Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Maybe I Don't Suck

The last couple of weeks have not been good training weeks. Especially my long runs. Every time I run longer than 2.5 to 3 hours, I end up having to take walk breaks. This was not looking good for attempting a 4:45 marathon in Arizona in January. Then today I decided to do Yasso 880s. Basically Yasso 880s are half mile intervals at your goal marathon time. In other words, since my goal is a 4:45 marathon, I should run my half mile intervals in 4 minutes 45 seconds, or a 9:30 pace. I planned on doing 10 of them, but I had a back-up failure plan of backing off the pace if I needed to. I warmed up for a mile, then started. Since it was about 20 degrees outside, I did these on the treadmill. The first couple almost seemed easy, and even after 6 or so, I was still going strong. I finished the last of them at the same 6.3 mph on the treadmill and then finished at an easy run pace for a total of ten miles. A very successful workout that tells me one of two things. Either I don't suck as much as I thought I did, or the treadmill wasn't calibrated correctly. Either way, I still need to get in a couple of good, solid long runs in the next couple of weeks in order to meet my goal.

3 comments:

David Ray said...

Nice work on the treadmill. You obviously don't suck, but that workout is a bit harder outdoors on the track. The treadmill is very nice since it keeps your pace for you. Outside it's all on you to keep it up. Good one!

johnmaas said...

Glad to hear the workout went well. Yasso's can sometimes be a "feel-good" workout and confidence builder, but don't put too much faith in them being a accurate predictor of the marathon.
Treadmill vs. track could also be a potential problem.
I am confident you have the endurance base to do the 4:45 marathon.
P.S. "About 20 degrees" - I'm waiting for it to get that warm one of these days.....

Turbo Photographs said...

Yasso 800s on the t'mill. I like it! That could help prevent me from getting bored and help my speed. Nice work!