All time favorites. Doesn't matter whether you are training for the 800m or the marathon, if you are building a base or peaking, if it is on the track or roads or cross country course. Just the workouts you look forward too most and feel you get the most bang for your buck.
I'll start.
3 mile progression run (1 mile easy, 1 mile marathon pace, 1 mile 5k/10k pace)
8-12X200-250m hill fast focusing on form and relaxation
3 mile regression run (1 mile 5k/10k pace, 1 mile marathon pace, 1 mile easy.
16 x 400m in sets of 4. cutdown each set by 2sec/400m
30sec rest in a set.
5min between sets.
or
8x1 mile cutdown with 1 min rest.
3X(3 miles easy, 3 miles marathon pace)
Hill Rep repeats
and I'm a marathonner hah
Ladder fartlek: Efforts of 1 min-2 min-3-4-5-4-3-2-1 with 1 min recovery jog. The length of the session and the fact that it is continuous running puts it in the tempo category, but you still get to feel good and fast on the 2 min and 1 min efforts.
Race simulation ladder type workouts, starting anywhere from 200m and going up to 2000m and coming back down. OR
1 Mile @ XC RP;
200 jog
5,000m fartlek (100m surge, 100m recover)
200jog
400m all out
I ran 4:28, 16:20 and :58 my senior year of college and knew i was ready for the best race of my life. we did that workout 10 days before nationals every year. what's crazy is that they were faster than my freshmen PR's!
I'm not sure if this is my favorite of all time, but when I look back at the workouts I've done, this one is the tops
I was helping coach at my college alma mater one year. During one workout, the head coach wanted me to pace our top 800m woman. Her workout was supposed to be 4 x 4 x 200 @ 32 with 30 seconds between reps and 4 min between sets. I felt the workout would be too easy, so I did a 4 mile progression run first. Then, during the 5 minute breaks between sets, some of the male distance guys started challenging me to see if I could break 60 for a 400. The whole workout ended up looking like this
4 mile progression to warm up (25 minutes including slow early miles)
4 x 400 @ 32 with 30 seconds rest
100 jog
400 @ 62
100 jog
4x400 @ 32 with 30 seconds rest
100 jog
400@ 61
100 jog
4x400 @ 32 with 30 seconds rest
100 jog
400 @ 60
100 jog
4x200 @32 with 30 seconds rest
The guys tried to get me to attempt another 400, but I was completely fried at that point. I think I jogged an 800 cool down then staggered home.
Funny thing was, that spring, I only managed 4:15 for 1500m. I wasn't really training consistantly, but that workout should have been worth very close to 4:00 for 1500.
1 X 26.2 @ race pace
10 miler steady...feels the best especially when you are getting fit.
CoachB wrote:
The whole workout ended up looking like this
4 mile progression to warm up (25 minutes including slow early miles)
4 x 400 @ 32 with 30 seconds rest
100 jog
400 @ 62
100 jog
4x400 @ 32 with 30 seconds rest
100 jog
400@ 61
100 jog
4x400 @ 32 with 30 seconds rest
100 jog
400 @ 60
100 jog
4x200 @32 with 30 seconds rest
Some fast 400s in there champ. 32 secs? whew!
One of my favourite workouts is 4 x 2000m at tempo pace on the track. Great for 10K-HM training without totally knocking me out.
2 x mile @ 10k pace, 2 x 2 mile @ half marathon pace, 2 x mile @ 10k pace.
3 minutes recovery for each
Progressive run. Start off at 7:00 pace, pick it up based on feel. Usually get down to about 5:10-5:20 pace at the end. Anywhere from 4-8 miles depending on if I feel like crap, or if i feel great.
20x400
at quicker than 5k pace indoors
45seconds rest