14week Marathon Training Plan: Week 12, Session 2: Yasso 800m

Thirty-fifth Session: Week 12 Session 2: Yasso 800m x 6
Goal: First Marathon (Sundown Singapore 25 March 2017)

The last few days has been made up of long easy recovery exercises; a 60km recovery ride on Sunday morning (of which 30km was part of an ANZ Singapore Charity Ride), and a long easy 21.4km run on Monday evening. It's been great to put in time and distance into the legs without destroying them and be ready for a workout the following day. The Yasso sessions now reduce by 2 reps each week (since week 10), so this week at 6 reps should be a walk in the park (given the previous volume and the fact we have been training consistently at the required Yasso speed).

Start of the ANZ Singapore Charity Cycle

Main Set: 800m in 3:00mins with active recovery for 400m in 3:00mins  x 6
We had a good turnout today on track; four of us, and a dry track for a change. I had felt low on energy prior to the session, so managed to smash two chocolate bars 10mins before the session to get my energy up. The noticeable difference this week was the recovery 400m; completed at an average of 2:30mins, instead of 3:00mins. Also, all the 800m repeats were ran under 3:00mins, with the last one run in 2:48mins. It looked like we were in a hurry to finish and have dinner, but that wasn't the case. I put it down to less repeats (6) and all of us having Type A personalities (sprinting the final metres to finish infront). Always nice to over achieve on a training session (and race).

During the 6 x 800m set:

Average Heart Rate: 151 bpm (includes recovery)

Max Heart Rate: 176 bpm
Recovery Heart Rate (1min after finishing 800m): 1: 132bpm, 2: 141bpm, 3: 138bpm,  4: 141bpm, 5: 147bpm, 6: 151bpm
Cadence: 185

Session Analysis / Review:

(28/42 sessions completed): 66%,  (3/42 sessions failed): 7%, (4/42 sessions missed): 10%, 
Total Plan (35/42): 83%

Heart rate is higher this session compared to last week (and also week 5 where the repeats were at 6), due to faster times for the 400m recovery and also 800m repeats. That is, my heart rate didn't get as much recovery before going hard again. At the end of the session, we jogged home (9km at 6:00min/km pace), to add mileage and also run on fatigue legs. Once I arrived home, I jumped straight onto the indoor bike trainer for a 30min recovery spin. This has become a mandatory cool down sine seeing the benefits immediately after the spin and the next day. Legs are not as sore or tight. So two recovery learnings for me are the recovery jogs and rides.