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Special
Workout :: Yasso 800 - The Marathon Pace Workout with a Twist
Named after Runner's World editor Bart Yasso, this workout,
the Yasso 800,
has gained quite a bit
of popularity over the last few years.
It is a marathon pace workout with a twist.
On this page I am exploring the merits of this special workout.
I'll cover off on the following topics:
So, how do
you do this marathon pace workout?
Are Yasso
800s helpful in predicting your marathon pace?
Is there
value in the Yasso 800 as a marathon pace indicator?
Using the
Yasso 800 as a half marathon pace guide.
Are Yasso
800s a good workout?
So, How Do You Do This Marathon Pace Workout?

During your marathon training you build up your 800 metre-repeats every
week (from about four to ten or twelve).
Your goal is to run these 800 metre-repeats at a constant pace.
The time you spend running these 800 metres in
minutes, is a prediction of how fast you can run your marathon in hours.
I told you it was a marathon pace workout with a twist! It is not run
on marathon pace, but it is supposed to give you a prediction of it.
So, say you do your Yasso 800s at 3:30 min / 800 metres.
In between you recovery jog for the same amount of time (so 3:30 min).
Then your predicted marathon time is 3:30 hours.
Doing your 800 metre-repeats at 2:50 min / 800 metres (recovery jog for
2:50 min)? Then your predicted marathon time is 2 hours and 50 minutes.
Almost too good to be true...
And yes, it often is.
I will explain why.
It is still a good workout though, so I will explain to you how you
can use
it.
Are
Yasso 800s helpful in predicting your marathon pace?
So, are Yasso
800s helpful?
Think about it.
800 metres compared to 26.2 miles.
A marathon is about 53 times more than 800 metres.
The difference is simply too big!
10k races and
half marathon races are pretty good at predicting your
marathon performance. Provided you do the work required for your
marathon. Just use my marathon
calculator page and Bob is your uncle!
However, the difference between 800m and 26.2 miles is huge.
The marathon requires a sufficiently developed aerobic base.
An 800 metre run has a larger anaerobic component.
You will find that using these 800 metre-repeats
as a predictor, you
will often not reach your marathon goal time, but you will be ten to
fifteen minutes slower.
There is simply a lot more involved in running a three hour marathon
than being able to run ten 800 metre-repeats in three minutes.
It's nice. It's gimmicky. But unfortunately it's not that simple.
"I Love This Marathon Guide. It's Really Good. I Don't Get It. You Are Giving This Away for Free??? I Should Have Had This Years Ago. It's Never Been So Easy!"
Grab "Marathon Training Secrets" NOW. Run Your Marathon With Confidence. |
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Is
There Value in the Yasso 800 as a Pace Indicator?
In several forum discussions I have seen runners claiming that the
Yasso 800s do predict your marathon time if during
all 800 metre repeats your heart rate stays at the same level.
If it creeps up during the workout you will probably not be able to run
your race at the predicted time.
I have not
tried this out myself, but tend to believe it.
When your
heart rate does not move during a workout which has you running at
above tempo pace, then you have little difficulty with that pace.
Still, when I want to establish my predicted race pace I'd like to use
more than just the Yasso 800.
I would prefer:
Recent
10k and half marathon race times
Then combine that with
knowledge I have of my current
long run, tempo run and interval paces.
Do some marathon goal
pace sessions and see how they go.
So take all of that info.
Then cross-reference it
with Yasso 800 info.
That would give me a good guide of how fast I'd be in my
marathon.
But relying on the Yasso 800 alone is, in my opinion, not
sufficient.
Also see my marathon
pace page to learn everything necessary about
marathon pace training and marathon pace strategy.
Using
the Yasso 800 as a Half Marathon Pace Guide
Another possibility I see is to use this workout as a half marathon pace
indicator.
Whereas the marathon is an unpredictable beast, the half marathon is a
bit more predictable. After all, it's often a bit unclear for all of us
how we'll go in those last six miles / 10k of the marathon, whereas
with proper pacing you can almost be guaranteed you can finish a half
marathon strongly.
