Thursday, 20 March 2008

What is tempo pace?

Mark just asked me how fast you should do a tempo run and I thought, I'm not really sure. My thoughts were pretty fast, but not quite race pace, but that's not very scientific. So I found this article at Runners World and I like their very clear explanation:

To ensure you're doing tempo workouts at the right pace, use one of these four methods to gauge your intensity.

Recent Race: Add 30 to 40 seconds to your current 5-K pace or 15 to 20 seconds to your 10-K pace

Heart Rate: 85 to 90 percent of your maximum heart rate

Perceived Exertion: An 8 on a 1-to-10 scale (a comfortable effort would be a 5; racing would be close to a 10)

Talk Test: A question like "Pace okay?" should be possible, but conversation won't be.


Do this challenging long run once or twice during your Half to Full Marathon training: After a warmup, run 5km (half-marathoners) or 10km (marathoners) at the easier end of your tempo pace range. Jog for five minutes, then do another 5 or 10km.

Interesting stuff. I think I've been going too slow on my tempo runs.

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