Can This Secret Workout Actually Predict Your Race Time? | Rosario 800s

[00:00:00] Most marathoners show up on race day crossing their fingers. They think they can hold their goal pace, but they’ve never actually tested it In training. There’s a workout almost nobody’s using that predicts whether your goal is realistic and gives you a late stage fitness boost. It’s called the Rosario eight hundreds.

[00:00:17] It’s a twist on the classic eight hundreds. Adapted by legendary run Coach Ben Rosario. And yeah, it’s tough, but it’s the kind of tough that gives you answers. I’ll be going over what Rosario eight hundreds are and how they compare to Yao eight hundreds, why this workout works and who it’s best for, exactly how to do it and modify it for your race, how to use it alongside other race predictors, like tempo runs and VDOT calculators, how to fit it in your training.

[00:00:44] Plus, where to grab my free eight week tempo training. God Yes. I give that to you for free. Just wait around for that. It’ll come very soon. I’m Darren D. Lake Run certified run Coach Sub three hour marathoner, 10 hour Ironman finisher. And this is the 1% better runner where we are not about hacks and gimmicks and three week training plans to get you from couch to 5K.

[00:01:08] No, we don’t do that. What we are all about is so that you can get better today, next month, next year, next decade. It’s all about long-term, consistent and incremental. 1% gains. Alright, first, what are we talking about? Alright, we got Yaz eight hundreds. We’re gonna do five pairs of 800. It’s gonna be about 9.6 Ks ks of, uh, efforts on, all right, faceted marathon face at marathon pace.

[00:01:35] You got this. Let’s do this, let’s do this, let’s do this, let’s do this. Run 800 meters. That’s two laps of a track, a normal track, and if you hit your marathon goal time. In minutes and seconds for each rep, you’re supposedly, supposedly quotation marks in shape for that marathon time, in hours and minutes.

[00:01:54] Example, three 30 per rep per 800 meter equals a three hour and 30 minute marathon. Sounds nice and tidy, right? But here’s the issue. If you’re genetically blessed with a high VE O2 max, or a lot of fast twitch muscles I have that you can pretty much sprint through your way through those Yaso 800. So we’re thinking about the Yaso 800 ’cause this is an adaptation of the Yaz eight hundreds, and you can look ready even if your endurance isn’t dialed in.

[00:02:20] I’ve done that and I did not nail a certain marathon many, many years ago. This is a huge problem. Again, for me, not a humble brag, and I’m sure a certain amount of people, 25, 30, 50% of people out there. I love the Rosario eight hundreds because. They felt like a very calm, tempo, run and tempo Runs for me, can get a bit hairy at the edges, and I start to fall apart.

[00:02:41] If my fitness isn’t there, my heart rate starts creeping up and I just get tired and I’m just like, what’s going on here? That’s where Rosario eight hundreds come in. Instead of stopping or fully recovering you flu between reps, meaning you do 800 meters at your yaso pace, and then 800 meters, 25 seconds slower.

[00:03:00] Over and over. No stopping. That’s the difference. This weeds out all those cheaters. If you can’t hold the pace while fatigued, it’s a sign. You need to adjust your expectations, not just for the workout, but for race day. But here’s the nuance. Here’s reading between the lines. The gray zone. Just because you can nail this workout doesn’t guarantee you’ll hit the marathon goal.

[00:03:20] It doesn’t go both ways. Race day is its own beast. Weather, pacing, fueling mindsets, full on endurance. You have an aerobic base, et cetera. So use this as one piece of the puzzle alongside other things like vdot calculator. Tempo runs long tempo, runs fast, finish long runs, long runs at race pace, overall consistency over 12 to 26 weeks, et cetera.

[00:03:42] And for newer runners, start with fewer pairs. So again, a one pair is one fast. 800 at your marathon base, and then one float slightly slower, 800. So that’s one pair. So think three to four pairs and then build up over time. More experienced marathoners can handle five to six pairs. Ideally, you can sprinkle these throughout your training blocks.

[00:04:00] So let’s say you have a 12 16, 26 week training block. You can do them two or three times throughout it and see what your progression is. Here’s how to actually do it. Find your yaso pace. Let’s keep it easy. If you’re targeting a three hour, 30 minute marathon, aim for three minutes, 30 seconds per 800 meter wrap.

[00:04:19] So that’s two laps on a regular track, no marathon goal. Use the VDOT calculator, which the link is below in the video description or in the show notes of your podcast player. If you’re listening. You use a VDOT calculator of your recent race result or even you can plug in some workouts. I highly suggest trying to do three K or 5K time, trial park, run free park run if you can, and you just at least know where you’re at.

[00:04:42] And then all of the paces and zones make sense from there and there mostly accurate within the last, I’d say four to six weeks. Warm up, well easy jog plus mobility, a few strides, leg swings, et cetera. You need to be somewhat fit for this, so you need to at least have six weeks of base. You have done one or two speed workouts, interval sessions, and a long run.

[00:05:01] So run paired eight hundreds, do 800 meters at your yaso pace, so three minutes for this example, three minutes and 30 seconds, and then float 25 seconds slower. So you run another 108 hundred meters and you do this 25 seconds slower, which would be. Let’s do the math. From there, it would be three minutes, 55 seconds.

[00:05:20] So you need to adjust how, what the minutes per mile is, uh, the actual pace is on your watch, and what the minutes per kilometer if you’re on metric, because you need to know. So it’s a bit of a, a playing. You might go a bit fast in that first float. The easy one, you might go get bit slower on the second one, you’ll figure it out.

