Yasso Workout

My impression has always been that the Yasso 800s don't tell you what you can run for the marathon, they just tell you what you can't run. So if you couldn't maintain 2:42's for this workout, for example, you probably shouldn't plan to run 2:42 for the marathon.

In other words, the workout gives you an upper limit on what to shoot for. If you've been training like a mile-5k guy, or if your aerobic capacity is underdeveloped relative to your speed, then you may not be able to run a marathon close to that limit. It's similar to how 'race equivalent calculators' may predict a faster marathon, based on your mile time, than you could actually run.

That said, if you've been following a marathon training plan which focuses primarily on developing your aerobic capacity (lots of tempos and long runs), and if you don't have much of a background training for shorter distance races or doing fast interval sessions, then Yasso 800's probably give a pretty decent prediction for your marathon time.

I did the Yasso 800s for the hell of it and tried to focus on it feeling very easy the whole time. I finished in the same average time as you and ended up running faster than it predicted. Really Yassos are meaningless as a predictor, but it might give you a slight idea of what to aim for.

Yasso is useless, a better predictor would be your time at other distances plus your weekly mileage.

I'm in 2:50-51 marathon shape right now. Just curious what it predicted for others.

Do 8x800 with 0 seconds recovery, much better predictor.

I did these as a half marathon predictor back in the spring. I ran them at around 2:38-2:40 and my last 3 I dipped to 2:36, 2:34, and 2:32. I then ran my half marathon at 1:16:4x. The McMillan calculator has that as around a 2:41 marathon time. So as the first person who responded to your thread said, I think it's more of a measure of your upper limit, because according to my Yassos I should have been able to hit a 2:38 or so in the full, which would be around a 1:15 in the half (and which I was clearly unable to do). I would say shoot for a 2:50 based on the Yassos you've done and try to negative split your race. Go out in 1:26 and see what you can come home in.

Please, all of you, throw out the idea that these have ANY relationship AT ALL to your marathon ability.

This is such a random thing and that you are falling for it ceases to amaze and astound me.

It's a negative predictor at best. But it's a workout I enjoy doing to break up marathon training. I suspect you're trolling for responses. As you probably already know, Bart Yasso doesn't promote it as a predictor workout. No one does.

I love a good myth wrote:

This is such a random thing and that you are falling for it ceases to amaze and astound me.

Well, if it *ceases* to amaze and astound you...what's the problem?

I found it to be a decent predictor for the 2-mile, if used with rest equal to running interval. Much like 10x400 for the mile but essentially a VO2 max session.

I love a good myth wrote:

Please, all of you, throw out the idea that these have ANY relationship AT ALL to your marathon ability.

This is such a random thing and that you are falling for it ceases to amaze and astound me.

you mean it NEVER ceases to amaze or astound you?

anyway, i think it's pretty useful. will it give you the perfect prediction? probably not. but what can? there are so many factors on race day that a simple conversion or predictor workout can't take into account.

the workout is simply an indicator of the general shape you're in and gives you a range of what to expect so you can plan your race better. any good and/or experienced runner should be able to understand what shape they're in and manage their race accordingly. however, it can't hurt to use a workout like this to better hone in on their race goal for pacing purposes.

Great post. 8x800 is a actually a great predictor...of 5k pace.

And for most runners, 5k ability shows what we could do in a marathon (if we trained properly and optimized for the distance). It doesn't always show what we will do (since most don't).

For example, if the OP averages 2:46 for the 800s, that is about 17:10 pace. The McMillan calculator projects a 17:10 5k out to a marathon of..wait for it...2:47. That is likely to be the best he could do on his current speed and VO2max, but he may not come close depending on his endurance.

Grizzled old masters who can't break 19 but can run 4:00km pace indefinitely are an exception to this analysis :)

There's a video of a Kenyan marathoner doing yasso 800s. He's running 2:09s on a dirt track in Kenya. I think Ryan Hall was there.

My PR is 2:54 in Boston (2014) My goal is 2:49-50 in December.

I ran 1:19:09 in a half marathon race this past weekend. Looks like I'm on track for the 2:50 mark?

Man, I always thought Yasso 800s were just a workout to better train for your intended pace. So if you planned to run 6:00 pace, you'd work up to 26 800s at 6 minute pace. I guess I have always been confused. Worked for me, though...

I never knew they were supposed to predict your marathon pace.

2:50 should be attainable based on that half, provided you have the mileage and LSD's