I had pretty much figured that it was just mere coincidence that your goal marathon time worked out to your Yasso 800m pace (i.e., 3hr 10min marathon = 3min 10sec 800m). I presumed that Bart Yasso was the first to realize this because he had a lot of time to think while he was training. One day while walking to the lab, I got to thinking about half marathon training and was wondering if there was a Yasso equivalent for that (ok, I forgot my mp3 player, and just plain walking is so boring). This led me to my "Yasso 400m" theory... 1hr 30min half marathon = 1min 30sec 400m. This seemed plausible to me, so I asked about it at practice.
Turns out, there is actually a scientific reason why Yasso 800's work, and it's not just a neat number trick. This workout basically targets the "90% effort-level" range (effort-level is based on heart rate), which hovers near the aerobic/anaerobic border. By doing a lot of repeats at this level (I think the Yasso formula calls for 10), you essentially increase your lactate threshold. I also asked coach about the rationale behind this workout, and he explained it as a higher-end tempo workout... basically, it allows your muscles to "remember" a faster pace without the damaging effects of blasting them out at a mile-5K pace. Cool, always nice to be able to hop in a local 5K and not look like a total spaz (well... for most people... pretty sure I'll never blend in with bright red compression socks)! #20
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