Track Workout - 800s Along the Charles

Objective: 800s done at your best consistent pace train up your body's ability to tolerate the stress of running faster than your maximum aerobic pace.

Notes for performing outside along the Charles River: Start at the first covered bench after the Mass Ave bridge, heading NE along the River. It's about 800 meters to the far end of the float at the last boat house on this stretch of the river (Crimson Sailing Academy). To recover, continue walking or jogging in the same direction for half the amount of time that your running interval took (if your 800 interval took 3:30 - jog for 1:45 - then turn around and continue jogging back to the end of the float at the last boat house. Repeat the 800 in the other direction this time. Continue for 6 (newer runners) to 10 (fit runner training for marathon) times.

Warm Up

Perform a standard warm-up.

Main Set

All repeats are at the same pace. When you can do 10 X 800 at a consistent pace, that 800 pace - converted from minutes to hours - is a very reliable predictor of your marathon time. For example if you maintain a pace of 3:30 (three and a half minutes) for each of ten 800s, the odds are very good that your marathon time will be very close to three and half hours.

Run Repeats (meters) Rest (minutes)
10 X 800
equal to your run time

This is a good once-a-month "test set" workout if you are training to race distances over 10K. If you are new to 800s, it may take you a few workouts to figure out what your sustainable 800 meter pace is. Also if you are new to 800s, you may not be able to do 10 repeats. You can start with 4-6 and add one or two during each successive session.

Cool Down

15 minutes - walk 400, stretch for remainder of 15 minutes