Predict your Marathon Time with Yasso 800s

Ever want to have a running tool that can predict your marathon goal time? This is made possible with the Yasso 800s. This workout guide originated from the observation and marathon training of Bart Yasso, a Runner’s World editor. This simple discovery has gained popularity and has been used by most runners around the globe.

Bart Yasso

Yasso 800s is merely a guide to a runner who is training for a marathon race to predict his finish time. During your training, you incorporate 800 meter-repeats every week (from about four to ten) at a constant pace.

How does Yasso 800 work? The time of the 800-meter interval in minutes and seconds is your predicted marathon time in hours and minutes. For instance, you run your 800-meter repeats at 3 minutes 20 seconds with 400 meters recovery jog for the same amount of time, that is, 3 minutes 20 seconds. You do this for 10 repetitions and your predicted marathon time will be 3 hours 20 minutes.

Simply put, if you aim for a 3 hour 10 minutes marathon finish time then run your 800 meter interval in 3 minutes 10 seconds followed by your recovery jog for another 3 minutes 10 seconds then repeat.

That may sound easy because you just change minutes into hours and seconds into minutes. However, it has to be done in 10 repetitions of the 800 meter-repeats with the recovery jog in order to be accurate in your prediction of your marathon time.

Start with three or four repetitions in the first week and continue your Yasso 800 workouts once a week. Increment your Yasso 800 training each week until you reach 10 repeats. The first few weeks can be pretty easy for you but the challenge comes in as you increment your 800 meter-repeats.

In addition, several other factors like race course, weather, and pacing can also affect the accuracy of Yasso 800. So results can vary widely.

Keep in mind though that you should still do your regular marathon training program. Do not train with Yasso 800s within 10-14 days of your marathon race date. Marathon training always requires slow and steady progress in training for you to enjoy your running.

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