Runners love the thought of predicting a marathon ending time and therefore the lengthy standing legend of the Yasso 800’s. A easy, but robust, velocity exercise designed by the famend runner and author Bart Yasso. He formulated an idea the place operating ten 800-meter intervals may foretell one’s marathon ending time.
This distinctive coaching idea has turn into a cornerstone for a lot of marathon hopefuls trying to increase their velocity and endurance.
The great thing about this train lies in its uncomplicated nature, making it helpful to runners of all ranges. Yasso 800s provide a structured but versatile coaching methodology that you simply an use to progress over the course of a coaching cycle.
Let’s discover out extra about this traditional exercise and the way folks use it to find out a possible marathon efficiency.
*As a operating coach, I’ve to remind you that that is however certainly one of many instruments and that even Bart himself, a very long time editor at Runner’s World and excessive efficiency athlete, has stated it’s not an ideal correlation of race day efficiency.
What Are Yasso 800s?
Coined by famend runner and coach Bart Yasso, Yasso 800s entails operating 10 repetitions of 800-meter (or half-mile) intervals at a tempo correlating to your goal marathon time. The thought is should you can hit every 800m repeat at your aim time, then it’s prediction of your marathon end.
For these unfamiliar with the mechanics, the execution of Yasso 800s entails operating repetitions at a tempo that corresponds to the hours and minutes of your aim marathon time.
As an illustration, should you’re focusing on a marathon end time of three hours and half-hour, your aim tempo for the 800-meter intervals can be 3 minutes and 30 seconds.
You might be NOT operating the laps at your aim tempo, however quite at your threshhold operating tempo. Which is what makes this such a tricky exercise and will solely be one piece of a marathon coaching plan. We additionally need miles at aim marathon tempo, tempo run work and extra.
Whereas the exercise is just not an infallible predictor, it supplies insights into your present health stage and serves as a tangible marker of progress all through your coaching journey. Even Yasso himself says that is however certainly one of many components, although regardless it’s an incredible velocity exercise to execute throughout coaching.
This personalised strategy provides a dynamic factor to coaching, permitting every runner to tailor their Yasso 800 exercises to their particular objectives and aspirations.
A key be aware earlier than we get in to extra particulars is that you simply SHOULD NOT strive 10 repetitions in your very first try at this exercise! As an alternative, that is one thing that you’re constructing over the course of your coaching plan.
Executing the Yasso 800s Exercise
Step one on this course of can be figuring out your marathon aim time. This course of goes to contain taking a look at your present race efficiency and the way a lot time you might have for this coaching cycle. Do not forget that on day one this tempo goes to really feel onerous and can slowly really feel extra doable all through coaching.
In your first Yasso exercise, full solely 2-3 reps relying how a lot different velocity work you’ve been doing. And should you aren’t acquainted, learn up on what number of laps make a mile to ensure you’re operating the proper distance.
Heat Up Previous to the Pace Session
Earlier than I dive into the Yasso 800s exercise particulars, know that warming up is non-negotiable for priming muscle tissue for the exercise forward.
A radical warm-up is essential earlier than high-intensity operating exercise. The aim is to regularly improve your coronary heart fee, heat up your muscle tissue, and put together your physique for the calls for of the upcoming exercise.
- Begin with a dynamic heat up (no static stretching) to loosen up and stop any strains.
- Transfer in to 10 minutes of straightforward operating to heat up the muscle tissue and slowly improve coronary heart fee.
- Contemplate doing 3-5 operating strides
- And doing 3 to five minutes of operating kind drills – A-Skips, quick ft, and so on.
A correct warm-up not solely reduces the danger of harm but additionally enhances your total efficiency throughout Yasso 800s and related exercises.
Begin The Exercise
Ideally you’ll carry out this on a monitor or different measured space so that you don’t must test your watch or account for variations in elevation whereas operating. This exercise is designed for a particular objective of pacing, the place you are able to do different velocity classes on the roads to include hills.
