How To Gauge Your Marathon Finish Time Using 800 Metre Repeats.

SteveJM · #1 2nd Mar 10, 03:18 PM

Hi everyone,

A good way of gauging your marathon finishing time is via 800 metre repeats, i.e. If you average 3mins 15secs over 10 x 800 metre repeats, then you're on for a 3 hour 15 min marathon time.

Click the link below and watch the short video.

http://onlinefitnesstrainingforrunne...-finishng.html

Grant · #2 2nd Mar 10, 03:43 PM

I haven't been able to watch the vid yet. If my mmemory serves me right, this sort of workout was popularised by Bert Yasso at Runner's World (hence the term Yasso 800's).

Depsite being able to run 800s between 3:40-4:00, my race times from 10km to half always seem to predict 4:20 for the marathon.

SteveJM · #3 2nd Mar 10, 03:51 PM

Hi Grant,

Yes you are absolutely right, the video is of Bert Yasso.

So you've not been able to make it work for yourself then, that's interesting. How many repeats do you do? do you do 10 or more?

Revenged · #4 2nd Mar 10, 04:15 PM

no. a good way to gauge your marathon is from a half marathon result. this is a very oversimplifed correlation that only applies to some people. it is inaccurate.

i was running 8x800m and averaging 2:40 for each rep. we had 1 min rest between intervals so not this luxury of the long rests you have with yasso repeats. from this workout you think i can run 6 min miles and get 2h40 for a marathon?!? nonsense. in real life i can only keep the 6 min mile pace up for a 10k race.

my friend who actually ran a 2:40 marathon runs the 5k in 15:30, so 1m25 faster than my PB, and i'm nothing like his standard. he'd be running the repeats much faster than me. i think tools such as this just makes people overestimate their marathon ability since it is too simple a correlation.

for one thing 800m repeats are easy and nothing like a marathon. there are so many factors not taking into account here. going on your half marathon result and making a conservative estimate is the best way.

SteveJM · #5 2nd Mar 10, 04:29 PM

Has anyone told Burt Yasso this yet? lol.

roadrunnerrob · #6 2nd Mar 10, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveJM

Has anyone told Burt Yasso this yet? lol.

I have just PM'd him.

Revenged · #7 2nd Mar 10, 04:51 PM

i have done a google search and i've seen different versions suggested so i'm genuinely not sure which is true.

the one i actually would go on is the 10x800m as fast as you can with 400m jog recovery between reps. this is an excellent session. we do these at my club but i do this session with 8x800m with 400m jog and it is very hard. it is a long session, and it is the hardest session i've ever done. a lot of people give up on this one. 10x800m is certainly an excellent marathon track session if you can do it like this.

i would say to do these intervals properly you need to be running them with 400m jog break and keep up the pace through the entire session (easier said than done!). if you can't run the repeats in 2m30 you will never achieve the 2h30 time in a marathon. this makes sense. if you can run them in 2h30 it doesnt mean that you will get it. it just means that this is the best you can get in a marathon. i.e. on target for this in a marathon. 2h20 will not happen.

you'd also only get the 2h30 if you have all the other training 100% - the distance work, the tempo runs and the mileage - that is how i'd interpret it. for someone who is marathon training (where high mileage and everything else works well and there's limited speedwork i can see how something could be possible) but i think it has to be taken in context of such a session being done at the end of a marathon training program for such an assumption to hold true (see last quoted paragraph).

i'd be VERY wary of the version of interval suggested on runnersworld as it far too easy. it is not the same as 400m jog. if most at my club can manage 8x800 with 400m jog and only a few doing marathon training i see no excuse for marathon runners to be taking such luxury jogging holidays between their 800m intervals.

"So, say you do your Yasso 800s at 3:30 min / 800 metres.
In between you recovery jog for the same amount of time (so 3:30 min).
Then your predicted marathon time is 3:30 hours."

http://www.best-running-tips.com/yasso-800.html

got this out of Sept 2006 issue of Runners World Magazine. (This is a great issue, so go pick up a copy at the newsstand!)

“Yasso 800s are a good way to guage your fitness level during marathon training and help predict your finishing time. The key is to build up to running 10×800 meters with a 400 meter recovery between each repeat. You need to do at least two of these sessions three to five weeks before the marathon. If you’re able to run your 800s in 0:03:30, you’re in shape to run a 3:30 marathon. For many people, the correlation is spot on. Do these workouts midweek, say, on Wednesday, when you’ve done your long run on the weekend. If you run your 800s on totally fresh legs, you’ll do them a heck of a lot faster.”

http://www.triathlontrainingblog.com...s-famous-800s/

^^

that version actually sounds correct, an excellent workout, and it has it put in context that it was intended. as a judge of pace a few weeks before a marathon after all the marathon training has been done !!

SteveJM · #8 2nd Mar 10, 05:33 PM

At my athletic club we do 10x 800 with a 1 minute recovery but never heard that your marathon time could relate to it until Burt's video.

JBBury · #9 2nd Mar 10, 06:19 PM

I agree with Revenged on the issue that performance at shorter distances and doing reps is about the worst predictor of marathon success. Even the half marathon is a completely different beast to the marathon and doesn't always predict marathon performance very well. I'm sure I could 8-10 800m repeats at something around 2:40-2:45 but there is no way I would dream of targeting 2:45 for a marathon if I decided to train for one.

Grant · #10 2nd Mar 10, 08:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveJM

Hi Grant,

Yes you are absolutely right, the video is of Bert Yasso.

So you've not been able to make it work for yourself then, that's interesting. How many repeats do you do? do you do 10 or more?

I've managed to view the video now. Usually, there were 8-10 reps, adding reps as I got fitter.

I think Revenged has made some very good points regarding the use of longer races for predicting marathon training - when training for previous 26.2 milers, there was no way I was running 4 hours or less based on the 800m time.

Pindar · #11 2nd Mar 10, 09:00 PM

My pal is training for London, runs a sub 30 10k, 65 minute half and wants to run 2:15 for the marathon.

He can do a 2:15 800 in his sleep. In fact, he usually does his 12x 800m session in not less than 2:02. That'd suggest a pretty awesome world record on the cards!

**richardsimkiss** · #12 3rd Mar 10, 11:29 AM

I guess as with all of the marathon time predictors, it's a case of assuming 'no bias towards either speed or endurance' - which in reality doesn't happen.