How To.....Yasso 800

Day 55 of run streak. 55 days! How?! I have no idea how I have got here but with no races in the near future I figured it was time to have a go at a couple of technical runs to see if it would help me to improve my overall pace.

The Theory

The Yasso 800 theory was created by Bart Yasso, Chief Running Officer at Runner's World. Bart's theory is that the pace you train at for the distance of 800 metres is in a direct correlation with the speed at which you could run a marathon. For example, Bart says that if you can run 800 metres in 3 minutes 20 seconds, you will be capable of a marathon time of 3 hours 20 mins, a 800 metre time of 2 minutes 50 seconds would get you a 2 hour 50 marathon, and so on and so forth.

In training, you should aim for between 3- 5 Yasso 800s and work up to eventually achieve 10 in one training session. The rest time between each Yasso should be a recovery for the same length of time it took to do the effort. Obviously this alone to try and achieve a target marathon time would be ridiculous so this training is recommended once a week as part of a full marathon training plan.

....Really?! How accurate can this really be? I've already written off another marathon post London for a long time but with time on my hands, I thought I'd give the theory a go and see how I got on.

In Practice

Before setting out, I needed to work out what would be an ideal pace. As I won't be doing a marathon I decided to bend the rules slightly to work on a target pace for a 5k distance. The pace obviously needed to be quicker than what I currently work at (otherwise what would be the point?) so I decided on 7:20m/m pace as being able to maintain this for a 5k would get me a PB.

Maths arrghh! 800 metres is pretty much half a mile so my target time for 1 Yasso would be 3:40. I set the intervals on my Garmin to an effort of 0.5 mile and a rest period of 3:40.

Scores on the doors!

When doing intervals, a flat route is always ideal to  achieve maximum results on efforts so the local park was the ideal location where one lap is just under half a mile. It also meant my fan club could join me and cheer me on, aka Lee and mini-me.

A half mile warm up and I went into my first effort.  Only half a mile at 7:20 pace, only!! Maybe I should have allowed longer to warm up or maybe I underestimated how hard it would be to try and hit a  pace that has always been 'just' out of reach when trying  to maintain for longer than a mile. As I came into the  last 0.10 of the interval, I hit a corner and lost about 4 seconds from my time ending the first Yasso on 7:23. The recovery time soon came and went and my Garmin  beeped down to the second Yasso. I was so done. So done with this stupid idea, whose idea was it to try this anyway?! I dug deep to get down to my target pace, this  time falling short by 7 seconds- not too bad considering  how hard it felt. After a second rest period, I finished my last Yasso hitting 7:30 pace. That was hard! 800 metres never sounds a lot but oh it really is!

Speculation

Wherever there is a theory, especially one as detailed as this, speculation will always follow. A simple Google search of Yasso 800 will bring up optimistic reviews and those incredibly doubtful that such a specific theory could actually work in practice. The main argument again the success of Yasso 800s is that a marathon is predominantly an aerobic event, running at a pace that allows your body to efficiently use the oxygen you inhale allowing for long distance whereas the theory of Yasso 800s works based on speed training (anaerobic). It is relatively common to find runners training for long distance not fully appreciating the importance of aerobic training, not ensuring distance over speed is favoured which can lead to burnnig out in a race due to insufficient experience of pacing.

That is not to say that speed training is not important and can be a great way to train the body to a quicker overall maintainable pace. 

Why Parkrun?

Where It All Began

Founded in 2004 by Paul Sinton-Hewitt, the first parkrun took part as a time trial in Bushy Park. This turned into a few events around the country called 'UK Time Trials' and eventually Parkrun in 2010. Today there are over a million registrants around the world!

Beginning Or Racing

It doesn't actually matter whether you haven't worn trainers for years or if you live in them. The whole idea is that you get out on a Saturday morning, do a 5k and whether you walk or go hell for leather, you will be pulled along by the fantastic, friendly atmosphere and community spirit.

Volunteers

Integral to the running of a parkrun event is volunteers described as 'the heart' of parkrun. Marshalls, time keepers, barcode scanners as well as processing of results and clearing up; taking part in the Saturday event as a volunteer is a great way to give back to the organisers of your local event. Look out for pacing events too to help other runners achieve their goals.

Community

Want to be part of something in your local community? Meeting other runners and socialising is just as much a part of doing a 5k as the running part. Recognising personal achievements and involving local running clubs boosts moral and knits together a huge array of people up and down the UK and overseas with one common theme.

The addition of Junior Parkrun- a 2k version of Parkrun for children aged 4-14 on a Sunday has been a great addition allowing children to follow in their parents footsteps in a safe, friendly environment.

If you haven't yet had a go, find your local Parkrun here.

Should you need any further persuasion, check out some photos from Shrewsbury Parkrun's 2nd birthday event last Saturday and...Don't Forget Your Barcode!


*Photo credits to the fantastic photographers at Shrewsbury Parkrun and congratulations to Paul & Susan for 2 years since the start of Shrewsbury's event.

Shrewsbury Parkrun yearly points winners

'The Hill' at Shrewsbury

How To.....Run Streak

After a very long time of no blogging, I decided it was high time I took to the keyboard. What better to do so than on day 50 (yes 5-0!) of run streak! I'm still not entirely sure how I made it here. For those of you who don't know, this means 50 days of doing a run every.single.day! Time for a bit of reflection...

In The Beginning

It all sort of began by accident, starting with a Friday night run as a family. There was no conscious decision after that to run every day, it just sort of happened and by Day 10 I had decided I didn't want to give up. It was never easy to get out of the door, running has always been a great way for me to  de-stress but actually putting my trainers on and getting out of the door has always been the hardest part! Blackmail, bribe and sometimes even guilt-tripping; Lee always managed to get me out, even when I was dragging my feet knowing how much I'd enjoy it (eventually!).

Do I, Don't I

As with anything, to make it a habit, you have to do it again, again and again. There is a common myth that you must repeat an action 21 times for it to become a habit as observed by Maxwell Maltz in the 1950s. According to more recent studies this is actually more around 2 months. Many a time I have lingered in the doorway deciding whether I should push myself out and just do it. Mental power has played a huge part in succeeding in 50 days of running (and counting).

Music

I have always been devoted to my headphones. From someone who began from never running at all, music was a great way to help me switch off and still does allow me to zone out. As many pros as there are to listening to music, there are also cons. It can take your mind off your breathing leaving you short of breath and many races now prohibit the use of headphones so training with and without music is a great way to learn to adapt.

"In Training"

When people heard that I was running every day, I was asked what I was training for. As I hadn't made the conscious decision to start a run streak, there was never any goals set out- apart from those I'd set myself at the beginning of the year. Having already achieved my longest distance (London Marathon) and a sub 2 hour half marathon, my next biggest goal was breaking 50 minutes for a 10k, After 16 days of running, Ellesmere 10k made perfect sense.

Goals and Races

After eventually getting a place for the race (thanks to a place transfer), I was feeling the pressure to compete in a race in my hometown. I stuck to my tactics that Lee and I thought would work; all out for 3 miles, 2 miles a bit slower then use whatever I had left at the end to try and get sub 50. I managed to hit my target with over 20 seconds to spare!

Since beginning my run streak, I've managed a achieve a 10k time of 48:51, 5k at 23:12 and today a mile time of 6:28! After considering finishing after 50 days, I'm not quite ready to give up my run streak just yet. Onwards and upwards!