IMPROVING
YOUR SPEED: TEMPO RUNS
This article is intended for runners who have completed at least one marathon and wish to improve their time. If you are a first-time marathoner, we strongly recommend that you focus on endurance first! You should not be running speed workouts for your first marathon.
What is a Tempo Run?
A tempo run is a workout you can do on your own, with no need to go to a track. I have found that tempo runs were the most beneficial for increasing speed at marathon distance or longer because they require a higher level of effort over a longer period of time than a typical track workout. Tempo runs increase gradually in distance as you approach your event, and are typically broken into three parts:
· Warmup
· Tempo
· Cooldown
The warmup and cooldown are run
easy, while the tempo portion is run at approximately 10-15 seconds slower than
your 10K pace. So if you are running a 50 minute 10k, you'd run these at about
an
How to Run a Tempo Run
Start out easy. Run the distance specified in the first column at an easy jog...you should feel like you're treating yourself, taking it real easy. Don't worry, the tempo portion will make up for it. After your warmup, you kick up quickly to a tempo pace; cover the distance in the second column, without stopping, at your target pace. Finish by doing a cooldown of equal length to your warmup. You'll be thankful at that point for the easy pace.
The
distances on the schedule below are expressed in miles. So if you look at the
workout for week 1, it means you should warmup 1/2 a
mile, do a 2 mile lift, then cool down 1/2 a mile, for a total of 3 miles.
How Often?
No more than once a week for tempo workouts. You can run both a track workout and a tempo workout in the same week, but take care not to overtrain. Tuesday night is a good night for track workouts, as you have recovered enough from your long run, and can still get your other workouts in. Tempo night on Thursday would complement a Tuesday track run.
There are 15 workouts in this article; if you are doing a marathon, time them so that your last workout occurs about 10 days before your race.
Enjoy!
Coach Greg
The Workouts
|
Tempo Run Workout
Schedule |
||||
|
Week |
Warmup |
Tempo |
Cooldown |
Total |
|
1 |
0.5 |
2.0 |
0.5 |
3.0 |
|
2 |
0.5 |
2.0 |
0.5 |
3.0 |
|
3 |
0.5 |
2.0 |
0.5 |
3.0 |
|
4 |
1.0 |
2.5 |
1.0 |
4.5 |
|
5 |
1.0 |
2.5 |
1.0 |
4.5 |
|
6 |
1.0 |
2.5 |
1.0 |
4.5 |
|
7 |
1.0 |
3.0 |
1.0 |
5.0 |
|
8 |
1.0 |
3.0 |
1.0 |
5.0 |
|
9 |
1.5 |
3.5 |
1.5 |
6.5 |
|
10 |
1.5 |
3.5 |
1.5 |
6.5 |
|
11 |
1.5 |
3.5 |
1.5 |
6.5 |
|
12 |
2.0 |
4.0 |
2.0 |
8.0 |
|
13 |
2.0 |
4.0 |
2.0 |
8.0 |
|
14 |
2.0 |
4.0 |
2.0 |
8.0 |
|
15 |
2.0 |
5.0 |
2.0 |
9.0 |