Well hello there :) It’s been a whirlwind of a week already and I’m excited to share a life update, but first….my variation of Workout Wednesday.

Any marathoners out there have surely heard of Yasso 800s. It’s a fancy name for a speed workout that is highly regarded in many marathon training programs.

If you’re NOT training for a marathon, then why aren’t you training for a marathon don’t stop reading now! I promise not to bore you with running jargon for too long :)

Marathon training involves a careful combination of long runs and recovery, endurance, speed, and strength training. Add in injury prevention, hydration, nutrition, and mental strength and you have quite a lot to juggle. Best way to look at it is one day at a time! Just like in the race…one mile at a time.

  
If you couldn’t guess, I ran Yasso 800s this morning. (Geez, how many times can I say YASSO in one post?) This is a standard marathon training workout that is considered a “race time predictor.” The workout consists of ten intervals of 800 meters (approx. half a mile) with equal recovery time in between. The goal is to run all ten intervals at a consistent pace. The average of your 800 meter times is considered a pretty accurate prediction of your race time potential.

Essentially: if you run all of your 800 meter intervals around 3 minutes 30 seconds, then you will likely run a 3 hour 30 minute marathon. Apparently its proven surprisingly accurate. The first few weeks of this workout should begin with 5-6 intervals, building up to ten over time. According to this model, I should be looking at a 3:15-ish in a couple months!

Aaaaand that’s enough math for one day.

  
Life Update: I enrolled in a certified personal training program from the National Academy of Sports Medicine this week! I have a great office job that I’m very thankful for, but it has proven that I am not well-suited for a sedentary desk job that requires long hours in front of a computer. I crave to be active and engaged with others! Given that, and the fact that I’m overly passionate about living a healthy lifestyle (um, hello, I only blog about it every other day…) I decided that I would be so fulfilled with a job in the fitness industry.

  
After learning about exercise science, anatomy, nutrition, body mechanics, training planning and fitness development, I will take the CPT exam. Lots of late night studying coming up, which I’m not upset about :) I miss being a student and my brain is ready to be challenged!

Once I pass the exam, I will be qualified to “help clients achieve their personal health, fitness, and performance goals via the implementation of exercise programs, nutritional recommendations, and suggestions of lifestyle modification” and “design safe, effective, and individualized exercise and conditioning programs which are scientifically valid and based on clinical evidence” (NASM.org).

  
My health and fitness related future posts should have a bit more science backing them up! But for now, this girl still has her day job and it’s time to get to it :)

XOXO Kenz.