[00:05:36] You can just slow it down. It’s not the end of the world. If you go five seconds or slower or faster, you’ll, you’ll figure it out from there. And then start with the right volume. So again, newer runners, three to four pairs. Start with three, see how you feel. If you feel great, do a fourth one. If you feel like trash stop before the fourth one, experience runners.

[00:05:52] You can start at four, maybe if you’re doing three throughout the whole season, then do five and then do six, and you should be able to feel very, very good. Uh, as you’re going through, as you’re progressing through. So at the end, cool down, easy jog stretches, dynamic stretches, static stretches at the end, especially hips back and hamstrings.

[00:06:10] I’m big on that type of stuff. That’s for a whole nother episode, so I know what you’re thinking. Hey, Darren, I wanna apply this right now. Well, guess what? I got you. If you want this plugged into a full training plan, plus a cheat sheet and a quick start guide and a checklist, when to do it, how often, how to balance it with your temple runs, long run, et cetera.

[00:06:28] I got you covered. You can get my free eight week temple training guide, which is down in description, oh, the QR code right here. Or if you’re listening in your podcast player, just open that up in the show notes. It’s quick to download, and you also as a. Bonus, get signed up for my newsletter with bonus tips on mental fitness, nutrition, VO two max tempo pacing, race, Avon, et cetera.

[00:06:48] Whole lot of stuff all jammed in there. Go get that right now. Why does this workout matter? It’s not just about raw speed, it’s about controlled endurance. The float forces you to stay just below your red line and teaches your body and brain to hold steady under pressure. It’s marathon specific grit training, and here’s.

[00:07:06] The big thing, if you’re failing these workouts, it’s a huge sign to rethink your goal pace or dial in your training. It’s better to figure that out now than blow up on race day and go, wo is me. You’re crying. No, no. You can sort all that out in training right now. Uh, another reason why I think it matters is.

[00:07:24] It’s actually a really, really good workout. I don’t do well with tempo runs, especially in the beginning when my body is not ready for temple runs. I genetically don’t do well with temple runs. This is such a little hack for tempo because it feels easy, but my heart rate’s actually not dropping that low on the floats, and it’s not going that high on the heart sessions.

[00:07:43] Whereas when I do intervals, my heart rate goes pretty high, then it drops pretty low. When I’m doing VO two max intervals, you know, four hundreds, eight hundreds, one K repeats, et cetera, my heart rate will get high and get low. But this like really sits me for me between like 1 60, 1 70, which is threshold.

[00:07:58] It’s a little bit below threshold, but towards the end I hit threshold and that’s something I need to work on. I do not touch that ’cause one, I’m not very good at it. And two, I just really don’t like that, that type of running. So if I wanna get better at 10 k running half marathon, even marathon. Running at my threshold will help me and this workout does that.

[00:08:15] This isn’t just a marathon workout. You can modify it for other races too. So half marathon fast, eight hundreds at slightly faster than your half marathon pace and float at marathon pace, 10 K fast, eight hundreds at 5K Pace. Float at 10 K Pace Fuel reps, three to four pairs. 5K fast, 800 at a touch faster than your goal.

[00:08:37] 5K pace, and then you float at your threshold pace. What I’ll say threshold is probably between 10 k and half marathon, and it keeps you snappy, it keeps you honest ultra fast. 800. At your marathon pace, and then you float easier than marathon pace, I’d say to float at probably 25 seconds slower than marathon pace.

[00:08:56] If you’re doing ultras, it’s probably not as super relevant for ultras, but if you wanna do some speed work, shake it up as you’ve just been doing long slogs on the trails or whatever. For ultras, this is a great variation, a great modification for the workout for you, et cetera. Focus on total volume and time on feet.

[00:09:13] So here’s what I want you to think about. Are you just banking miles, kilomet kilometers, or are you deliberately training your body to handle pressure when it counts? I’m pretty sure. Again, you want to implement this in your own training, in your own racing life, and you’re like, ha, how do I do this? How? I got you covered that download that I talked about in the middle.

[00:09:31] Please go get that. It’s free right here, QR code. It’s the eight weeks to sub-threshold training guide, the quick start guide, and you get the eight weeks of training. And as a bonus, you’ll sign up for that newsletter. A whole bunch of tips, tricks, tactics, tools, et cetera. All on running and life and mental, et cetera, so that every week in your email inbox you’ll get something that’s five minutes or less.

[00:09:52] That is tools and tactics to help you train 1% better, VO two Max Temple runs, nutrition, et cetera. I go deep. I find stuff all over the internet, tried and true things that I find out, analogies and stories, et cetera. It is awesome. Join 2000 other people. With that. So if you wanna learn more about this topic, check out my next video on sub-Threshold Running.

[00:10:11] It’s all about how training just under your edge can unlock your biggest gains on race day right now. Time, time, time. I’m obsessed with it as it’s the one thing we can’t make more of, but ironically, we as humans, we made the whole concept of time. Thanks for giving us your time by listening, watching or reading this.

[00:10:28] We love helping runners get 1% better each day, one step at a time, and can only reach more runners by people like you sharing us out to runners like you. As I might have mentioned earlier in the episode, if you haven’t already, you can get a free step-by-step 30 day base training and habits guide to getting 1% better in running and life.

[00:10:46] Each day by signing up for our email newsletter. Unlike other running videos and podcasts, we are not about the quick hack and fluffy motivational quotes. Instead, the 1% Better Runner focuses on how small daily habits ripple into broader life success, helping runners perform better on and off the road, or the trail, or track wherever you want to be doing your workouts.

[00:11:06] All in five minutes. Per week, this episode and all this content is produced in Sydney, Australia, and I’d like to acknowledge the Gadigal of the Your Nation, who are the traditional indigenous custodians of this land. Much, much, much respects. If you wanna contact us about anything, email talk@dlakecreates.com.

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