I was thrilled driving to my weekly track workout today because my car only said it was 84 degrees outside. It felt so cool compared to the heat we've been having. I feel like I've been struggling a lot lately, but today I told myself that it was going to stop and I was going to have a phenomenal workout. Running is mostly mental, right? On tap tonight was 10 Yasso 800s with 400 recovery in between.
Yasso 800s are great for marathon training. The idea is if you want to run a 4:00 marathon, then you would run your 800s at 4:00 pace. If you goal is 3:45, then your 800s are done at 3:45. Simple math. I'm the only one in my track group that has never run a marathon before. I haven't thought it through yet as to what my specific goal time is. All I know is that I want to run a sub 4-hour marathon. Other than that, not quite sure.
I decided to start and just run and see how I felt. I stuck by the girls that I normally am around, and the first 800 felt good. The majority of the guys were running sub-3:00 pace for their 800s, so it was obvious that the 3 girls who were there were going to do the workout on their own due to the fact that we needed rest time and would not get any if we went with the guys. After 6, one of the girls stopped so it was just me and another. We ran all of them together, and there was a group of guys that ran the last one with us because they had finished their 10.
The last 800 was the toughest, but the fastest (see results below). We clocked 3-flat for 800 #9, and one of the guys told us we should aim for a sub 3:00 for #10 and that he would run with us. As it turned out, there were 5 guys that ran with us. We started off blazing fast (for me), and by the 600 mark I wanted to die. I did end up getting a sub 3 though, which felt good, especially after doing 9 previous 800s.
My splits were:
1 - 3:17
2 - 3:08
3 - 3:15
4 - 3:12
5 - 3:15
6 - 3:04
7 - 3:08
8 - 3:10
9 - 3:00
10 - 2:56
I'm so happy to finally have a good workout. However, I realize that these were not run in true Yasso form because I know I don't have a 3:17 marathon time in me. I overheard someone once say that "they" say Yasso 800s are the best indicator of what your marathon time will be. Hm... I'll just think that I had a good day on the track.
Do you run Yasso 800s for marathon training? Do you think they are a good predictor of what you'll run for your marathon time?
My life as a runner, perfectionist, athlete, 20-something, and type 1 diabetic.
A couple thoughts:
ReplyDelete1.) Based on your other races, you'll easily crush 4:00. Because it is your first marathon, you want the pressure lower, but I could easily see you going under 3:40 (BQ, right?)
2.) Even at 84 degrees, it's not optimum running weather, so you ran ever better than your times indicate.
I've done Yasso's and I think they're a reasonable workout to judge marathon fitness, but you're right, you CAN complete that workout and still not hit the marathon time. Nailing the marathon requires a lot of 16-20 miles runs, ideally with some marathon pace portions in them.
You're looking great, though! You know, Team Type 1 is sending about 10 runners to Chicago. Drop me an email and I'll let you know where we're going to be hanging out prior to the day. (once I know, that is!)
Marcus