Yasso 800's can be a great predictor for marathon time. That is, if you're Bart Yasso. Apparently
it doesn't work for everyone. Regardless of whether I run a 2:51 - 2:57 marathon at Bizz Johnson, 10 800's at VO2max pace is an excellent workout.
Over the past few months I tended towards slower track workouts with cruise intervals, primarily because I felt I could only get 2 quality workouts in any given week. And since my target race is a marathon, a long run and tempo work seemed ideal. However, a buddy of mine suggested VO2max during the week, then a
tempo long run on the weekend. That means 15 - 22 miles, where 4 - 8 miles is at tempo pace (~6:45/mile) and the rest of the run is at easy pace (~8:15/mile). I'll give that a shot this week and see if my body protests too much.
Mileage SummaryThis Week13 milesThis Month (September)13 milesThis Year (2008)1,151 milesShoe: Asics 2130 bought on 8/27/200849.5 milesToday's RunWorkoutVO2max pace. 10 x 800 m w/ equal time active rest (200 m walk/jog). 2:57, 2:54, 2:56, 2:55, 2:55, 2:54, 2:54, 2:51, 2:53, 2:51Start Time8:00 pmTotal Distance10 milesTotal Time75:00 (approx)
RouteFlat. Kezar track w/ warm down back home
Pre-runKappa maki and raisin bran w/ 1% milkMid-runA GU before the track workout and a GU after the track workoutPost-runGlass Ovaltine with 1% milk, a glass of Cytomax, an English muffin w/ peanut butter, and a banana
2 comments:
those numbers look a lot faster than your actual marathon time. did you pace somebody at Biz Johnson, or were the conditions rough?
I can point to a couple of reasons why I didn't run a 2:55 marathon. But primarily, I don't buy the Yasso 800 theory. The stress on your body of running 10 800's on the track is very different that the stress of running continuously for 3+ hours.
What Bart Yasso discovered is very specific to his body. I've always had more speed than endurance, so running short and fast is easier for me than running long and sustained. If you read up a bit on Yasso 800's you'll find that a lot of other runners say they need to add 5 or 10 minutes to get their true marathon time. I feel I need to add 15 minutes. The other 20 minutes (my marathon was 3:31) was added on due to the altitude and perhpas some fueling issues.
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