Balls-to-the-wall workouts: please contribute!

On the open road, any 10K run or 40K bike TT is always very hard. It's alot easier in a race situation to push the pace as opposed to being alone. In the pool for me, most interval/speed workouts are tough. For the track, like the workout you posted, I like:

400M Intervals- Track Workout
12x400M sub 80 seconds (1:20) with 200M walk recovery.

The completeion time will vary depending on your fitness level, but the goal is to run them at 5K race pace. So I finish each around 1:15 or so. This get's you nearly a 5K TT but with the recovery, doesn't ruin you for the next day.

Edited by bryancd 2009-08-04 8:27 AM

Done at 5k pace till the last 1600.. I've never been able to cut it down all the way.

Mile cut down.

1600m
400m slow jog
1200m
400m slow jog
800m
400m slow jog
400m
400m slow jog
1600m Cut down 5s a lap

Edited by smilford 2009-08-04 8:29 AM

Swim workout - Survivor 100's.

Make sure to get a good warmup in and then 2 options:

Option A: Take your best 100 time you have been able to do in practice from a push. Round it up to the nearest 5 seconds (so if your best is 1:02, use 1:05)
First 100 - your best time + 1 minute
Second 100 - your best time + 55 seconds
Third 100 - your best time + 50 seconds
Etc. See how close you can get to your best time

Option B (much harder):
First 100 - your best time + 30 seconds
Second 100 - your best time + 29 seconds
Third 100 - your best time + 28 seconds
Etc.

Ah, those remind me of what we fondly refer to as 'Freakin 50s' in Masters class.

Basically, you do 50s until you can't hold the interval any more. Start at 1:00, then 0:59, then 0:58 etc. It's one of those workouts that starts off pleasant and then all of a sudden WHAM you are dying. Not only is it a tough workout once you get down 10 or so, you really have to THINK to count for your interval times off the clock and that is hard when you start gasping for air!!!

Warm-Up
300 easy free
900 - (300 kick/300 pull/ 300 swim)

Kick Set
3 x 100 @ 1:50 descend (each 100 is faster than the previous one)
4 x 25 @ :40 sprint kick
3 x 100 @ 1:40 descend
4 x 25 @ :40 sprint kick
3 x 100 @ 1:30 descend
4 x 25 @ :40 sprint kick

Stroke-Specific Set
20 x 50's:
1 - drill @ 1:00
2 - build @ :45 (get faster throughout each interval)
1 - strong (90 percent effort) @ :45
1 - easy @ 1:00
(repeat through four times, varying strokes)

Main Set
15 x 300 (one minute rest between sets)
3 @ 3:30
3 @ 3:25 (pull)
3 @ 3:20
3 @ 3:15 (pull)
3 @ 3:10

300 Easy
TOTAL: 8,200 yards

Edited by KSH 2009-08-04 9:21 AM

here is the one that i posted over in the other forum  - tailored for 1/2 marathon training (after you have done several, and have decent running milage)


here is a good running workout for those of you who
1) want to get faster for long runs
2) partially hate yourself

i am going to put this in terms of 70.3 training, because that is what i have been doing.  here is the workout:

1 mile WU
10 x 1 mile at goal Half Iron run pace.  find a route (can be from your house) that is 0.5 miles out, so one mile is out and back.  drink every 1 mile (like an aid station).  be sure to hit your goal pace. 

1 mile CD

-----------------
this is a brutal workout, phyically and mentally.  doing the same route, over and over makes it that much tougher.  if you are anything like me, you don't run your goal race pace much, so it is tough, let alone for that long!

Yeah, right, now divide it by three, and do it over a week

Edited by jdevito20 2009-08-04 10:00 AM

For the record... I got that from a website. Figured someone might want to try it. I did this version. Not as impressive. Sorry.

Warm Up
500 easy free

Kick Set
100 @ 15 secs rest
2 x 25 sprint @ 5 secs rest
100 @ 10 secs rest
2 x 25 sprint @ 5 secs rest
100 @ 5 secs rest
2 x 25 sprint @ 5 secs rest

10 x 50 Stroke Specific
1 - drill @ 15 secs rest
2 - build @ 10 secs rest
1 - strong (90 percent effort) @ 5 secs rest
1 - easy @ 15 secs rest
(repeat through two times, varying strokes)

15 x 200 (1:00 Between Sets)
3 x 3:20
3 x 3:15 (pull)
3 x 3:10
3 x 3:15 (pull)
3 x 3:00

200 Easy

TOTAL: 4,650 yds

The 100s fast are basically all out. This was one of the hardest swims I've done. It was with a group, so I pushed pretty good on it.

Warm up:
600 easy (150 swim, 150 kick, 150 pull, 150 swim)
8 x 50 (25 drill/25 swim)

Main Set:
5 x 100 swim on interval
100 fast
400 pull breathing every 3,5,5,3 by 100's
100 fast
3 x 100 swim on interval
100 fast
4 X 50 kick on interval
100 fast
2 X 100 kick every 4th length fast
100 fast
3 x 100 swim on interval
100 fast
400 pull breathing every 3,5,5,3 by 100's
100 fast
5 x 100 swim on interval (descend to fast)

Warm Down:
swim easy


Another really hard swim.. One I came up with just for fun..

