Thursday, March 22, 2012

"I Get A Little Bit Stronger", YASSO 800 Style

"I get a little bit stronger ..."  That's a line from a song by Sara Evans.  She's a country singer.  Yes, I like female country singers ... sue me.   But that's how I felt during this morning's speed workout ... ever so surely ... stronger with the new stride.  I wrapped an 11 mile run around 9 Yasso 800's - the average pace per mile during the 800M's was 5:58/mile ... which was great for me!  And considering there was fog and 95% humidity, I felt pretty good about it.

If you follow my blog, you probably know that I'm not a huge believer in Yasso 800's as a predictor in marathon finish time - but I really like them as a speed workout for shorter races.  For instance, based on today's workout, I should be able to run about a 2:58 marathon ... I CANNOT run anywhere close to a 2:58 marathon.  Runners World editor Bart Yasso developed the workout, and the idea is to bunch 800 meter runs back-to-back with minimal rest in between.  If your target marathon finish time is 4 hours, you run the 800 meter intervals at 4 minutes.  If it's 3 hours, 30 minutes - you would run the 800's at 3:30 ... and so on.  The workout is a nice break from everyday mileage and pace work - plus it's great to get a little bit of a break between fast 800 meters.  But I've just found that the formula doesn't necessarily compute to faster marathon times for me - which in visiting with Bart at the Austin Marathon last year, he agreed.  He admits that there's nothing necessarily scientific about it, but it's a formula that works for him and many runners.  But I enjoy the workouts and do them from time to time.

Today's Workout: 9 Yasso 800's w/3 min moving recovery in between (apprx 8:45 pace)
Weather: 54 degrees, 95% humidity, wind 5mph NE
Avg Heart Rate During 800's: 168 bpm
Note: Ran workout on street, not track - but minor elevation change
How I Felt:  Overall pretty fluid, had to push it a little to keep pace and form broke down a little
800 Meter Pace: 2:57,  3:02,  2:54,  3:00,  2:53,  2:57,  2:55,  3:08,  2:57
... be great today!

11 comments:

  1. Fast workout, Jim!
    Looks like the new foot strike and (temporary) lower miles is lending to some nice speed work.

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  2. Great job on the 8s, that has got to feel good after changing all that footwork :).

    I could never run a marathon close to my 800 times either, but agreed: great speedwork (especially for shorter races).

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  3. Well done sir speedy!

    Interesting that Bart said there's nothing scientific to the Yassos. Like so many things I think it's more a confidence builder than a performance builder. So much of racing is between our ears.

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  4. Country music?!! Where's my wooden stake, garlic and pitchfork? Or is that for vampires?

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  5. Again - outstanding; quick. I tried/attempted to work on the foot strike last night. Wow - slow and awkward.

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  6. I'm in total agreement on the yasso's--not so sure they are accurate, but a great workout, still. You rocked them!

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  7. I bet Bart isn't very good at WWF if he's having trouble with formulas already.

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  8. Wow! That is serious speed. Nice workout!

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  9. Phenomenal effort! You are really adapting to the new midfoot strike well! Hopefully I will be able to join the midfoot strike party sometime after my injuries heal. Only time I've ever done Yasso 800s at that pace was back in high school! lol

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  10. Dang!! Those are some awesome 800s you ran. Seriously yowzers. I most definitely agree that they do not necessarily compute to marathon times (at all) however I still think they are great workouts and definitely help make you stronger. Way to go!

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  11. I'm just gratified that my 800 pace is still faster than your recovery pace. :^) Great work, and I'm glad the new stride is feeling more natural.

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