Will Yasso’s 800s Help Lasso Goal Marathon Time?

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Valerie Hunt, Bart Yasso and Jennifer Fisher (me)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have a marathon coming up at the beginning of December, the Dallas Marathon.  I’ve run plenty of these races and trained using a variety of different plans. From high mileage to low mileage, heavy cross-training to just winging it, it seems that each philosophy has its own merits and misgivings. Plus, when you look at all the other things that go into marathon training, it can easily make your head spin. VO2 max, lactate threshold, nutrition issues and more, I need a nap just thinking about it.

However you plan to train, there’s a simple way to gauge your improvements and see if you’re on target to nail that special goal time. The method is called “Yasso’s 800s,” a workout popularized by Bart Yasso, aka the ‘Mayor of Running” or ‘Chief Running Officer’ of Runner’s World.  The idea is to run a progression of ½ mile intervals once a week, tacking on an extra interval each and every week until a total of ten 800s in one workout session is reached. Of course, you’ll still need to put in all the other hard work required for a marathon, including that beloved weekly long run. I’m going to give the Yasso 800s a try and see how close they predict my actual time, you should try it too!  Here’s the rundown on how to get it done;

  • About two months away from the marathon, head out to the track and run four 800s with a rest in between each that is equal to the last 800 run. Work as hard as you can, but remember that the goal is to keep each interval at an even pace. Don’t blast through the first and slow down in the last.
  •  Assuming the intervals were run evenly (within a few seconds at most), the average 800 meter time will convert into your predicted marathon time. For example, if you run 3:05 minutes for an 800, then your predicted time will be 3:05 hours for the marathon.
  •   Each week, add one additional repetition to the workout until you reach a total of ten 800s.  The first few repeats will feel relatively easy; the later ones will get harder and harder to complete.  If you can finish them all at the same pace, the theory is that you’ll be strong enough to rock the marathon at the converted time.  As the marathon approaches, give yourself a 10 day to 2 week break from this workout to rest and recover.

If you’ve tried this before, drop me a note in the comments and let me know how it worked for you. What was your 800 meter time and what was your marathon time?

Best Beef Cut? Try Asian Flair Flat Iron Steak Recipe

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Move over tenderloin, my new favorite cut of beef is the ‘Flat Iron,’ also known as the ‘Top Blade.’ Thanks to the Texas Beef Council for making the suggestion! Cut from the shoulder of a cow, this juicy, well-marbled steak is rectangular in shape and uniformly thick, making it an ideal hunk of beef to toss on the grill. Sometimes, you’ll get one that looks as if it has almost been sliced and separated down the center. This is because a tough piece of connective tissue that runs through the middle is removed by the butcher before it is packaged up. A pesky but a small flaw I can certainly overlook, especially considering the flatiron is one of the tenderest cuts of beef around (second to only tenderloin), meets governmental standards for “lean protein” and is relatively economical compared to some of the premium grilling steaks found at the meat counter.

Every week the family has been enjoying this steak in some easy-to-prepare form or fashion. While you can serve with brown rice and veggies, we enjoyed the sliced steak served with “pajeon,” a delicious scallion pancake that my neighbor brought over.  The recipe on this traditional Korean side dish is coming soon! Paleo Diet friends, just toss sliced some of this meat sliced finely on a bed of greens and you’ll be more than satisfied.

 Asian Flair Flat Iron Steak Recipe

  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 2 tablespoons sesame oil
  • 2 tablespoons minced ginger
  • 2 tablespoons minced garlic
  • ½ teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1.5lb (approximate) flat iron steak
  • Garnish: toasted sesame seeds and sliced green onions.

Whisk the ingredients in a bowl. Place steak and marinade in a zip-top bag and refrigerate for 3 to 6 hours. Grill flatiron steak on high heat for 4 minutes on each side for medium rare steaks. Medium-rare will read 125 F degrees on the meat thermometer and feature a pink center. If you like your steak a bit more done, aim for medium at 130 F degrees. Allow steaks to rest for 5 minutes before slicing and serving. Sprinkle roasted sesame seeds and green onion slivers on top to garnish.

