Today’s run: 5 miles, 56:19 minutes.YT: 374.06. 2 miles easy, 10 min tempo run, 2 miles slow. All I could think about tonight was the moving mess awaiting me. But I saw a light at the end of the tunnel. And in it was the stocky outline of a great, big dumpster. Full of my stuff.
Endeavoring to bring some focus back to the blog, I’ll be giving a beginning crash course on some basic running terminology over the next few weeks. If you’re not a beginner, it will probably bore you to death!
Today, since I ran one: Tempo Runs.
A tempo run is a continuous pace at 90% of maximum heart rate, which corresponds to a speed that’s maybe just a little bit slower than your race pace for a short run, or at your race pace for a longer run.
From what I can tell, 10 minutes, what I did today, is a little short to be considered a real tempo run. Twenty minutes seems to be more common.
Why would you do one? To improve cardiovascular health. I imagine it’s gotta help improve your pace as well.
In case you decide to lengthen your tempo, your definition should read “…a speed that’s a little bit slower than race pace for a longer run, or at your race pace for a shorter run.” The longer the segment, the slower your tempo can be, though it should always feel hard to hold by the end.
Tempo pace is sort of like the ceiling on your aerobic zone. Doing it more raises the ceiling by teaching you to run faster without going anaerobic. Do it right for 6 weeks and all your paces will get a little faster for the same effort. :)
Thanks for that great addition – the benefits of real expertise!
People keep saying that I’ll “naturally” get faster. That doesn’t seem to be the case. It seems to be the case that I’m actually going to have to work hard for a faster pace. Damn!