Yasso's (Read 1063 times)

> Run to the fridge and back for 5k training. But give it 101% effort. That's excellent, and it scales beautifully for 10K, because I can do doubles for 10K training, and I can conveniently practice hydration by drinking at the refrigerator end (because 10K is a long thirsty course).

What if the fridge is in the garage?

I think the basic premise is flawed. Yasso 800s are a predictive tool, NOT specific training for a marathon. Bart Yasso has even stated this in the past, but the idea that they are for training persists. Yasso's basic premise is that if you can do the workout at a consist pace, then you have the fitness and ability to run hypothetically run a marathon with that as a goal time. It's a way to see if your goal pace matches your fitness. That's all.

Yasso's basic premise is that if you can do the workout at a consist pace, then you have the fitness and ability to run hypothetically run a marathon with that as a goal time. It's a way to see if your goal pace matches your fitness. That's all.

But even that's flawed. I once did 6x800 in 2:20~2:25. But plug any of my PRs into any racing calculator, and you'll quickly see that I could never ever ever run a 2:20~2:25 marathon. Plug a 2:20~2:25 marathon into McMillans, and all of the times for the shorter distances crush my PR's. So I personally am calling BS on the whole thing. Other than the fact that repeat 800's are a killer workout.

But even that's flawed. I once did 6x800 in 2:20~2:25. But plug any of my PRs into any racing calculator, and you'll quickly see that I could never ever ever run a 2:20~2:25 marathon. Plug a 2:20~2:25 marathon into McMillans, and all of the times for the shorter distances crush my PR's. So I personally am calling BS on the whole thing. Other than the fact that repeat 800's are a killer workout.

That's not how it works. You take your goal pace for the marathon, and run the 800s at that pace to see if you can complete the workout. If you can, then your goal pace is realistic. Otherwise, it's not. It looks like you're trying to go the other way.

That's not how it works. You take your goal pace for the marathon, and run the 800s at that pace to see if you can complete the workout. If you can, then your goal pace is realistic. Otherwise, it's not. It looks like you're trying to go the other way.

True. But when i was super fit, I could have set a goal marathon target of 2:20~2:25, and successfully done Yasso's in 2:20~2:25. But that wouldn't have made my goal marathon time realistic. At my very very best, if I had trained ideally for the marathon, I may have been able to run 2:40, which is a long long way from 2:20. That's my point, and the problem I have with Yassos -- for me at least, I could complete Yasso workouts much faster than I could have ever dreamed of running the equivalent marathon.

Shorter repeats and races are only of ANY value in predicting marathon times IF, and only IF, you are running relatively high mileage and essentially training for the marathon. For example, if you are training with specificity for a 5K, you are going to over-develop systems improving your speed that are of little significance in the marathon that will skew you towards shorter performances (this is the whole point of that training!!). For example, I know a couple guys who have been well under 15 for 5K yet unable to break 2:30 in the marathon. Or a former teammate with 1:52 historical 800m speed who could run a 1:58 800m but not a 2:40 marathon in the same season. He'd have had no trouble running Yasso's in 2:15! Conversely, if running pretty high mileage, regardless of specificity of your speedwork you'll have addressed the basic systems necessary to run a decent marathon and your times will correlate better. I'm talking at least 60 mpw, preferably in the 70-80 mpw range. Trying to correlate ANYTHING to predict marathon performance before the fact when training under 40 mpw is an exercise in futility. The only possible factor I can think that may have any relevance is HR....IF you already know from experience what your sustainable marathon HR is. What is the suggested recovery on Yassos anyways?

But, you also wouldn't be doing them in 2:20 pace. You'd be doing them based on your actual goal pace for the marathon. And that would also be done close to your goal marathon to see if your training is matching your goals.

Wait a minute. I thought the deal with Yasso is that if you want to run a marathon in xx h:mm, you run repeat 800s in xx m:ss (in other words, a 3h:40m marathoner runs Yasso 800s in 3m:40s), not 800s at your marathon goal pace. Am I wrong about this? (probably )

True. But when i was super fit, I could have set a goal marathon target of 2:20~2:25, and successfully done Yasso's in 2:20~2:25. But that wouldn't have made my goal marathon time realistic.

Right. But if you could NOT do them in 2:20, you sure as hell couldn't run a 2:20 marathon. It only works that direction. I should really make a U of M joke here. Maybe after another cup of coffee a good one will come to me.