Yes... I love track workouts... so I am more likely to read articles about them. The schedule that Coach has laid out for us incorporates a variety of track workouts. Longer repeats to work on pacing... shorter to work on turnover... sometimes the intervals are all the same length... other times, the distance varies... you get the point. The workouts that I have the most difficulty with are the ones that require us to change pace. Whether it's dropping to 10k pace after 5+ miles at marathon pace or 3-5k pace for shorter repeats at the end of a track workout, I usually start off too fast and then bonk halfway through the repeat. But, as luck would have it, these workouts are "good for you"... guess what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger.
According to the article from running times, "combo workouts" are those that mix together speed, VO2-max intervals / tempo (not sure the exact distinction... but I'm guessing the former is 1000m-3000m intervals at 10k pace and the later is 30+ min at closer to half marathon pace), and progression workouts. Combo workouts are good for you because the combine multiple, different stresses into one training session (aka I would describe the pain associated with running a half marathon as more fatigue related whereas 400m is more lung-burning / quad-shaking). By sticking them all in the same workout, you simulate "race" conditions (surging to pass someone with 200m to go after running however many miles before that) without having to actually run the race itself. Also, the variety keeps the workout interesting, and sometimes more manageable because it give logical "break" points. The second page of the article gives some example workouts and explanations of what they target / when to do them.
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