Yasso 800's

Yasso 800s is a marathon training program. The theory behind the training program is if I train to run 800 meters (twice around the track) in 4 minutes, then I should be able to run a 4 hour marathon. My goal is to run the Baltimore marathon in 4 hours 20 minutes (about 10 minute miles). If I do the Yasso 800s in 4 minutes that will give me room for error.

So last night Adam and I headed to the track. I really despise track workouts. As we were driving to the track, I told Adam I would rather run for an hour on the road then run on the track for 30 minutes. The plan is to start this week to run 4x800, increase by one each week, until I reach 10x800. I can't imagine running 10 800's in a row but I can't let my mind go there right now.

The workout wasn't that bad. Here are my times:

• 1 - 3:56
• 2 - 3:59
• 3 - 3:57
• 4 - 3:57

I felt good about my workout and was happy that I was able to be consistent with my times. When I returned home I settled down to watch the Olympics. It was a little deflating to watch them run 800 meters in 1 minute 45 seconds!

And So It Begins Again

It has been just over two weeks since my half-ironman triathlon. I have enjoyed the down time but I am ready to get back into a training routine again.

So today marked my first day of training for the Baltimore Marathon. This will be my second marathon – my first was five years ago and was what got me started in all of this craziness in the first place. I received an informational pamphlet in the mail from Team in Training and was intrigued. I went to the informational meeting not knowing if I would sign up or not – I just wanted to get more information. But I walked away having signed up for my first marathon. I got home, knots in my stomach and called my sister. What had a just done?

But training for that marathon was one of the best things I have ever done in my life. It stretched my limits and forced me to find unknown strength. I have wanted to run another marathon to try to get back to that place in my life. In some ways this is not something I want to do…it is something I have to do.

I was at the track at 5:30 am this morning doing my first workout. I am following a training plan from Runner’s World magazine. It is a less is more type of plan that will allow me to incorporate biking, swimming, hiking, and kayaking. It is a 16 week training plan (the marathon is October 11) and along the way I have some fun training planned (more on this later). As with anything there will be highs and lows but I am looking forward to the challenge.