Run the First 800-Meter Interval: Hit the monitor and canopy 800 meters, timing your self to match the minutes and seconds of your focused marathon time in hours and minutes. As an illustration, should you’re eyeing a 3-hour marathon, run the 800 meters in 3 minutes.
Restoration Jog: Comply with up your onerous effort with an equal-time jog. For the 3-hour marathon aim, you’d jog for 3 minutes. Match your restoration time precisely to the time you ran your 800 intervals to maximise the exercise’s effectiveness.
Repeat the Course of: Alternate between operating and restoration till you full your set variety of 800-meter runs. Begin with three intervals and add extra as you progress, however solely if you constantly meet your time objectives.
Keep in mind the aim is to not run quicker, however to run the prescribed time.
And we’ll max out at 10 intervals for this exercise, possible within the 3-4 weeks earlier than your marathon.
How Many 800 Repeats Ought to I Do?
As famous, begin with 4, particularly if you’re doing this early within the coaching cycle.
The aim is to max out at 10 repetitions should you’re utilizing this as some type of predictor exercise in your marathon coaching.
What Are the Advantages of 800s?
These exercises present a number of advantages throughout a spread of coaching objectives. Let’s breakdown just a few of them:
- Working at quicker than marathon tempo will make marathon aim tempo really feel simpler
- It may well assist with that ending kick since you’ve realized to push onerous on drained legs
- You’ll be enhancing your VO2 Max, which implies extra environment friendly operating
- Quick, sharp velocity classes are going to push you to your max shortly after which assist you to recuperate
Submit Yasso Exercise
After every session, think about your efficiency. Have been you in a position to maintain the tempo? Solely improve the variety of intervals when you may confidently full your present set on the desired tempo.
Moreover, after an intense monitor exercise, it’s necessary to comply with submit run cooldown protocol. Do not forget that we don’t wish to sit down and we completely should make refueling and hydrating a precedence to be prepared for the subsequent exercise.
Start with a sluggish jog, letting your coronary heart fee decline regularly. This mild exercise aids in clearing your muscle tissue of lactic acid and decreasing stiffness.
How Usually Ought to You Do Yasso 800s?
Whereas it’s good to repeat exercises all through your coaching cycle to see progress, it’s additionally actually invaluable to include different velocity classes.
We wish to do issues at 5K tempo, aim marathon tempo and all the pieces in between over the 12-16 weeks that you simply’ll be coaching.
Since we purpose to maintain our whole depth quantity of coaching to twenty% or much less for any given week, you may solely do Yasso 800s 1 time per 30 days alongside your different exercises.
Utilizing Yasso 800s for Different Races
Should you’re gearing up for a race that’s shorter than a marathon, you may assume Yasso 800s aren’t for you. I’ll allow you to in on a secret: you may nonetheless use them to spice up your velocity and endurance. Begin with 4 repeats and take note of how your physique responds.
Say your aim is a half-marathon time of1:45 end. Purpose to run 5 by 800 meters in 3 minutes and 37 seconds (which might be your equal marathon ending time).
When you nail all of your repeats at this tempo, solely then think about including one other.
Coaching for a 10K? Alter your repeats to fit your race tempo, specializing in finishing every 800-meter interval constantly earlier than rising the quantity.
That is about constructing endurance methodically, with out overtaxing your self earlier than you’re prepared. Follow the core precept of the exercise: sustaining the goal tempo for every interval earlier than progressing. It’s this regular improve that helps you achieve energy and velocity whereas tailoring the exercise to satisfy your race objectives.
Do I Assign Yasso 800s?
As a very long time operating coach and runner myself, I can’t say that it is a exercise we repeat a ton with most athletes as a result of as famous above there are plenty of issues I need us to work on within the 12-16 weeks of a marathon plan construct up.
Significantly should you construct as much as 10 repeats, it is a exercise that’s going to require restoration and may take away from a few of the different issues we wish to accomplish throughout peak marathon coaching.
I do like utilizing 800m repeats in exercises, however normally don’t construct as much as the complete 10. As an alternative, I’ve runners begin to incorporate aim tempo mileage of their lengthy runs, quick end exercises throughout lengthy runs, and so on.
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