Phase: Marathon
Workout: 15 to 30 minute Warm-Up + 8 to 10 times Yasso 800s + 15 to 30 minute Cool-down
Purpose: Build Stamina – lactate threshold
After a roughly 25 minute warm up, it was time to perform one of my favorite track workouts; the Yasso 800’s. For those who’ve never tried them they are a great marathon prediction workout pioneered by Bart Yasso.
From the McMillan Running web site:
The theory behind Yasso 800s is that your time in minutes and seconds for a workout of 10 times 800 meters (two laps of the track) with equal recovery time is the same as the hours and minutes of your marathon time. For example, if you can run 10 times 800 meters in three minutes and 20 seconds with three minutes and 20 seconds recovery, then this predicts that you can run three hours and 20 minutes for your marathon. Run 2:40 for the 800s and you can run 2:40 for the marathon.
My experience, though, is that Yasso 800s predicts about five minutes too fast for most marathoners. Using the example above, my experience has been that 10 times 800 meters in 3:20 with 3:20 recovery yields closer to a 3:25 marathon for most competitive runners. Because this workout is easy to do, I try to include it two or three times in a marathon training cycle. It not only provides a good predictor of marathon pace but allows you to chart your increasing fitness – a big confidence builder.
It’s been about a month since my last attempt at the Yasso’s, so I was keen (I think) to have another go and see roughly where my fitness is at the moment.
Aside from the unseasonal hot temperature, my main concern was running negative splits for the 8 x 800m. The worst thing you can do is run the first couple of repeats fast and then get slower and slower….
Anyway, the first couple were quite comfortable in 2:50 apiece. The third one was a little more difficult and for some reason my left knee started to bother me. For this reason I decided on a change of direction and ran the next 3 x 800m clockwise around the track – surprisingly I clocked 2:48 for each of them.
With only two repeats remaining I switched direction and decided to give it everything for the final mile of track work. Repeat #7 was a solid 2:45, although I had to work really hard in the final 200m to hang on. I treated myself to an extra 100m recovery before the final 800m and stormed home with a 2:43!
The plan called for 8 to 10 x 800m, but there was no way tonight I could have done another. To be honest, it was all I could do to jog the couple of miles home….
Splits: 2:50, 2:50, 2:49, 2:48, 2:48, 2:48, 2:45, 2:43
For the record:
Distance: 10.5 miles
Time: 1:17:00
Pace: 7:20 per mile