Part 4 : Tempo Running

Hello and welcome back to this series on training that feels like it is never going to end.  What is this, post 47, 48, something like that?

"Race Pace"

Before I go into the nuts and bolts of the more intense workouts, I need to give clear guidance on a bit of terminology I use.  I will often reference "race pace" when trying to describe the effort level needed for a workout.  When I say this, what I mean is the best possible pace you can run based on your conditioning on that day, as if you had run the same pace throughout the entire race.  That means "5k race pace" refers to the fastest pace that you can hold for for 3.1 miles, so that any faster you'd be forced to slow down sometime during the race, and any slower would leave you with too much gas in the tank at the finish.  Unless I specify otherwise, I'm typically talking about pace/mile.  For anything 10k or shorter, you train based on the race distance.  For longer, I'd say use either your half marathon pace as a reference, or a pace that you can hold for 1 hour.  I will often use race pace and lactic/anaerobic threshold pace interchangeably, since a good way to have a great race is to train so that you run right at or just below the threshold the whole way.

Tempo Running

Tempo runs are long, sustained efforts.  Typically, they are performed at slower than race pace, over a longer distance/time.  They are incredibly useful, and are found in one form or another in almost all training philosophies.  Running at a sub-maximal effort (statements like that make me sound more authoritative) allows your body to clear out the metabolic wastes slightly faster than they can accumulate.  Your cells get accustomed to high levels of waste, they adapt to more efficiently remove it.  While you may be running slower than you race, you are simulating race conditions within your body.  At the whole body level, you should be feeling the burn.  Your breathing is increased, the pace is fast, but not unbearable, and certainly not as intense as racing.  Tempo runs are a next logical step in training after you have your base mileage built and find that you are prepared to move into the meat and potatoes of a training program.

Useful Workouts

For 5k training, I typically use two types of tempo workouts.  One is a 4 or 5 mile run at around 45 seconds/mile slower than race pace.  The other is 2x2 miles at 20-30 seconds faster than race pace, with around 5 minutes break between each effort.  The second workout really allows you to test your conditioning at close to race pace, and if it's been a while, helps you get used to the discomfort of racing.  For the marathon, I did an 8-10 mile tempo run once every week or every other week at about 30 seconds/mile faster than my planned marathon pace, since I didn't have a reliable race pace to work with, and it worked out pretty well.

Once I hit this part of training, I like to work in 3-6 week blocks.  I'll do a block where my intense workouts are tempo runs to condition myself to race pace running, then a block of interval work (stay tuned for Part 5!) to improve my race pace, then back to interval work to get acclimated to the new pace.


And right now, I'm in an interval block.  My workouts are going well, I'm doing 1/4 mile intervals at around a 6:30/mile pace, which is right where I want to be in March.  Another week or so, and I'll go back into a short tempo block before I begin the final push for a May race.  And in other news, there probably won't be any pictures of my "home gym" (various second hand workout items in the garage) posted as promised in my early posts, because my wife and I have joined the YMCA.  Pool access, better equipment, and a way for my wife to do fitness activities that she enjoys all make this the smart decision.  Did I mention the pool access?  I just have to continue to remind myself in the weight room that I am a runner, not a linebacker, because my muscles have been sore pretty much since I started  lifting again this year.