What's the most will power-summoning workout you've ever done?

all shapes and sizes, I guess. The obvious dig would be to say my most will power-summoning workout was to force myself to keep reading...haha, but seriously. that was some funny stuff. i mean, if you are serious, then, hey, good job. but if you are serious, then seriously--you ran a 9 miler and decided to keep running even through a bit of bloated stomach because you nimrodded on diet that day (couldn't even bring an apple to work? a steak? before you ran 9? novice?) and the temp was warm (it's not so much the heat as it is the humidity) and were tired from a days work. boo hoo.

so, let me get this straight, you found the will-power to get your run in?

*crickets*

great!

just odd that your story is just the plain 'ol stuff that any runner experiences without usually making a big deal about it. it's called motivation.

now, will-power summoning work out would be when you are dog-dead tired during killer repeats and through the initial shock of fatigue and light-headedness you, dig down to finish the repeat and barely keep yourself up crossing the line...and during your minute and a half recovery doubt rushes your mind and you feel weak and you are breathing hard not only from elevated heart rate but because you don't know if you can hit the time on the next repeat because you've never run these kind of splits before...and in the last 10 seconds of recovery all your emotions converge and mixes with adrenaline and fear and somehow the thoughts of what drives you, your aspirations, your ambitions, you desire, compels you to reach way down at that moment when you are set to go and you look forward, either with your eyes or just your mind and you say, f*** yeah, bring it on, and it hurts. real bad.

and when you finish, you vomit and gasp for air...your eyes are blurred and snot is coming out your nose and you wipe away the puke from your lips but you realize you just willed yourself to hit times you've never hit before. and now you can go home with knowledge of that fact instead of your sad sympathy in hope of "next time."

but maybe that just what comes to my mind?

anyway, good job getting your run in because i missed mine.

congrats wrote: and when you finish, you vomit and gasp for air...your eyes are blurred and snot is coming out your nose and you wipe away the puke from your lips but you realize you just willed yourself to hit times you've never hit before.

And probably won't hit in your race either, but hey, who needs to race well when you can be the workout champ?

please dont squeeze the garmin wrote:

And probably won't hit in your race either, but hey, who needs to race well when you can be the workout champ?

Maybe racing isn't for you. And that's okay too.

But for me, I guess I've never considered the idea of being a workout champ, I've always believed you train to improve, get stronger, and do things such as develop your mental toughness so you can line up with justified confidence and tenacity to tear it up when the gun fires.

Honestly, there are too many to pick one out.

I once did 50x100m and that one was tough.

The worst were probably ones with the group I used to train with... when I felt my mental capabilities had gone during the session, nothing made sense, and I felt like I'd gone beyond a level of exertion that was possible.

Yo Bagger,

Some of us work for a living (read: do not spend every waking moment on LetsRun). But nah, no tempo run (depending on your definition, I suppose). Maybe it's just me, but for most 400/800 types out there, I would say that a nine-miler IS a workout. Just like a 15-mile long run IS a workout for the distance types. Plus, when you weigh as much as me, even sans clown suit, a nine-miler can really do a number on you. Put on a 50 lb. weight vest, which will still likely have you weighing less than me, go do your superior long run, and then tell me what you think.

Seriously though, there have been some decent posts on this topic (from those who actually understand the question). Just to give you a hint, though: it's not about the workout, regardless of how you define such.

Broken 1000m (500/300/200) 400 jog recoveries

We called it the 1000m world record workout. The goal was to break the 1000m WR using total interval time. Speed tune-up during peaking phase.

1:03

37.?

25.?

Total time - 2:06

Not overly difficult, but lots of confidence was gained from this one every year.