800 – Rest – Repeat

I thought of taking it easy today. I considered skipping the run altogether. But, I hit the road with Garminia and myPod. I hadn’t set Garminia up for Yassos, but after running the first mile, I was indeed “warmed up.” Today is Wednesday and that means 800 repeats.

I ran my first 800 (or 1/2 mile) repeat a little on the slow side. I forgave myself, because I *was* doing them. Regardless of the outcome, I planned to give it my best effort.

Since I had ditched Mark for the day, I didn’t have to hear him caution that too much speedwork is “how you get injured.” I have been doing Yasso’s since the beginning of the year, so I plan to work up to 10. But I know that in order to fit that many repeats into a 7-8 mile workout, something will have to give. At least this is the case for a lunchtime run.

I decided that I would rest only for a measured distance of 1/4 mile so that I could do more 800s in my 7 mile run.
It was a good plan in theory, however I found that reduced recovery time equates to a reduced level of recovery. Imagine that! *sigh*

After three repeats came up just slightly short of my 3 minute 50 second goal, I altered the plan slightly. I walked for 1 full minute prior to jogging for the remainder of the 1/4 mile. It gave me recovery times of about 2:50. This is one minute less than true Yasso’s call for (with my targetted 3:50 time). But, it was just enough to finish out pretty much on target.

Check it out….
1 mile warm-up (8:25)

800 repeats:
(1) 3:56
(2) 3:53
(3) 3:55
(4) 3:49
(5) 3:47
(6) 3:47
(7) 3:52.

1 mile cool-down (8:09)

That’s seven repeats!
All I need to do now is:
– Consistently run ALL of them to be 3:50 or less
– Add 3 more 800s to the workout

Boston, here I come!