Week 13 Yasso 800 speed work

This workout hurt...and I'm wondering if this workout gave me an indicator of where I'm at fitness and speed-wise or it could clue me in on other factors like pre-race meal, energy levels, warm-up, etc. Plus there were a lot of environmental factors that affected me prior to starting this workout.

First off, there was the Boston Marathon tragedy, and seeing the carnage on live TV and watching the late night news really affected me because I know in the future I will be running down Bolyston to that same finish line. I also haven't been sleeping well and I've been taking 1 full lunesta tablet to help me sleep through the night. The after-effects of getting that nights sleep is a very bitter taste stays with me throughout the day, making everything I eat and drink just bitterly awful.

No need to get into the specifics of my day after work, because there are many out there that have it worse than me, but after getting home, I'm taxiing my daughters to their practices. And by the time I pick up my oldest from her dance, its the only time I'm able to start my speed workout. And by then, I'm pretty exhausted.

Anyways, the Yasso 800 speed work. This I gathered from McMillan Running on what the workout is:

The theory behind Yasso 800s is that your time in minutes and seconds for a workout of 10 times 800 meters (two laps of the track) with equal recovery time is the same as the hours and minutes of your marathon time. For example, if you can run 10 times 800 meters in three minutes and 20 seconds with three minutes and 20 seconds recovery, then this predicts that you can run three hours and 20 minutes for your marathon. Run 2:40 for the 800s and you can run 2:40 for the marathon.

Today's workout was set for 6X800 with 400 meter recovery jog after each interval. You will run each 800 at the following pace:

Marathon Goal Time	Half Marathon	Pace
3:30	1:30	800m in 3:30
3:45	1:40	800m in 3:45
4:00	1:50	800m in 4:00
4:30	2:00	800m in 4:30
4:45	2:10	800m in 4:45
5:00	2:20	800m in 5:00
5:15 +	2:30	800m in 5:15

I didn't run this at a track...because it's still covered in ice and snow at the local high school, so I took this to Kildonan Park which also does not have flat surface and this winter will not release it's grip. And according to the pace I set it didn't happen for me, at least according to my Avg Pace (seen below). I did my pre-run warm-up and stretch routine and ran 1.5km slow easy jog around the park once to warm up. According to the Time column, I'm within the pace range I set except for the last split. My Garmin kept telling me to speed up so it was constantly beeping throughout my intervals, including my recovery. I just ignored the beeping and ran at a threshold pace I let my body do, although there were moments I was red-lining and gasping for air.

I set my interval for 800m at 3:45 - 4:00 min:sec/km with a recovery at 6:10 - 6:30 min:sec/km. I checked the McMillan running calculator and I do have the correct 800m interval pace set for a 1:50:00 1/2 marathon. I was unsure of the recovery pace because McMillan says the recovery time should be equal to the hours and minutes of your marathon time and by the time I completed my first 800...I was pretty much gassed, and gasping for air.

My splits were:

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	39:40.4	7.20	5:31
1	3:43.5	0.80	4:39
2	2:36.7	0.40	6:32
3	3:41.8	0.80	4:37
4	2:38.7	0.40	6:37
5	3:45.6	0.80	4:42
6	2:44.3	0.40	6:51
7	3:52.4	0.80	4:50
8	2:52.9	0.40	7:12
9	3:55.8	0.80	4:55
10	2:50.8	0.40	7:07
11	4:09.8	0.80	5:12
12	2:48.1	0.40	7:00

I also think I ran too many intervals for my first time. According to Runners World where Bart Yasso is one of the editors of the magazine. In the column he writes:

Bart begins running his Yasso 800s a couple of months before his goal marathon. The first week he does four. On each subsequent week, he adds one more until he reaches 10. The last workout of Yasso 800s should be completed at least 10 days before your marathon, and 14 to 17 days would probably be better.

I'm running my 2nd 1/2 marathon in 2 weeks and I'm in taper mode, so I think I over did the workout and might not be a true indicator of where I'm at (still struggling with this). I'm not sure how many intervals I'll do next week, I'll discuss this with Osty (he didn't get a chance to do this workout yet). But I will add this to my next training cycle for sure in the summer.

My goal marathon is not for another 6 months and I still have to set up another training cycle for that. But that is still aways into the future. Oh well, I can at least take some assurance that I at least completed the workout. Next up is Tempo run for Thursday and an LSD for the weekend. Since it is taper, I'm only going 20km for my LSD.