During my lunch today, I set out to do my first ever tempo run. Actually, over the last few weeks, I should have been doing tempo runs to prepare for my 10K coming up soon (Cooper River Bridge Run)…either way today was my first.
For those unfamiliar with a tempo run, I would like to break it down, with help from Runner’s World:
A tempo run: is a run at around your 10K race pace (or at about 80-85% of your heart rate or so). Traditionally tempo runs were 20 minutes or so in length, but they vary. It’s often described as being “comfortably hard” — it’s a challenging, but manageable pace. Most tempo runs consist of ten to fifteen minutes of easy running, then the tempo part, then ten to fifteen minutes to cool down.
Now why would you want to do a tempo run?
- Tempo runs build speed and teach your body to run at a certain pace.
- Tempo runs work by improving metabolic fitness.
- Tempo runs teach the body to use oxygen more efficiently by increasing your lactate threshold.
Here was what I decided to do; 2 miles under 7:30, 2 miles under 6:30, 2 miles under 7:30, .5 mile under 6:30. It ended up working really well, the feeling after 4 miles was intense, I wanted to stop, but kept going, and eventually my pace recovered. Here is a link to my Garmin Data
Get out there and try it, great way to mix up your training while building speed.
P