Book Review: My Life on the Run

I love to read at night, right before I fall asleep.  I'm kinda a busy bee with my mind locked in high gear, so reading helps to calm me down. (melatonin helps too).  It seems the only books I read these days are running books.  I have a tower of them by my bed.

Last September while wandering around the Quad Cities Marathon expo, I picked up My Life on the Run.  The book's author Bart Yasso was actually there at the event.  I chatted with him briefly and he autographed my book.  Later that night, Bart Yasso was the keynote speaker for the race pasta dinner.  It was the only race dinner I've actually ever gone to and so glad I did.  Bart is an extremely entertaining and personable guy.

I took my time reading My Life on the Run over the past six months.  Each chapter reads like a mini story, retelling one of Bart's adventures. I love this setup in a book - I can read one chapter and put the book aside.  As a busy mom, I don't always have time to return to books as often as I'd like.  

Fondly referred to as the "Mayor of Running," Bart has run over 1,000 competitive races all over the world. From his troublesome beginnings to his exciting run-in with a rhinoceros, his witty recounts will make you laugh and appreciate the sheer joy that is running.  I read with disbelief as he conquered the Badwater Ultra.  Literally, I think my mouth was agape the entire chapter.  I was fascinated with Bart's 3,000 mile bicycle journey from California to New York.  In fact, I kinda blame that chapter on my urge to start riding (hello triathlons!). Just when you think the guy can do it all, your heart aches for his crippling fight with lyme disease that nearly took his life.

After 30 years of running, the man knows his stuff. Luckily for us, he shares his seasoned findings as the Chief Running Officer for the magazine Running World.  He's responsible for the marathon training equation and interval workout dubbed the Yasso 800's.  (Read about my Yasso 800's here.)  In My Life on the Run, he explains how the Yasso 800's came to fruition.  In the final part of the book, Bart also provides training schedules and practical advice for runners of all levels.  I find his style very down-to-earth.  I think it would be hard for anyone NOT to like Bart Yasso.

Want to read My Life on the Run?

Check out Bart's website... like him on Facebook... and follow along on Twitter.

How about a personalized version of My Life on the Run?

Sign up for The Jelly Bean virtual race HERE because Bart has generously agreed

to donate an autographed book as a prize for the virtual race!!

Thanks Bart!

Get Track'n

Big Girl headed off to school on the bus..
I drove Little Girl to pre-school.
And then I went to school too...

THE HIGH SCHOOL TRACK!

I'm not a big fan of track sessions.  In fact, I'd rather run intervals on the treadmill (crazy, huh?).  I'm not sure what prompted me to head to the track today. Perhaps I just needed to be outside. The temps were mild in the mid-30's and the sun tried to peek out every once in awhile.  A little windy, but otherwise perfect running weather.

Today I put the Yasso 800's to work on the track.

Recently I finished reading the book "My Life on the Run" by Bart Yasso. I met Bart Yasso last fall at the Quad Cities Marathon, where he signed my book and inspired me with all his great running stories. His book is a fun easy read, each chapter storytelling from the entertaining adventures of Mr. Yasso, chief running officier of Runner's World.  At the end of the book, you'll find his training plans, as well as the background on the now infamous Yasso 800's. It's an intriguing premise... run 10x800m at a consistently hard pace to predict your marathon finish time.  i.e. If you're able to run each of those 10 intervals in 4 minutes, you can run a 4 hour marathon.

Read more on Yasso 800's here.

The goal of my first marathon was just to cross the finish line (achieved in 4:43).  Now training for #2, I obviously have a time goal... not exactly sure what that is yet, but I'm thinking under 4:25. A month ago, I started incorporating the Yasso 800's into my training. My results from those workouts are helping me narrow in on a 'goal time' for the May 5 Wisconsin Marathon.


Here's how today's track workout went down...

YASSO 6x800'S

2.1 mile warmup in 19:06

800m in 4:08

400m recovery in 2:35

800m in 4:10

400m recovery in 2:39

800m in 4:13

400m recovery in 2:47

800m in 4:14

400m recovery in 2:45

800m in 4:11

400m recovery in 2:49

800m in 4:10

1 mile cooldown in 10:45

TOTAL 7.35 miles in 1:08:33 (9:19 pace)

I'm not up to 10 sets quite yet, but I'm ready to bump up to 8 sets next week.  The important part is that the 800m splits are fairly consistent. I'm happy with a 5 second spread! They weren't all out sprints, but definitely felt hard, especially with the wind on the backside of the track.  No Garmin? No problem... All you need is a cheap stopwatch to track your splits. 

Even if you're not training for a full marathon, the Yasso 800's are a great interval workout.  The 800 is a tricky distance for me... If I all out sprint, I'm dead after one lap. However, the pace should definitely be faster than 5K race pace. I managed an 8:16-8:28 pace during today's intervals so I was right in the ballpark. If you're unsure how fast you should be running intervals, check with these great resources to find your optimal training paces: Run Less Run Faster and McMillan Running Calculator. Just input your recent 5K time and they spit out a nice chart for you.

Have you ever done Yasso 800's before to predict or train for a marathon?

If so, I'm curious how accurate it was?

There are fierce opinions (both ways) all over the web on this!