Track Work

I'm a little leery of putting down on "paper" for all of you to read and see what my goals are for Long Beach.  Yes, I'm going for the BQ, but aside from that I have some time goals that I really, really, really want to hit.  So much so, that I'm willing to bear the heat of the summer at the track to get where I want to go.

Yasso 800's are something that I heard of a few years ago and have recently being hearing good things about (or maybe I'm just more in tune to wanting to hear it?) the theory and it actually playing out to it's claims.  We all know that speed work is what gets us faster.  And since you can't run every run at your marathon pace or faster, you have to schedule in the time to turn your legs over quicker, develop the muscles for speed and so forth.  So this marathon training cycle I am going to hit the speed work head on.  I'm not going to just put it on my training calendar and do it when I feel like it.  By gosh, I may be becoming a more mature marathoner!  You always know what you need to do, but sometimes after experience and a few marathons you think you know more than the "experts."  Well, I'm here to tell you...I don't know Jack and I'm ready to really follow a plan, not just the prescribed mileage.  Wow, I'm getting old :)

I can't tell you all the theories behind what makes this work, but I do know that many people have used it and been very happy with the results.  It's scary dead on!  And it's simple, you want to run a 3 hour marathon? Run your 800's in 3 minutes.  You want to run a 3:30?  Run your 800's in 3 mins, 30 seconds.  So on, and so forth.  I know we also can get bogged down by a lot of information for improvement.  And for the most part, my running career I have stuck with one theory, the Pfitz plan.  But, after using it for the last few marathon cycles, or a homemade variation of it, I'm ready to try something new.  Yes, Pfitz got me to my first BQ, and it got me in my second marathon a sub 4, but now I want more and I need a change.  Yasso suggests adding in the 800 speed work to your regular marathon training schedule.  Perfect since I love Pfitz but still want something more.  I have already designated Tuesday as my track day (since Monday is a rest day for me and I'll be good and ready!) and will incorporate the 800's twice a month for a while then increasing it to 3, than 4 as marathon day approaches.  Bart even suggests that you run your last 800 workout about 10 days before - well into taper mode for many training plans.  This is just an overview of the theory and training.  By no means use this as a base to begin the track workout.  Do some research and some reading and check it out and see if it fits with your training and your goals.

I'm not sure if it will all pan out the way I want it to.  I'm not sure if I even have a 3:30 in me, I feel like I do, but we all know that race day and marathon training can be a crap shoot (I hold a PhD in that department!).  But I do know that if I don't try I won't know what could have been and I'm not one to have regrets.  So, Yasso 800's are on the books for me this training cycle.  Long Beach is flat and fast and I'm hoping that this is just the ticket I need.  And, as I said in the beginning, I hate putting it out there for everyone to see what my goal time is.  It's added pressure.  But, this is the place where I keep my honesty with all of you and that is where my plan is heading: a 3:30 marathon on October 17.

Take a look at the article if your interested.  There is a lot of information about the Yasso plan on RunnersWorld.com  and you can of course google it as tons of stuff came up about it.  I guess I can be the guinea pig for all of you, too!  We'll see what race day produces after a summer of 800's :)

Last night was my first night in trying out the 800's and let me say...they are tough!  I think one article says start with four, while another one says start with 7 so I decided to shoot for 7 but reassess how I felt after 4.  I warmed up with a 3/4 mile warm up then started my 800's.  In between you are to do a 400 rest.  I also did this on the treadmill as the high school track I usually go to was having a meet.  Actually, for the first time doing this I think it made it easier.  You just can't stop.  The first 4 were hard, but I still felt like I had more in me.  So, I kept going and by the time the 7th one came around I was done!!!  I did a one mile cool down and finished the workout with 7 miles.  I also ran my 400's at my marathon pace, which was an 8:00/mi pace.  It's amazing how slow that felt!  And since the treadmill can't give you an exact 7:00 mi/pace or 3:30 pace, I started the 800 at 7:03 (or 8.5 mph) and the last 0.05 I ran in 6:58/mi pace (8.6 mph).  Not sure if it makes a huge difference but i want to be as exact as I can.  I think next few weeks I will stick with 7 and see how I do.  I hope by the time October comes around I will be able to run all 10!
7x800 + 400 rest = 5.25 miles  36:45 - 7:00/mi pace
6 miles + warm up = 44:00 7:19/mi pace
7 miles with cool down = 52:01 7:25/mi pace
I was blown away by my 6 mile mark, makes me think my sub 45 10K is not crazy!  Wait, it is, since I HATE the 10K :)

Monday was an easy 5 mile run before I met with a personal trainer to go over some new core work.  I will do a post to share some of the easy moves that you can do at home with some simple hand weights and a medicine ball.  Oh, and I'm adding core to my plan...yeah, I'm going all out this time!

Happy Hump Day and Happy Running Peeps!
Oh, and check out these beauties that arrived :0 Roadrunnersports.com is the bomb!