Flat Iron Nutritional Information

 

McD’s in the Athlete’s Village? Try No-Bake Chocolate Chip Protein Bars Recipe for Olympic-Sized Snacking

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Over the last couple months, I’ve developed an Olympic-sized appetite which I am attributing to my twice-a-day workout schedule. Run in the morning; CrossFit in the late afternoon.  Today, mindlessly influenced by the fact that there is a McDonald’s in the Athlete’s Village at the London Olympics, I headed on over to my local golden arches for lunch. No, I didn’t woof down a gut-busting Big Mac, fry and milkshake meal and I hope our USA athletes aren’t either! I responsibly ate the Premium Southwest Salad with Grilled Chicken which is actually quite good with a roasted corn, tomato and black bean salsa and sprinkling of cheese and tortilla chips. However, with only 290 calories (yet supplying a decent 27 gram serving of protein), I was fiercely famished a few hours later.

Today, to address the needs of my rumbling stomach, I whipped up a batch of No-Bake Chocolate Chip Protein Bars. Ready in no time, my afternoon treat was ready just in time to kick back on the couch and enjoy seeing the women’s marathon. Sadly, I realized that my favorite event isn’t until Sunday, August 5th.   Oh well, table tennis and badminton will have to do today!

No-Bake Chocolate Chip Protein Bars Recipe

  • 2 cups minute oatmeal
  • 4 scoops vanilla whey protein powder (my 4 scoops measured 1 ½ cups)
  • 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
  • 1 tablespoon stevia sugar substitute
  • ½ cup natural peanut butter (or almond butter)
  • ½ cup water
  • ½ cup chocolate chips

Line loaf pan with plastic wrap. In large bowl, add oatmeal, protein powder, flaxseed and stevia; mix these dry ingredients together until well-combined. Next, add peanut butter and water; knead with clean hands until incorporated (you can try to use a spoon, but my wooden one busted right in half). Sprinkle in chocolate chips, knead a bit more. Press mixture into prepared loaf pan and firm up in freezer for 20 minutes. Pull mixture out of pan by plastic wrap; slice into 12 equal sized pieces. Store in the refrigerator.  Serves 12.

Nutritional info (per serving): calories 221, total fat 10g, sodium 99mg, potassium 94 mg, total carb 22g, dietary fiber 3g, sugars 10g,  protein 11.g 

Will Exercise for Smoothies, Jamba Juice Inspired Workout

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All these smoothies are for me, mwha-ha-ha!

You all know how I love my Jamba Juice and today I really earned one of their delicious, nutritious smoothies. So in hopes of inspiring others to work out hard and ‘live fruitfully,’ I want to share an exercise routine I put together, inspired by my favorite smoothie shop, Jamba Juice. Modeled after CrossFit-style workouts, this series of five functional exercises provides a full-body blast, engaging arms, legs, core and the cardiovascular system all at once.  So, let’s get started . . . . give me a “J” . . . .give me an “A.”

 

 

JENNIFER’S JAMBA WOD (Work Out of the Day)

Jump onto 20” to 24” box x 20

Air squats x 20

Mile run (at 80% effort or better)

Burpees with full push-up x 20

Alternating arm kettle bell swing x 20 (10 each side)

And, now for the fun part – repeat three times and then rehydrate with a smoothie! Feel free to post your final time to the notes; I’ll give you a virtual high five . . . and a Jamba Juice smoothie recommendation!  You know they have a dizzying array of flavors; sometimes it takes me 10 minutes just to make up my mind!  Right now I in love with the Fruit Refreshers, a slushy-like drink made with yummy fruits and coconut water which so tastefully replaces electrolytes lost out sweating in the sun. Try the Tropical Mango, Watermelon Splash or Strawberry Lemonade.

Oh, and hello! I’m a featured ambassador for Jamba Juice, check me out!

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Zipfizz Energy Drink Giveaway and Thoughts on Caffeine for Endurance Sport Performance

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Baby, it’s hot out here! Another week of blazing hot temperatures is expected in Texas, so it was such a sweet surprise to open my mail box to find a sampler-pack of Zippfizz Energy Drink Mix waiting to quench my thirst. I’ve gulped my way through a variety of electrolyte replacement and energy drinks, so my interest was piqued by this product that touts itself as the ‘only healthy energy drink-mix powder in a tube.’

If I was an early-bird, I would have finished my workout in cooler conditions. But instead, I procrastinated and set off mid-day for a 6 mile round-trip run up the gym combined with a workout of 5 sets of 1k row, 10 wall ball, 10 ring toes-to-bar and 10 burpees. I mixed up some of the Orange Soda variety (they also offer berry, citrus, grape and pink lemonade) into the recommended 16 to 20 ounces of water and drank 8-ounces before I took off.

