What is a tempo run?
Short answer
A tempo run is a steady, comfortably hard effort: a pace you could hold for about an hour in a race, where you can say only a few words at a time.
Key points
- Comfortably hard: controlled, not a sprint.
- You can say a few words, but not hold a conversation.
- It follows a warm-up and comes before a cool-down.
Harder than easy, well short of flat out: on a scale of 1 to 10, about a 7. Your breathing is quicker and deeper, but steady. Tempo running raises the pace you can hold before tiredness builds quickly. It usually comes as 15 to 30 minutes at tempo, or as several shorter blocks with short recoveries between them.
In your plan
Your plan's tempo sessions say how long each block lasts. Run them by effort; on a hot or hilly day, the right effort will be a slower pace.
Related questions
Why should easy runs feel slow?
Because most of your fitness comes from running easy, often. An easy run should let you talk in full sentences. Running it harder makes you more tired without making you much fitter.
Read the full answerHow do I pick a realistic finish time?
Start from a recent race or timed run and scale it to the new distance. With no recent time, leave a rough guess or make finishing comfortably your goal; your plan will tell you how realistic it looks.
Read the full answer5K, 10K, half or marathon: which should I train for first?
Pick the distance you can train for safely in the weeks you have. For most people starting out that is a 5K or 10K; a half or full marathon makes sense once you already run several times a week.
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