Regular non-running readers will be bored ... Runners, my two cents on the famous Yasso 800s are below the fold!
The problem with Yasso 800s is that either the recoveries are too long, or the repeats are too short. With a little tweaking -- that would make them less easy to convey in a magazine article -- they'd be a good workout.
If you've come this far you probably know what Yasso 800s are. They're a marathon-oriented speed workout where you work up to running 10 x 800 in as many minutes and seconds as your goal marathon time in hours and minutes.
[So, if you want to run a 3:10 marathon you should be able to do 10 800m repeats in 3:10 with 3:10 jogging between]
I can see the appeal of this workout -- it's easy to remember, easy to set the countdown for on your watch. If you do it on the track you can just roll though the recovery, and start the next two lap effort when your time is up at any point on the track.
If you do a couple of miles warmup and a couple warmdown, and get at least 400m jogging in between you'll get a good 11-14 mile run in for the day. The volume of speedwork (8000m or 5 miles) is good. The pace is good, you should be running round about your 5k-4 mile pace in the repeats.
Yet there's some acceptance that the Yasso 800s aren't quite accurate. Greg McMillan reports that many people end up running about 5-7 minutes slower than their Yasso times.
And it's not like they're totally useless, but with a little extra effort you can get a lot more from the workout.
To step back for a moment, Yasso 800s are a V02 max workout. That is, they improve your ability to consume oxygen. To improve your V02 max you have to be working in oxygen debt at a high heart rate for between 3.5 to 5 minutes. Then you recover, then you do it again.
You can make the repeats shorter, if you also keep the recoveries shorter.
If you're doing your 800s in 4:00 or over then the 800s are probably OK for you. You'll be working on your oxygen uptake abilities for about the right amount of time.
But anyone below 3:30 and certainly those close to and under 3:00, should make their Yasso 800 workouts 1000m, 1200m, 1400m or even 1600m workouts, at the same pace as the Yasso workouts (so long as the total workbout is less than five minutes. Anyone running 2:30 800s or 5:02 miles probably knows something about what they're doing). The recovery can be about equal to the repeat.
Indeed, if you look at Jack Daniels' Running Formula you'll notice that his Interval pace for 1000m-1600m intervals is pretty much the Yasso pace for 800s. But you just keep going ...
Alternatives to the Yasso 800s
Do the 800s, with a 400m jog in between. The 400m should take about 45-60 seconds less than your 800 time. The shorter recovery will mean that you hit oxygen debt a little earlier in the 800 repeats and have the right amount of time sucking wind and improving your oxygen consumption abilities ... This is less than optimal for a couple of reasons. (1) If you really are training for a marathon the longer repeats are probably better, and (2) If you're aiming to race 5Ks and 10Ks along the way, doing 1000-1600m at 5k pace is good for that aim too.
Do 1000m-1600m repeats at the Yasso pace, with equal time recoveries (or slightly under equal recoveries). My own experience is that even with equal time recoveries this is a harder workout. You're working in oxygen debt for quite a while in each repeat.
When I was younger I used to avoid doing workouts where it was easy to think "I'm halfway now." So I'd do odd numbers of repeats or ladders to make the workout mentally easier. Perhaps oddly, now that I'm older I find the 8 x 1000m or 6 x 1200m easier, partly because I do more varied workouts week-to-week.
Whatever your situation, ladders are an excellent way of breaking up the monotony. A ladder of 800-1000-1200-1400-1400-1200-1000-800 adds up to the same distance as the Yasso 10 x 800.
There's no law that says you have to do repeats that are an even number when divided by 100. A session of 1000, 1100, 1200, 1300, 1400, 1000, 1000 has some variety, and you can look forward to shorter repeats after your 1400m effort.
My final piece of advice is that the value of any of these workouts is enhanced by running them at an even pace. As you are running around your 5k pace, these workouts are an excellent opportunity to practice running evenly at that pace. Most watches these days come with a countdown or lap/split counter. If you set these to beep at you every 100m or 200m and try to hit each 100m-200m in an even pace throughout the workout it will be a much, much better session.
Running a 90 second lap followed by a 100 second lap is pointless. If you hit an even pace, the first few repeats will feel relatively easy. That's OK. You should still be working hard in the last couple of hundred metres of each repeat. Since the first repeats are easier, starting with the longer repeats and working down to 1000m can be productive. A session of 1400, 1300, 1200, 1100, 3 x 1000m has 8000m of repeats and coming down in distance feels mentally easier while still working the right systems at an even pace.
Good luck!
Posted by robe0419 at March 25, 2005 01:39 PM | TrackBackGreat post. I just did a 10x800 Yasso workout last night and was doing a search to read more about it. I am training to run under 3:10 to qualify for Boston and had also read about the 5-7 minute difference. Up until last night, I had been following Daniels' training program and had done 7x1000 and 5x1200 the previous weeks. This time I decided to change it up and do 800s. I really felt like running 10 of those was easier than the 1200s or 1000s and I think a lot of that was because of the lack of time at VO2 max because I was only running for just over 3 minutes at a time.
In summary, I agree with everything you said.
Posted by: Dylan Wiek at October 28, 2005 09:32 AM