It has a name, but...

I think most people are on board with the fact that fast 400 meter repeats on the track aren't much fun but yield positive benefits.

Now I've never been a big speedwork guy-- I've never had a rigid schedule unless I've been in marathon training, and even then it was more about pouring on the miles. However when I was prepping for the 2014 Publix Marathon in Atlanta, I squeezed out 16x400 with some of my running friends. I was as surprised as anybody. Speed days since then have maxed out at 8x400, doing three-minute intervals. Run the 400, and recover for the time left over. For example, if I ran a quarter in 90 seconds, I'd have 90 seconds to rest before the next repeat. I found the rest period worked better than an easy 400 jog.

Recently, I read in Runner's World about Jonas Hampton of New Britain, Connecticut who runs 30x400 on his speed days as one of his key workouts during marathon training. My eyes about popped out of their sockets. 30? Quarter-mile repeats? Are we sure that's right?

Well, yes it is. Here is his session:

“It has a name, but you can’t print it.” Warm up with 3 miles followed by 10 minutes of dynamic stretches. Then run 30 x 400, with 200-meter recovery jogs. After every 5 repeats, recover with a 400-meter jog. Cool down with 2 easy miles.

I wonder if we could crowdsource a printable name for this workout. He runs three miles before he even gets to the fun part. Excluding the recovery jogs, he's sitting on a 12.5-mile workout. Yikes. Just saddling up for that distance requires a little extra prep for me. Obviously it's a bit different for him. 

I'm not arguing the methods-- I'm amazed at them. Hampton ran a 2:15 and won the Hartford Marathon in 2015 and competed at the Olympic Marathon Trials back in February. What makes this all the more remarkable is that he's got a day job as a highway design engineer.