Yahoo For Yassos!

That headline is a joke. Truth be told, there are three things I truly, deeply dread during training: Tempo runs, races and speed workouts. The night before these workouts, I'm a nervous wreck. Butterflies arrive by flocks in my tummy, making it hard to fall to sleep. The morning of, I'm pacing like an AIG exec, sipping coffee and trying to chill out. Then it's off to the track and...here we go! Hard effort for 800m, recovery jog for 400m; repeat until you pretty much feel like puking.

I make too big of a deal out of a simple workout, obviously, but no matter how many of these sessions I complete, each time the fear of the discomfort I know I'm going to endure freaks me out anew. This morning I did eight Yasso 800s. I haven't done Yasso's yet during this build-up, but I did have a smile on my face (despite the butterflies) as I headed to the track. Kate and I met Bart Yasso, the Runner's World Chief Running Officer, when we ran the Madison-Chicago 200 Relay with him on a media team last summer. Meeting the legend and running guru in person--I can assure you he's even more interesting, kind, easy-going and fun to be around than you hope!--means this workout will always have an extra-special place in my heart (with the butterflies, of course).

So, anyway, after all that drama, I survived. The funny thing is that the efforts that create the most pre-workout angst tend to have the biggest payoff--crazy-awesome endorphins, a sense of accomplishment, and, hopefully, some faster legs. Got a workout that gives you the chills? Click "comments" below and tell us about it! The photo grabbed from oregonianphoto at Flickr is of Adam Goucher sprinting along the beautiful outdoor track on the Nike campus in Oregon. The track is surrounded by soft trails rambling through the woods and trees everywhere--even inside the oval shape. It's the kind of place that makes you feel like you could run Yasso 800s forever. Posted by Liz