Intro:
I'm 16 and have been a dedicated runner for a year and a half. While I haven't been in track, I have been running my local track in the summer and treadmill in the cooler times of the year (I live in the NW) but none the less running. I dropped a reasonable amount of weight in the time I've been running. But for a couple months, even with a calorie deficit, running is not cutting it for me in terms of "burning" fat. I don't remember how I found out about HIIT but reading articles about HIIT got me interested. I actually believed the science behind it unlike the lies other programs spew. So now I'm wondering, how exactly do I go about doing this? I've seen way too many different variations of HIIT. I have several questions to ask the knowledgeable people on this forum about HIIT.

Questions:

1. Can I just throw HIIT into my normal Running schedule? So for example, I run 5 days a week right now, 40 minutes per session at 5.6mph. can I simply do 2 sessions of what I do currently and 3 sessions of HIIT to break my current plateau?

2. Should I just entirely replace my running with HIIT? I've heard that HIIT doesn't take away from your muscles. I'm not doing weight training right now, so running has significantly reduced my bulk in the last couple of months. So I want to really hit the weights this summer while losing the last few pounds of excess fat I have.

3.Do I have to change how I do my HIIT each week to continually shock my body?

4. Do I need high-tech equipment such as an interval timer and heart monitor to do HIIT properly? I had the notion that I'd just run the track at my fastest until everything burns in my body and I cannot continue. Then walk for 2-3 minutes, then repeat a bunch of times.

5. Will I have to eat even more protein than I do when I'm actually doing weights? When I was doing weights, I was aiming for around 120g of protein.

6. is it easier to get shin splints doing HIIT than long distance running?

7. Right now I'm trying to eat around 2,000 calories. I usually end up at around 2150 calories if I were to make an average.


Those are the biggest questions I have. Also, assume I can handle 9-10 difficulty stuff, I'm fairly fit. If my weight is important in this, currently my health o meter says I weigh 157lbs. I am 5' 10'' and am a male as if that weren't obvious. I don't have any health problems, though shin splints have been an issue in the past. I have no idea on my body fat percentage, but it's not all that high. My main goal is to take the little bit of fat off my abs so that they are visible. I'm not expecting this to happen in a week or two or even a month or two. I do want the little pocket of fat hiding my abs to "melt away" within 3 months though. At the rate I'm going with my current routine, it would take far longer than 3 months to burn off the little fat I have left. Any suggestions will be taken and considered, thanks guys!