This workout is the ultimate homemade pizza of workouts where we give you the base and you decide the toppings. Will it be meaty? Maybe a little spicy? Or will it be a chilled out Hawaiian?!

WHAT?

YOU CHOOSE THE TOPPINGS
10x 400m @ between 5k and mile race pace
400m jog recoveries

Terrain: Flat measurable path or running track

One of the all-time great running sessions, the 10×400 can be attacked from all sorts of directions.

If you’re after a combo of speed and intensity, ramp up the speed to your mile race pace and keep the recovery jogs easy.

But if you’d rather keep it more endurance focused (let’s say you’ve got a marathon or ultra coming up) keep the reps at a more comfortable 5k race pace and the recoveries a little quicker than a jog.

WHY?

400m is not really long enough to have a raised heart rate and breathing rate (like you get when you do 1k or mile intervals) nor is it short enough to really work on pure speed. So, a 10x400m workout occupies an interesting middle ground between fast and far and, in doing so, tests your ability to put those two elements of speed and endurance together.

HOW?

Above I gave the options of either running at mile pace with slow recoveries or 5k pace and keeping the recoveries a bit quicker (this will ensure the heart rate stays up a more to emphasise more of a VO2max-take on the session). However, there is another approach you could take where you start at 5k race pace and gradually get faster, finishing at mile pace for the final 2-3 reps.

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