Tempo Runs
Tempo Runs-
"Tempo training is more important than speed work for the half and full marathon," says Loveland, Colorado, coach Gale Bernhardt, author of Training Plans for Multi-sport Athletes. Toby Tanser, an elite Swedish runner who trained with the Kenyans and is a running coach says, “Tempo running is crucial to racing success because it trains your body to sustain speed over distance. So crucial, in fact, that it trumps track sessions in the longer distances.”
How to do a Tempo Run: Use a 3 – 4 – 3 ratio on warm up, pace and cool down. A classic 50 minute tempo run is a slow 15-minute warm up run, followed by at least 20 minutes at a challenging but manageable pace*, then a 15-minute cool down run. Your per minute pace for each part of the tempo run is based on your individual abilities. A 30 minute tempo run would be 9 minute warm up, 12 minutes of a challenging but manageable pace and a 9 minute cool down run.
Your challenging but manageable pace should be about a 15 to 25% increase over your warm up pace and cool down pace. So if your warm up pace is 12 minute miles then your challenging but manageable pace would be around 9.5 minute miles. If you warm up at a 10 minute pace then your challenging but manageable pace would be around 8 minute miles. The biggest problem runners have with tempo runs is running too fast on the warm up and cool down. Obviously if you run within 10% of your tempo pace on your warm up and cool down then you can't push yourself enough to get a feeling for running hard under challenging circumstances.
You'll find that the tempo training really plays a major role in half marathon runs in the last 3 miles. You'll know from your tempo training how hard you can push yourself and still make the distance at maximum output. Without tempo training you might hold back too long before you kick it in at the end.
"Tempo training is more important than speed work for the half and full marathon," says Loveland, Colorado, coach Gale Bernhardt, author of Training Plans for Multi-sport Athletes. Toby Tanser, an elite Swedish runner who trained with the Kenyans and is a running coach says, “Tempo running is crucial to racing success because it trains your body to sustain speed over distance. So crucial, in fact, that it trumps track sessions in the longer distances.”
How to do a Tempo Run: Use a 3 – 4 – 3 ratio on warm up, pace and cool down. A classic 50 minute tempo run is a slow 15-minute warm up run, followed by at least 20 minutes at a challenging but manageable pace*, then a 15-minute cool down run. Your per minute pace for each part of the tempo run is based on your individual abilities. A 30 minute tempo run would be 9 minute warm up, 12 minutes of a challenging but manageable pace and a 9 minute cool down run.
Your challenging but manageable pace should be about a 15 to 25% increase over your warm up pace and cool down pace. So if your warm up pace is 12 minute miles then your challenging but manageable pace would be around 9.5 minute miles. If you warm up at a 10 minute pace then your challenging but manageable pace would be around 8 minute miles. The biggest problem runners have with tempo runs is running too fast on the warm up and cool down. Obviously if you run within 10% of your tempo pace on your warm up and cool down then you can't push yourself enough to get a feeling for running hard under challenging circumstances.
You'll find that the tempo training really plays a major role in half marathon runs in the last 3 miles. You'll know from your tempo training how hard you can push yourself and still make the distance at maximum output. Without tempo training you might hold back too long before you kick it in at the end.