com/. Here is a link to the plan:
http://girevoysportafter40.blogspot.com/2009/08/thoughts-on-russian-edt.html
I'll let you know how it goes.
Finally, here is a shout out and congratulations to Marty Farrell, who became the first American to achieve Master of Sport in both the Biathlon and Long Cycle. A video of his Long Cycle achievement appears below.
Thanks for stopping by.