Endless 100s.. You pick a time to come in under (something just a few sec slower than your 300 all out pace). Then you pick a interval to push off on about 30s rest. I did in under 1:20 on 1:50. The workout ends when you fail to be under 1:20 for 3 times in a row, otherwise it keeps going. It works best if you're in a group, or you'll give up sooner.

glad to see you changed it to 200's in your workout b/c those 300s are crazy fast (110-103 avg?!)

our masters coach has a favorite:
the alaskan 15:
15 minutes of swimming
you sprint a 100, then rest for 10 seconds, and repeat for 15 minutes.
tally up your yardage at the end

powerman duathlon.........


i have a longer distance once i did twice last year,

20mile HARD ride, most of this around TT pace.
5k run off the bike
x3

I read an article on Michael Phelps in which he discussed one of his most difficult workouts....it was a continuous long swim at reasonable pace, but at the end of each lap, he climbs out of the pool and immediately dives back in.  Doesn't seem like it would be THAT much more work, but he said it is ridiculously difficult after the first few laps....you end up rolling out of the pool like a beached whale...and then just dropping back in. 

I may give it a try tonite...can't be that difficult 

Microbursts--best done with a powermeter.

Warm up 10min, then

15 seconds at 2.5-3x FTP, 15 seconds off. Repeat for 15 minutes.

Puke.

Cool down.

puking would start earlier than 15min for me..

I did the following 2 workouts once (actually in 1995). I transferred to another school after the semester because they are not what I would consider very smart workouts and it was obv that the coach and I had different views on running.. I actually went really well in both, but the 5k race 3 days after the 2nd workout I bailed and then about 2 weeks later I had a 10k and I bailed that. I guess the 2 workouts were my races.

Workout #1 Saturday

2mi wu easy

8 x 400m @ around 3k pace with 1min recovery (I went 68's)
  400m jog after #8
2 x 800m @  around 5k pace with a 400m jog recovery   (2:18, 2:20)
  400m jog after 2nd 800m
1 x 1600m @  around 5k race pace  400m jog recovery   (4:40)
2 x 800m @ 5k race pace 400m jog recov   (2:20, 2:20)
8 x 400m starting at 3k pace getting down close to mile pace all with 1min recovery  (started at 68's last 3 in 64)


Workout #2 on Tuesday

10 x 1000 at 10k goal pace (3min) with 1 min recovery.


Theses workouts suggested I was in awesome shape, but I never did find out.

20x100 free on 2:00 Hold sub 1:00s on every 100 or add an additional 100 for every 100 you miss. I can't do this anymore -might be able to do 1:05s.

This is from an issue of Men's Health. I tweaked it for the setting that I had available. It kicked my butt, and it's fairly short.  Every time I've done it, no matter how in shape I feel prior to the workout, I always feel like I'm gonna puke at the end.  To up this a bit, you could add a 10km TT before at 85% peak heartrate AND a 10km TT at the end at 75% peak heartrate.

You'll need to be at a track with access to a football field... or you could have cones (cups from the dollar store work great) that mark out 5 yard intervals. You'll also need access to stairs or something similar (maybe a parking curb?).

1 x 400m run
100 stair steppers
1 x 400m run
15 walking push ups
1 x 400m run
1 x 25yd football line runs
1 x 400m run (sprint last 100m)

stair steppers - Right foot up on step, jump and switch so left foot is on step, jump and switch so right foot is on step.  When your right foot is back on top of the step, that's 1 rep.  You have 99 to go.

walking push ups - push up position on track... down and back up.  Take your right hand and right leg and move them out to your right side.  Down and back up.  Move your left hand and left leg over so you're back in regular push up position.  That's 1 rep.  You have 14 to go.

football line runs -
goal line to 5 yard line sprint - sprint back to goal line
goal line to 10 yard line grapevine facing right - sprint back to goal line
goal line to 15 yard line grapevine facing left - sprint back to goal line
goal line to 20 yard line backwards jog - sprint back to goal line
goal line to 25 yard line sprint - sprint back to goal line

After you finish the football line runs, your heart is absolutely POUNDING... and then you have to run 400m with a sprint for the final 100.

ENJOY!!

-Joel

Edited by TXGreyhoundGuy 2009-08-04 7:57 PM

This was the worst workout ever. I seriously thought i was gonna die:

lol That is more swim training than I have done in the past year no joke

You'd be suprised how much this can kick your a@@!!!  Especially in non-fast pools that have high walls....I remember doing these at the end of high school swim practises---we would do them as widths of the pool and get out at each side and dive back in.........not fun!!!

Oh man that sounds awesome - next time I am in the pool and there are less than 4 people in my lane (there are usually like 8 people in a lane in the pools I swim in in Korea so I can't even really do flip turns ) I think I might try that! I can imagine being tired after just 3 times getting in and out..ha.

Here is a good swim practice to do about three weeks out from an IM distance event:

10 x 400 meters on the 6 min. Use a wetsuit, if you are going to race in a wetsuit. If you can do this, you should have no problem swimming the 3,800 ows in under 1 hr.

Cheers.