hardest workout you've ever done

I was training for a 100-miler about four years ago. I was on a very hilly training run in hot, humid conditions (at least hot and humid for Minnesota....probably in the low 90s with high humidity). I was extremely low on water and tried to conserve. My goal was an 8-hour run and I was determined to get through it, come hell or high water. Heat exhaustion definitely set it and it became a horrible day, with my brain losing its ability to focus to the point of being confused.

Being the stubborn ass that I was, I got back to my car and had about 45 minutes left to run. I drank a can of Coke and some other sugary foods, and I finished off the last 45 minutes by running up the ski hill next to where I was parked. I was a complete wreck.

Of course, now that I'm much "wiser," in my old age, I should never even ran that day. Live and learn.

The Michigan

when i was a slave to my schedule -

10x400 @3k pace in 95 degrees.

made it about 10 meters into the 5 repeat before collapsing.

Are you sure it was 95F? Did the champ tell you so?

Wow, impressive! I bet you even walked er.. ran 12 minute miles!

In high school my team did a "400's till ya drop" workout at the start of every year. All you had to do was run a 400 on the 1:20, with 1:20 rest until you couldn't anymore. The sprinters thought it was easy at first and went out in 1:10s for the first 5, but none of them made it past 10. Me and 5 other guys made it to 25 until the coach decided that we could go all day and started to do slowest one out. The sprinters had a lot more respect for the distance crew after that one.

In high school my team did a "400s till ya drop" workout at the start of every year. All you had to do was run a 400 on the 1:20, with 1:20 rest until you couldn't anymore. The sprinters thought it was easy at first and went out in 1:10s for the first 5, but none of them made it past 10. Me and 5 other guys made it to 25 until the coach decided that we could go all day and started to do slowest one out. The sprinters had a lot more respect for the distance crew after that one.

One time I did repeat 400s at 62-63 seconds apiece, with 220 yds of jogging in between. These were done in sets of 5, and after every 5 the rest was 440 yards of jogging. I did 20 of these 400s, and then repeated the workout immediately after...twice. By the time I was done,60 400s total, my coach had to carry me to my bed where I swear I slept for a day straight, only getting up to take a piss that was filled with blood, and didn't recover for 4 days.

100 back squats with your bodyweight loaded on the bar. Can stop and rest, but cannot set the bar down. Harder than any track workout I ever did.

7 x 1400 @ 5K pace during marathon training. Didn't get it all done.

I did 4 X 5k at 3k pace training for a marathon. Wanted to make sure I could positive split the race and run my fastest time.

Escaping the womb.

I once ran 8:07 for 2 miles and then followed it up with 5x1 mile, with the last one under 4:02.

You'd have more respect for sprinters after 6 x 300 in 36-39... Oh wait, you can't run that for one one hundred meters. Respect.

triguy696969 wrote:

In high school my team did a "400s till ya drop" workout at the start of every year. All you had to do was run a 400 on the 1:20, with 1:20 rest until you couldn't anymore. The sprinters thought it was easy at first and went out in 1:10s for the first 5, but none of them made it past 10. Me and 5 other guys made it to 25 until the coach decided that we could go all day and started to do slowest one out. The sprinters had a lot more respect for the distance crew after that one.

For me the most painful workout I've done was 6 x 500 at 430 1500m pace (my pr was 448) followed by 5 x 200m sprints. Hurt like the dickens. Another hard one was 200-400-800-1200-800-400-200 ladder as fast as you can with 2-3 min rest. Another was 16x400 at 5k pace hammer #12 and #16, starting a new 400 every 2.5 min.

My friend once did 3-4 sets of 4 400s at goal 1600m pace with a 10 sec rest between reps and 400m jog between sets. Not exactly sure how he managed that one, he was hitting 66-67 with a low/mid 430s pr.

I was dealing with compartment syndrome my senior year during XC and wasn't fully aware of what is was and the effects it had on the legs. The team was doing a 3 x 1 mile workout on hilly terrain. The first one wasn't too bad, but the second and third were absolutely terrible. My legs felt like they were going to give out, and I thought my lower spine and rectum were going to completely pass through my anus and fall out of my body. Gut wrenching experience. One of the few workouts that I collapsed afterwards.

aslan wrote:

well?

16x440 at 83 seconds with 220 jogs. Yes, this is pathetic, but I'm a "self taught" non-varsity participant runner. It was rough.