Run Tempo Practices

There are several objectives we may have for run training sessions. We prefer to call these sessions ‘practices’ because this implies that there is skill involved and skills need to be practice and can always be improved. Even when the session is focused on physical performance of some kind, like going a certain pace, skill still plays a central role in making that performance possible with least energy cost and risk of injury.

The word ‘tempo’ in running refers to ‘pace’ – the time in which it takes you to cover a certain distance. For example, you may run at a pace of 9 minutes per mile or 5 minutes per kilometer. So a ‘Tempo Practice’ is about setting a target pace for a certain distance and challenging yourself to hold that pace the entire distance.

Tempo is about learning what your appropriate pace should be and then training the body to find it and maintain that pace consistently over the distance. These kind of practices help you learn to read the signals of the body that are associated with a certain pace (at your current fitness level) you are running and to learn how to make small shifts in pace intentionally. These practices are also about building the confidence that you can truly handle the discomfort of running at race pace for the entire distance.

The guidance below is aimed primarily at those who are following the 5K Run Training Plan….

Tempo Practice

You are going to use the lean of your body line to adjust speed, and focus on those skills that keep your body relaxed even as you gradually speed up. You will run faster which will initially feel a bit more uncomfortable, but then you will use your skills to make it feel more comfortable.

In this practice it works best if you have some record or estimate of your current average mile or kilometer pace for the race you are preparing for – 5 km or 13.1 mile distance.

You may divide your run into four equal distance segments.

You are going to shift pace, like shifting gears, on each segment, starting the first segment at slightly slower than race pace then gradually shifting into a faster gear until you are running faster than your target race pace on the last one.

For example, if your average target race pace is 8:30 per mile (5:16 per km), then you will shift pace gears:

• Segment 1 – 8:40
• Segment 2 – 8:35
• Segment 3 – 8:25
• Segment 4 – 8:20

As the weeks progress, you will lower your average pace. In the first week, if your average race pace was P = 8:30, then in the third week the race pace to use in the Tempo Practice is P – 5 seconds = 8:25. You may adjust this change in pace if it needs to be a little less or a little more from week to week.

It will be most convenient if you can run on a course with known distance, or distance markers so you set your pace by feel and then check your pace by your watch when you finish each segment. Or run on a track.

If you have specialized running watch with distance tracker, you can run anywhere, and if the watch shows you current pace then you can make your segments any distance you like.

If you do not have a course of known distance, or a fancy running watch, you may use a simple watch chronometer and divide your total run time into four timed segments and then set your pace by feel, like this:

• Segment 1 – less than race pace (I could run this pace twice the distance)
• Segment 2 – feels slightly less than race pace
• Segment 3 – feels slightly faster than race pace
• Segment 4 – feels brisk (I don’t think I could run this the entire 5 km)