~ Frank Shorter
Monday, August 15th 2011: 4 miles @ 9:34 minutes per mile pace. I did pretty much the same hill workout from last week, 724 feet gained over the 4 miles.
Tuesday, August 16th 2011: 7 Yassos at the track! (3:53, 3:46, 3:41, 3:49, 3:45, 3:48, and 3:27.) Any marathon runner worth his weight in Gu packets has heard of Yasso 800s developed by the Mayor of Running, Bart Yasso:
1) Run 2 times around the track (= 800 meters or 1/2 mile)
2) Run the 800 meters in your marathon goal time (For a marathon goal of 3 hours & 15 minutes you would do the 800m in 3 minutes & 15 seconds.)
3) Add a Yasso 800 each week until you peak at 10 Yassos a few weeks before the marathon.
4) According to Yasso, if you can do 10 at your goal time you should be prepared for that speed in the marathon.
I feel very fortunate that me and Bart Yasso are Best Friends Forever (if BFF = I met him at the Ogden Marathon expo last year). Bart is an excellent speaker and writer, and I'm anxious to see how my BFF Bart does in predicting my time for the Top of Utah Marathon in one month.
Wednesday, August 17th 2011: 13 mile bike ride @ 16.4 mph. The whole issue with the days getting shorter is really cramping my style. This was as long as I could ride before work. I'm not a fan of riding in the dark because, well, I'd prefer to be alive.
Thursday, August 18th 2011: 4 mile tempo run (warm-up, 3 miles @ 8:50 minutes per mile, then cool-down). I like tempo runs as much as I'd like getting paper cuts on my eyeballs. And it was unearthly hot. I met up with my friend Boyd half way through the run and we talked for a bit (talking = Boyd talking while I gasped for air and tried to keep my lungs from igniting.) This lasted for about 1/3 of a mile before my train went off the track and I told him to go ahead.
And then something unique happened: I started sweating lava. I know, strange. Molten lava was coming out of my skin. I figured my body had a 94.7% chance of spontaneously combusting. When I got home I was feeling sorry for myself because the run was so miserable. I thought "Maybe you're just not meant to go fast." I promptly gave myself a round-house kick to the skull and reminded myself that a while ago I was working through knee issues and would have killed to run an 8:50 mile. So I stopped whining to myself and felt thankful that my body was covered in lava.
Friday, August 19th 2011: 15.3 mile bike ride @ 13.4 mph + Carbo-loading (aka: pack of Hostess Donuts) for the South Valley Half Marathon tomorrow! Legs are feeling fully recovered from the Moonlight Half Marathon last weekend. The best part: being in Salt Lake = Slurpees from 7-11!!!
What famous people have you met?
Bart Yasso is on my list along with Karl Malone a few times, Gordon B. Hinckley, and President George Bush (the old one). My sister had lunch with Ross Perot a few weeks ago! Her description: "He is short."
Oooh! Brushes with fame! My favorite game. Let's see...I had an aunt who is believed to been killed by Ted Bundy. I have eaten breakfast with Mikhail Baryshnikov and lunch with David Strathairn. My cousin went to school with Goldie Hawn. My sister helped Chavy Chase in the St. George WalMart when he stopped in because his car broke down. I worked at Juilliard with Megan Dodds, Gretchen Egolf, Christian Camargo, and David Conrad. I babysat for Paul Schaffer. On a more local note, I went to college with Sam Payne. Fun, fun.
ReplyDeleteyou are totally rocking the speed work!!!! holy amazingness! it was fun to see you again today! oh and i totally know what you mean about tempos...i ran a tempo this week and i think it was trying to kill me. good luck tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteThose Yasso's sound like a terrific way to know where you're at for a marathon. It sounds like it's a little too warm out there if you are sweating lava! Holy Cow! That's hot!
ReplyDeleteI haven't really met anyone super famous. I sat beside Zack Galafanakis (I don't even know if that's how you spell it - anyway, the guy from The Hangover) during a Toronto Film Festival movie once :) I also was shopping alongside one of the Olsen twins. I don't ever talk to anybody though!
ReplyDeleteThanks for breaking down this Yasso thing for me. I always hear people (or read people) talking about it and I never really put the time in to research it. I have no theory to my speed work. It's kind of random. It's about time I learn the right way of doing things!!
My jaw literally dropped when I read what Bart wrote to you and Mel. It's now or never, Cory! Time to hit that marathon PR and goal that you've been dreaming about for a while. I can't wait to watch you do it!
ReplyDeleteAs for famous people I have met.... Christopher McDougall, Boyd K. Packer, Chris Cannon, and YOU! :)
My encounters with fame:
ReplyDeleteCandice Bergen (she stayed at a Deer Valley hotel where I worked when I was in college)
Laura Bush (she came to speak in Zion a few years ago and I got a picture with her after)
Jim Matheson (had lunch with him, twice)
Cory Reese (my neighbor who likes to honk his car horn way too much)
Bart Yasso was on our bus to the start line of the Big Sur Marathon...he yelled at everyone when the bus stopped ... so since you are bff's I won't say anything bad about him other than if you can sweat lava, you are way cooler than Bart Yasso!!
ReplyDeleteNice week!! I've met Bart Yasso too. Actually had dinner with him and he was such a super cool guy. Also met Dick Beardsley, Patti Catalano Dillon, Dean Karnazes, Dan Marino on the street, Cyndi Lauper by chance. I'm pretty much famous myself by now-ha! I hear you on the shorter days. I have lost almost an hour and a half of daylight in the mornings now!! I LOVE slurpees!! Hope you are rocking it out in your half right now!!
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