So, how do you use the Yasso 800 as a half marathon pace indicator?
Decide on your goal for your half marathon race.
Find the equivalent marathon time using this
race conversion calculator filling in your half
marathon time as "the race you ran" and work out the corresponding
marathon time.
Then use this time in hours to work out the
time in
minutes of your Yasso 800s
Let's talk through a few examples to help this make sense.
Example 1
E.g. Suppose you have recently run a 10k in 43 minutes.
Using the race conversion calculator in the link above, you'll work out
that your predicted half marathon time would be about 1:35 and your
predicted marathon time would be about 3:18.
Now,
when you can do a Yasso 800 workout of 10-12 x 800 metres in 3 min 18
per 800 metre repeat with 3 min 18 sec jogging in between, you'll have
another good indication that you can indeed hit that 1:35 half marathon
time.
Makes sense?
Or are we getting too complicated here?
Let's walk through another example.
Example 2
Suppose you have recently done a 5k
race in 25 minutes. Then, with use of the race conversion
calculator you will find a predicted half marathon time of 1 hr 55 mins and a
predicted full marathon time of just under 4 hrs.
So,
if you can do a Yasso 800 workout of 10-12 x 800 metre repeats at 4
mins per repeat (4 min jog in between), then that will help give you
some good guidance that 1:55 is indeed feasible.
Example 3
Let's work the other way. Suppose you are able to do 3 min 30s "Yassos".
Which, in theory, lines up to a marathon of 3 hrs and 30 mins.
Then using this marathon time to work out a half marathon time in the
race conversion calculator, we get a half marathon time of
just under 1
hr and 41 mins.
So,
if you can do a Yasso 800 workout of 10-12 x 800 metre repeats at 3
min 30s per repeat (3 min 30s jog in between), then that will help give
you
some good guidance that your half marathon will be around the 1:41
mark.
Of course,
there are other half
marathon goal
pace sessions you can do, the link
will give you some good examples.
When deciding on your race pace, no matter if it is a half marathon,
full marathon or any other distance, always use a number of different
references.
The big
mistake
some of us make is relying on intuition or just one indicator. That one
indicator may be overly positive and that can set you up for failure.
I
know some folks who are incredibly good at short distance runs like the
800m. They'd be able to run 3min 800s the whole afternoon, but they'd
really struggle hitting a 3hr marathon as they haven't done sufficient
long runs.
Are Yasso 800s a Good Workout?
Yes,
Yassos are a good workout.
There is nothing wrong with doing 800 metre-repeats.
And doing it 10-12x in a row and moderately hard pace is a very decent
workout indeed.
So, pretty good.
However, studies
have shown that the optimal interval lasts for three to five
minutes.
Most of us can go quite a bit further than 800 metres in five minutes.
So, 800 metre-repeats are generally too short. But, I still like to do
them occassionally. At least if I am at a track. I have done them "in
the wild" as well. But the obvious problem, at least without
a GPS
running watch is then to get an exact 800 metre run
done.
Every time.
So your in-between recovery jog
needs to be finishing at the exact right spot at the exact right time.
And that's just a bit too inconvenient.
So, I normally use my GPS running watch for measured intervals, but
quite often like to do them just based on time as well, e.g. 4 or 5 min
hard with 3 min recovery in between. The Gymboss
is a great little tool for intervals.
I hope this provides you with sufficient information about the Yasso
800 to make up your own mind about it.
It is an interesting help to determine marathon performance, although I
think a little flawed.
However, as half marathon pace indicator it can be helpful.
And, all in all, yes, the Yasso
800 is a good workout, but I think you shouldn't restrict your interval
running sessions to Yassos alone.
"I Love This Marathon Guide. It's Really Good. I Don't Get It. You Are Giving This Away for Free??? I Should Have Had This Years Ago. It's Never Been So Easy!"
Grab "Marathon Training Secrets" NOW. Run Your Marathon With Confidence. |
|
|
"Thank you for these emails! As a beginner runner I am really getting a lot of valuable help from your knowledge!"
Joe
"Loving the tips! Loving them all. Keep it up …"
Kursti
|
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