Yasso 800's: Predicting and Preparing for Boston Marathon



"I often hear someone say I'm not a real runner. We are all runners, some just run faster than others. I never met a fake runner."

-Bart Yasso

 

The first time I prepared to qualify for Boston, I had not ran on a track since high school.
20 miles for "the fun of it" was the only experience I had to ignite me into the Boston endeavor.

Andy coached me to the track. He introduced me, not only to Yasso 800's but to a degree of pain I had not felt before.
Running distance is exhausting, all consuming. It is a mental strength that I had slowly developed and fell in love with. My long runs consisted of being outside, basking in the sun and whistling "Dixie".

Running around the flat, unprotected track blindside me. I felt like I had been sucker punched by a degree of agony I knew nothing about.
It was almost 80' degrees outside and there was not a cloud in the sky. The torture was almost unbearable. I could hardly understand the process of what I was running. All the numbers, 800meters, 400 meters, meters, miles, it was so confusing to me.
What happened to just lacing up your shoes and running out into the street until you couldn't go any more. That was brainless. I just ran until my body said to quit. There was no rocket science in that. I was born to do that.
Now, Andy  had to get all nerdy about the running. I had numbers and times. I had someone screaming at me to "Pick IT UP, NITA" or "COME on, GO!".  No one EVER yelled at me when I ran but ME. I had a stop watch ticking and the sun baking the sweat of nerves off my face and skin.
I ran 2 laps around a track and thought I was going to puke and DIE. I had never felt like that even after running double digits in the blazing sun.

"Anita, This is going to work." Andy coached me. He explained the idea behind the Yasso 800's but I was to afflicted to calculate the science behind it.

It worked. I qualified for Boston on my first marathon. When we went to Chicago to qualify for the Boston Marathon I actually had the opportunity to meet Bart Yasso at the expo. He  signed my bib and encouraged me to try and convinced me to try and run what my 800's were. That time was 5 minutes faster than my qualifying time. I did it. Running Chicago was the HARDEST marathon I have ever competed in and my most fulfilling. It is like your first born child. It holds a special place in your heart.

Yasso 800's.
Bart Yasso is the Chief Running Officer for Runners World magazine.
As a young runner, Bart ran these repeats around the track. It wasn't until later as he was browsing through his running logs he discovered the the correlation with his 800's and his marathon time.
Heres how it works:

• Take your marathon goal time in hours/minutes and convert this to minutes/seconds.  Example:  If your marathon goal is 3 hours and 30 minutes then convert that to 3 minutes and 30 seconds.
• Try to run 800 meters (approximately 1/2 mile) in your converted time (3:10 in this example).
• Recover after each 800 by jogging or walking for the same amount of time (again, 3:10 in this example).
• Start with three or four repetitions in the first week.
• Continue with Yasso 800 workouts once a week and try to add one more repetition each week until you reach ten repetitions. As you get closer to your desired  amount of repeats you will feel more fatigued and sore.

The Yasso 800's actually was more of a mental training tool for me. The pain and suffering of the workout gave me the faith that I could do what it was telling me I would do. I became emotionally involved in a goal time. I trained that goal time with the Yasso 800's and then I mentally believed the "proof was in the pudding". I told my body based on the results of my 800's what it was capable of performing. I had to trust in my training and believe in my body to carry it through.
*Note...I am a stronger believer in Christ but I believe HE believed in ME first. Ultimately, I had to trust in HIM. And in 85 degree weather even your training can not stand up against conditions like I had that day in Chicago. But with Christ, ALL things are Possible.
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The RUNDOWN:
Distance:8 miles
2 mile w/u
6x800M repeats
400M recovery, easy jog
Best 800: 3:15
Slowest 800: 3:18
1 1/2 mile c/d
*I should have ran 8 of these not 6. Next week I will do 8. My time was better than I expected. I was beginning to feel like I was going to fall on my face!

Have You ever ran Yasso 800's? What was your experience like??

Anita