Thursday, February 23, 2012

Yasso 800's

One of my goals is to PR my half mary in October by 10 minutes which would be under 1:45.  I read this article about Yasso 800's and decided to give it a go since I have no coach or background in this area..  So doing a little figuring, I came up with a goal pace for my 10x800's of 7:20/mile (or 3:40/800).  I decided I would make Tuesday morning, track morning or OOP morning (oval of pain).  I decided to start with three 800's and add one a week, taking some weeks off and even back tracking if needed.  The first week, I couldn't even run fast enough to hit 3:40.  Not sure if it was a cardio issue, leg turn over issue, or both, but since my half mary isn't until October, I wasn't too worried about it.  Each week, I added one for 5 weeks and my speed increased nicely.

Week 1: 3:50, 3:55, 3:53
Week 2: 3:44, 3:45, 3:45, 3:45
Week 3: 3:39, 3:45, 3:43, 3:44, 3:38 - yeah for sub 7:20!
Week 4: 3:40, 3:40, 3:40, 3:40, 3:40, 3:40 - treadmill makes it easy, keep up or fly off
Week 5: 3:41, 3:40, 3:40, 3:40, 3:44, 3:42, 3:40

The last set wasn't as consistent as they look.  The first 400 on most of them was 1:52 or 1:53 so I had to pull a 1:47 or 1:48 on the second 400. I don't have a Garmin, just a stopwatch.

I log my workouts at BT and they automatically get tweeted.  A really cool social media thing happened after the week 5 tweet.  One of my twitter friends replied and included the author of the article in the tweet.  (I blanked out her name in case she doesn't want it blogged).  Bart Yasso responded with his advice on my half PR quest!  Here is the exciting tweet stream :-)


So according to Bart, I need to step it up another notch for the half.  I'm not sure if I'll switch to 400's, stick with 800's or mix them both in.  I see the benefit in both and I have plenty of time before my PR attempt.  That said, the combination of my increased running load, plus the extreme fitness class at the Y, plus trainer rides have left me a little battered.  Luckily I got a travel stick from my secret Santa and I have an office with a door so I can roll my sore to the touch left calf and twingy right hammie a couple times a day.  I'm keeping up, but just barely.  I'm on the verge of injury.  As I type this, I'm wearing this for my shoulders.  Even with its faults, I can surf, tweet and blog with ice sitting on my shoulders.  Think the guys at work would mind if I made a dress shirt version? :-)  Speaking of the guys at work, I have a couple guys I hang around with outside of work and when I shared the fact that I was going to close my door and rub a stick across my legs and butt they busted out laughing wishing they could record that comment :-).

6:20 am after my workout, it was dark when I started

I'm so lucky to have this track 3/4 of a mile from my house.  Perfect warm up/cool down distance for me.  With no snow this winter, I've been able to run this whenever I want and have had the track to myself every time.


12 comments:

XLMIC said...

Pretty killer. Look how much faster you're getting!

"keep up or fly off"... hahahahahhahaha!

Jill said...

OOP - I LOVE that!! I start back to interval track group on March 6th and I will use that acronym.

I think a combination of 400 and 800s is perfect (even 12s) for a half. I even like implementing ladders ... variety is key. Nevertheless, Bart sent you a message?? Holy smokes, you're like popular or something now!

Amanda@runninghood said...

I am so excited to start some interval work next week!! My plan has me starting with 1200s. Yay! I love 800's though. Nice to have that track so close.

KovasP said...

Nice progress! Cool that Bart weighed in!

TriMOEngr said...

I think hearing advice from a pro like Bart Yasso would totally make my day. Loved his book ("My Life on the Run"). I truthfully didn't read too much of the workout info (which there was a lot) because his life story was much more interesting.

Christie said...

I never did interval work because I found it intimidating but the little I have done so far... I can already tell is helping so much!! Stick with them and you will reach your half marathon goal for sure!

Kate Geisen said...

I love the speedwork intervals, especially on the treadmill (the only thing I love on the treadmill) bc like you mentioned it's so much easier to hit your pace. My HM plan had 1600 repeats. I'm jealous of your shorter repeats! :)

SO COOL that BY replied to the tweet.

Maybe you need to pull back a little before you HAVE to, though?

Unknown said...

That is really cool that he responded. Every week I intend to do track work, but I don't! I guess its because I am still building my base.

Debbie said...

good for you!! i would love to sit on that track every single day and watch the sun come up...what a motovator!!

don't miss the beauty that is all around you!!

Raina said...

Mike- love the stats! Great workouts, very intense. I think you have plenty of time until october :))

Teamarcia said...

Very nice OOP and nice work on it! Amazing the progress one makes. Bart Yasso is the bomb. I had the pleasure of meeting him at a pre-Boston shindig a couple of years ago. Great guy.

The Green Girl said...

Go, Mike, go! I am also lucky and thankful to have a track right by my apartment. It's the little things in life, huh?