Thanks to a post by the Bald Runner, I got introduced to this marathon training that was first posted about 8 years ago on runnersworld.com.  Well, it’s not that the training involved is totally foreign to me because for my speed training, I do two laps around the track oval (800 meters in total, or sometimes four laps = 1,600 m, or just do the treadmill settings) as fast as I can then follow it up with a jog in between those fast laps.

What I didn’t know is that the average speed it takes you to run ten rounds of 800 m run in minutes, say 3 minutes and 45 seconds, would be your predicted marathon time in hours, 3 hours and 45 minutes!  Magic?  No, that’s Yasso 800s, named after the person behind it, Bart Yasso.

Bart Yasso has run on all seven continents and completed more than 1,000 races.  Yet the things he recalls the most are the people he meets.  Pretty cool guy, right?  He’s been a source of both inspiration and information for runners around the world.  I think he deserves a Nobel Prize!

Yasso suggests that you should start a couple of months before marathon day by doing four 800s first, then six, then eventually ten peaking 10 to 17 days before race day.

So all this reading about Bart Yasso really psyched me up and there was no other choice but to give Yasso 800s a try!  So one early morning at the Rizal Memorial Stadium track oval, there I was.  I ran one lap for my warm up then two laps for the 800 m run.  I really love running on that surface.  My first 800 was 3 minutes and 45 seconds then I jogged and did another set of 800 m run.  The second one was a little faster at 3:40, then 3:36.  The fastest 800 I did that day was at 3:30. 

So here’s the average of my ten 800 meter runs: 3 minutes and 35.4 seconds.  Converted to hours, my predicted marathon time will be 3 hours 35 minutes and 24 seconds!  Wow, that’s an amazing time, I thought.  Well, that will qualify me easily for the Milo National Finals.  But you know what they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, so there’s no time to relax.  I am hanging up my tennis racket for now to concentrate on the July 5 marathon.

Milo marathon Manila eliminations, here I come!  Oh, I have to register first…