Hardest workout you have done

6x600 at mile pace 2 minutes rest

3x800 mile pace 6 minutes rest

4x1000 a lot faster than 3200 3 min rest

4x400 at 800 pace with 4 minutes rest

I was prescribed a workout towards the beginning of a 5k cycle that I think qualifies.

3 set of… run 800 “like an idiot” going out HARD and just trying to hang on + jog to < 1 minute to a hill and 4x20s hill sprints with jog down. 5 minutes between sets.

I believe the goal was just to get as much crud in my legs as possible. Needless to say that last 800 was probably the longest 2 laps of my life.

5x18

2x4x250 with 150 jog, ran around my 800 pace at the time

Death

10x mile, during a thunderstorm/ tornado watch. Indoor 200m flat track. 6:20s. Age 50.

A true LR Ol’ timer.

Is this even possible for someone who isnt a pro

Yes. Definitely not easy, though.

9 x 1600

5 minutes rest between

It almost makes no sense.

If you were slower than 5:05, coach asked you to step off the track

At around 4 or 5, I had to unleash a crazy kick to stay alive with a 5:04. Coach gave me the "I dont know if you should stay on" look but kept me on (it was kinda funny). And I was the only freshman left at the end. Me and the big guns. I was below 5 for 6 of them.

Running 6 min pace on our daily easy 60 min runs with my d2 XC team back in the early 2000s.

TLDR; we didn't qualify for XC Natties.

5x (600 at 5K pace ,600 at 5K pace, 300 at mile pace, 300 at mile pace)

1 minute between reps, 3 minutes between sets

nearly Crapped my shorts

probably not hard for the pros but I felt is was horrible

Ol’ timers know this? I thought it was cutting-edge human performance science for the ‘thon.

6x300m, 2 minutes rest after reps, 4 minutes after rep 3. Prescribed pace was this:

800m pace +2-3 seconds (44-45)

800m pace -0-1 seconds (41-42)

800m pace -2-3 seconds (sub 40)

x2

The second set put me in a level of hell I have not experienced in a long long time. You suffer more during the recovery than the reps, and you surely suffer during the reps. The worst part is that the first set has you feeling confident you’ll be fine. I don’t throw up ever, even when I’m sick, and this had me laying down with a garbage can kicking my legs in the air with no idea how to make the pain stop.

6x400m on a road faster than 800m pace. Walk back rest which ended up being around 5 minutes. Was in 2:13 shape at this time. Splits were 64, 66 , 67, 70, 69, 66. Form broke down with 100m left on last 4 reps. Ended up being all out last 4 reps. Almost puked at the end.

3 x400 @ 63 w 30 secs rest, 30 secs rest, 1600 @5:00 flat , 5 minute set break. 3 sets. 4:00 1500/ 15:00 5k shape.

3 x 2 mile @ 10:00 with 5 minutes rest on rolling grass course. 25:30 8k shape. Felt harder than a XC race but without any of the excitement.

20 x 400m @ 5k off 100m jog or 10x400m at mile off 30" or 4x800m off 3" and averaged faster than my 800m PR 2"14 (granted I hadn't raced one since 8th grade.

In college xc we used to do 20 X 400 workouts with one minute rest. I think I was usually in the 67-68 range. It would be early in the season when it was still 90 plus degrees out. That was a killer, probably largely due to the heat.

That's a big one. What were your pr's? On fx 5000m ?

Numerous hill repeats that were harder than any track workouts I've done. Sprint up the steepest hill around (probably 400 to 800 meters), jog back to the bottom, repeat.