It did fizz, it did taste pretty darn good, although maybe a little too sweet-strong.  Since I prefer a lighter taste, I filled up the remainder of my bottle with water, effectively making it half-strength. Perfect, and now I can drink twice as much! My workout was awesome and I made it back home through the heat; don’t know if it was just an “on” day for me or the afternoon energy and caffeine pick-me-up courtesy of Zipfizz.

Those who know me are aware of my fondness for caffeine, it’s really my only vice.  Since I don’t drink coffee, I’m always looking for a way to get perked up in the morning. Plus, I’ve studied how caffeine can improve athletic performance in endurance events. Caffeine can aids the endurance athlete by convincing the body to decrease glycogen utilization by tapping into fat as a fuel source much earlier than it normally would. This means that glycogen, the human machine’s primary fuel source, spared in the beginning of a race becomes available for use during the later stages. In plain language, it means you can exercise longer until complete exhaustion.   Some studies also say that caffeine consumption can reduce ‘perceived effort,’ making the workload seem subjectively easier.

If you are really serious about using caffeine as an endurance performance aid, you really need to talk to your physician and research the methods carefully. There is much discussion as to how much and when to take in caffeine as well as other issues including developing a tolerance or suffering a negative side effect. And, the negative side effects are not without concern; some researchers suggest that too much caffeine can trigger a heart attack.  Basically, there’s a research study that supports every opinion. However, most middle-of-argument doctors today would advise endurance athletes to limit themselves to 200mg of caffeine on the morning of a race.  For comparative purposes, 200 mg of caffeine would be ingested in 2 regular-sized, regular-strength cups of coffee, or 1/4 of a tall Starbucks, or 4 cokes or 2 full servings of Zipfizz.

Now you may be wondering what else is in Zipfizz Energy Drink Mix besides 100mg of caffeine? The company reports that each little tube (1 serving) contains 9 vitamins (including C,E, all the Bs and folate), 8 minerals (potassium, magnesium, calcium, zinc, selenium, manganese, chromium, sodium) Amino Acids (arginine and taurine), antioxidents (green tea extract, vitamins C and E) and the ‘Four Gs’ (grape seed extract, ginger, green tea and ginseng). Additionally, Zipfizz contains no sugar and is sweetened with Xylitol and Sucralose. Xylitol is a naturally occurring, low-calorie sugar substitute found in berries, fruits and birch bark. The average person actually produces 6-10 grams a day of Xylitol, a by-product of sugar metabolism.

To wrap it up, I must admit that I do like the product; it tastes good and delivers the moderate amount of caffeine I prefer. However, my suggestion to Zipfizz would be to develop some new, exotic flavors to keep my taste buds interested. Also, even though it’s cute, I’m not totally loving the packaging, it seems a little eco-unaware. However, I am happy to repurpose my tubes and fill them with pain-reliever tablets, bobby pins, and other teeny-tiny things I keep in my gym bag.

I’m having a giveaway so that one lucky reader can try out every flavor of ZipFizz in a handy BPA-Free, refillable water bottle.  Just follow the rules below.

Zipfizz Energy Drink Giveaway:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One winner will receive five (5) single-serving tubes of Zipfizz Energy Drink Mix and branded, 22-ounce, BPA-Free water bottle. (ARV $14.99)

Entry Period: July 19, 2012 through July 31, 2012

Entry Methods (6 different ways):

  • Like ZipFizz on Facebook and post separately in ‘leave reply’ below that you ‘liked’.  (1x entry)
  • Like The Fit Fork on Facebook  and post separately in ‘leave reply’ below that you ‘liked’.  (1x entry)
  • Follow @zipfizzcorp on Twitter and post separately in ‘leave reply’ below that you ‘followed’. (1x entry)
  • Follow @thefitfork on Twitter and post separately in ‘leave reply’ below that you ‘followed’. (1x entry)
  • Subscribe to email list found on right sidebar of The Fit Fork where it says ‘enter your email address’ – don’t forget to confirm subscription email that comes via Feedburner. Post separately in ‘leave reply’ below that you ‘subscribed’. (1x entry)
  • Post to ‘replies’ below with a favorite Zipfizz flavor or a Zipfizz flavor suggestion. (1x entry)

 Open to U.S. and Canadian entrants, 18 years or older. Void where prohibited by law. This Giveaway is brought to you by The Fit Fork and is not sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook. For complete giveaway rules please click HERE.