So for the majority of my competitive running life I recorded my training on sheets of 8x11 paper fashioned into calendars then stowed away into binders lost through the history of 7-8 moves across the country. All I have now is my faulty memory and a couple years of online running logs.
These are my favorite or memorable workouts both currently or long in the past. What are or were yours?
Non-Running:
Heavy Deadlift: Nothing is more primal or exhilarating as hitting a PR on the Deadlift or just lifting a heavy weight off the ground. It's a completely different feeling than hitting a race PR and doesn't require entering a competition. It's instant gratification.
DB Bench: I have no idea why I like this more than a barbell bench. Probably carrot chasing and seeing DBs with triple digits.
Crossfit Stuff/Circuits: It's about as close to running as you're going to get. I like to get tired and I enjoy making up workouts to get tired. Throw together some upper push and pull with a lower body exercise or something more dynamic like a push-up-burpee-pull-up.
Running:
Tempo Loop: When I think back to my more serious running days I often think of this workout. It came about because I wanted to run hills without putting together an interval workout and wanted a tempo effort without being a slave to the watch. There's a 2.3-2.4mi "scenic loop" in a park in Louisville that I started using for workouts that had a couple good climbs. It was 2-3mi from work and 2-3mi from home, so made for a convenient warmup/cooldown. I started doing 2-3 x loop with I think with 2-3min rest? at a tempo-ish effort then progressed to doing 2-3 loops with no rest. Fun workout.
Any Long Run with challenging or new terrain: I liked using Long Runs to explore. I liked using Long Runs to challenge myself. My favorite Long Runs were through the hills in Southern Indiana. Hills in Indiana? Yep they exist. From near the Ohio River to Floyd Knobs you could climb something like 800-1000ft in .5-1mi...something like that. Some good 10-15% inclines. Usually it was up one knob and down another.
Mile Repeats: My "speed work" most of the time was on a measured park loop, 5 x 1mi, 2-3min rest.
Alan