that does seem too easy. all the more reason to race and get a rea sense of where you should be running these repeats. ' fastr than marathon pace" is too vague for me. I would dump the higdon plan and get something different.

yes yasso are ALL OUT 800s with equal rest. usually about 8 of them. it is a tough workout to keep hard and consistent.

The whole point of putting a half marathon race in the training is to go race it. It is part of the training, not something that is taking away from it. The difference between this race and your BQ attempt will be a proper taper. If you do something other than race it, you are not following the training properly.

Time: 1:23:08
Place: 3rd OA (and AG)
Award: None
Post-Race Beers: 3
Post-Post-Race Beers: Many

I raced it. Conditions were pretty much perfect. Splits were 6:20 - 6:25/mi pretty much the whole way, until the last 2 miles, which were both right at 6:00. I ran much of the race with the 1st OA female. We caught the 3rd place male around mile 10, and I picked up the pace at mile 11 to try to drop him, which was successful.

My VDOT based on this race is 56. I'll adjust my paces somewhat, and keep working hard over the next three months to keep improving. Based on the VDOT tables, I"d be running 800's around 2:51, which still seems too slow to me (especially on equal rest). I have another interval workout this Thursday, so I'll give it a try as prescribed then tweak it accordingly if it still feels too easy.

Nice job and great race! That run is going to be much more beneficial to you than had you just take it like a tempo or long run.

Thanks! I agree on the utility of the run, I'm glad the ST consensus pushed me that way. I was a little more sore than I thought I'd be, so I've pretty much written off any MP or faster training this week. I'll get some long slow miles in this weekend then jump back into the plan on Monday.