The Hardest Track Workout You'll Never Do

There are some workouts that stick out in my mind as particularly gnarly, grueling, and difficult. Workouts that leave a mark, that immediately and measurably make you a better human and athlete. One of the best examples of this is the Vivendi Labs Yasso 800s workout: 10x800m with a 1:1 work to rest ratio.




I remember that was one of the workouts that put Chris Hinshaw on the map for me and also solidified Jason Khalipa's work capacity as legendary as he was able to keep a 2:57.9 average pace across all ten 800s.

So what if I told you that workout is child's play compared to this one? Brenda Martinez is one of the best middle distance runners on Team USA with several international podium finishes and, in case you were wondering, she doesn't fuck around with her training.

It's about the same volume, but slightly inverted intervals. Here's the workout in the video and Brenda's times:

8x1000m
rest 3 minutes between sets
rest 5 minutes then...
all out 400m

1. 2:57
   
2. 2:59
   
3. 2:58
   
4. 2:57
   
5. 2:52
   
6. 2:55
   
7. 2:57
   
8. 2:54
   

400m - 56.5

To give you an idea, her PR 1k is just about 2:38, so she's pacing these runs at around 88% capacity.

If you're looking to get your aerobic capacity on, give this one a shot and see if you're still standing. I promise: if you make it through to the other side, you'll be a different human.