Location: Stratford HS Track (GPS map courtesy of my supercool new Garmin)
Distance: 6.87

Saturday's workout was Yasso 800s at the Stratford HS track.  I got to the track late (ugh) and only got to put in 1 mile for my warmup.  At Thursday's Bootcamp, Steeeve talked about cutting some of the exercises short, thus owing things to the crunches god, or the lunges god, etc.  Well, I've definitely been running a tab with the Warmup God.  *sigh* 

After some silly walks, Steeve explained the Yasso 800s.   The basic theory behind the workout is that you can predict your marathon time based on how long it takes to run 800s.  So, for example, my goal for the NYC Marathon is 4:59:59 (I just want to get listed in the NY Times Marathon Section that lists finishers under 5 hrs - heh).   I have nooo idea if this it realistic for me, given my usual pace and previous marathon time of 5:45.  But if not, then hey - I'll be happy with a t-shirt.  Anyways, so my goal is 4 hrs 59 min….this means, I should run each 800m in 4 min 59 seconds. 

So, we did 6×800 with a 400m recovery between each.  Below are my times, thanks to my supercool new Garmin: 

1st 800: 4:55
2nd 800: 5:09
3rd 800: 4:54
4th 800: 4:54
5th 800: 4:49
6th 800: 4:38

Woohoo!  All but one of my 800s were below my target time.  I'm definitely relieved about this - it would have sucked if I couldn't get any of the 800s under 4:59….but I did have to work hard for each of those 800s.  Should it always be that hard, or should it be easier at this point?  Anyways, my recovery laps were pretty slow - about 3 mins each.   During the 5th 800m, I started experimenting with my running form - I started applying the same rules as in dragon boating….keep my feet low to the ground, reach further with each stride, keep my core centered, focus movement in my legs, avoid wasted movement.   Apparently, something worked because my 5th and 6th 800s were definitely faster.  Though, I did sprint the last 100m on the 6th 800 because I was soooo ready for it all to be over.  

Afterwards, I tried to do a 1 mile cooldown, but only managed to eke out 3/4 a mile.  It was so humid, I think I lost 10lbs through sweat.   ew.