Notice that all the above scenarios stem from a track setting. Here’s another reason to do many of your hard workouts by time and effort away from the track: You don’t have to have these conversations with yourself. If your workout is six 3-minute repeats at 5K effort on the roads, then there are fewer ways to tell yourself, “This isn’t going well.” You simply get in the effort at whatever pace turns out to be appropriate that day for the combination of your energy level and environment.