Tempo run day before a race?

Alexavier wrote:

Thoughts on this?

That's not a tempo.

Alexavier wrote:

Could I have raced faster by saving my legs?

Yes.

Alexavier wrote:

Throughout most of the season, my coach would have us run a 5k easy the day before a race. However, when it was time to peak my coach would have us run 2 miles quickly the day before. I even doubted this but it somehow works once the season gets competitive. I ran 2 miles in 10:40 which is 5:20 pace and then the next day ran 5:20 pace for a full 5k on a hilly xc course. But then it had me thinking what if this tempo thing was not effective and I was taking away from my prime shape.

Thoughts on this?

Could I have raced faster by saving my legs?

Your perception, or should I say you are correct

with rethinking the matter.

You don’t gain anything from doing a LT run a day before a race, because you will not reap the benefits of such a run until 7- 10 day’s after doing it. It’s uneceassry fatigue, and could have you running slower than normal on race day.

Your ability should be in the bag, and all you need to do is a shakeout run and some strides. Or you could do some 400s to keep the speed sharp, but nothing too intense.

Very light run, taking very deep breaths.

Nick Willis claimed that between the semis and finals in 2008, he took the day off and got 2nd. In 2012 he went for a jog the day beforevand came 9th. In 2016, Rio, he repeated the 2008, routine of having the day off and got 3rd.

Alexavier wrote:

Throughout most of the season, my coach would have us run a 5k easy the day before a race. However, when it was time to peak my coach would have us run 2 miles quickly the day before. I even doubted this but it somehow works once the season gets competitive. I ran 2 miles in 10:40 which is 5:20 pace and then the next day ran 5:20 pace for a full 5k on a hilly xc course. But then it had me thinking what if this tempo thing was not effective and I was taking away from my prime shape.

Thoughts on this?

Could I have raced faster by saving my legs?

Everyone is different by all means, but your coach seems a bit DUMB.... stick to rest/slow run (& strides if you feel flat)

In theory yes in reality it sometimes does not make any difference- when you are young and recover quickly

A moderate pace the day before a race is a good idea, but at the pace you are running in your pre-race routine, you can't call that a tempo run.

If you run 16:40 for the 5k, the pace I am talking about running the day before a race would start easy and progress to 6:30 per mile after a 1 mile warmup. You should be down to 6 flat pace by 2 miles. Keep that pace for another 2-3 min and stop. You should be at about 17-18 min of total running at this point. Catch your breath, run 8×100 strides progressing from 10k effort to 1 mile race effort. Jog back recoveries or until breathing returns to normal. Jog 5 min to cool down and go home to rest up.

Jman1 wrote:

A moderate pace the day before a race is a good idea, but at the pace you are running in your pre-race routine, you can't call that a tempo run.

If you run 16:40 for the 5k, the pace I am talking about running the day before a race would start easy and progress to 6:30 per mile after a 1 mile warmup. You should be down to 6 flat pace by 2 miles. Keep that pace for another 2-3 min and stop. You should be at about 17-18 min of total running at this point. Catch your breath, run 8×100 strides progressing from 10k effort to 1 mile race effort. Jog back recoveries or until breathing returns to normal. Jog 5 min to cool down and go home to rest up.

This^.

2 miles at 5k pace is too much, but a small amount of quicker running seems to be very effective, in my experience.

Scorpion_runner wrote:

You don’t gain anything from doing a LT run a day before a race, because you will not reap the benefits of such a run until 7- 10 day’s after doing it.

Don't listen this, OP.

There are very brief short term benefits after a lactate threshold run, without creating too much fatigue. It prepares your body for the race, especially when speaking of the day before a 5k race. Even just a mile or two could do it. How much you can do depends from a lot of things. The worst thing to do before a race is to take a rest day, if you aren't so fatigued that you benefit from it.

Marius Bakken ran 6x1k close to his LT the day before his 13:06 5k performance. I did the same session, 6x1k @ LT w/ 30sec rec the day before my 5k PR. I also ran 5x1200 around cruise interval/CV pace two days before my lifetime 800m PR, and 2x200m at race pace the day before. I wasn't an elite, Bakken was, it still worked for me too obviously.

And by lactate threshold I mean the intensity where you reach a steady state, typically at about 2-4mmol lactate values, I'm not speaking of an 1 hour race pace or so. Better to stay a bit sub-LT than go above it the day before a race.

CoachB wrote:

2 miles at 5k pace is too much, but a small amount of quicker running seems to be very effective, in my experience.

I have the same experience.

The race is part of the training, or is actually a quality session. This is what people fail to realize. So doing a tempo run a day before a race, which is also a quality run , would be senseless. because you're not going to gain anything from it that will help you race on the following day. So it is a waste of a run. Doing a couple of easy miles, and some strides, or even a couple of quick 400s would be more beneficial. Those runs will help shake the nerves out of the legs, and keep the speed sharp, and the recovery will be quicker.

Pete Magill, and even Dr. Daniels, when it comes to what to do the day before a race, recommend rest or do a shakeout run with strides. Quality sessions are never recommended because it is unnecessary fatigue or an unnecessary run

If a runner has trained properly, where he has a strong mileage base, and his speed endurance and aerobic ability are well tuned, then everything is in THE BAG. All he has to do is simply RACE.

So I say to the OP, if you have control of your training, save it for the race.

I was speaking about LT pace, not tempo runs, it should have been easily noted in my posts. Tempos are typically considered to be above the LT, thus creating too much fatigue the day before a race.

U.N.O. wrote:

I was speaking about LT pace, not tempo runs, it should have been easily noted in my posts. Tempos are typically considered to be above the LT, thus creating too much fatigue the day before a race.

Well, that is where the confusion is. My understanding is that a LT is a tempo run, and that a tempo run is a LT run. They are the same thing, which is a steady state run, where lactate does not increase or decrease, but stays at a steady state.

U.N.O. wrote:

I was speaking about LT pace, not tempo runs, it should have been easily noted in my posts. Tempos are typically considered to be above the LT, thus creating too much fatigue the day before a race.

Nonsese, strict tempo is run at lactate threshold.

ukathleticscoach wrote:

Nonsese, strict tempo is run at lactate threshold.

Tell that to Marius Bakken, uk coach.

As I said, to me (and to mr. Bakken) the LT intensity (at 2-4mmol) is not 1 hour race pace. For you it obviously is. I suggest to you to take some lactate readings after 1 hour race. I believe it's well above the 2-4mmol.

My experience with running faster stuff the day before a race started with a talented freshman girl I had running for me about 10 years ago. Traditionally, we go to the site of our state meet the day before the race, jog the course, stretch, stride, etc....

This girl had qualified for state, taking the last slot from our section. Her 5k pr was around 20:30 at the time. When we "jogged" the course the day before, I remember thinking like it felt pretty fast (for me at least). We ended up covering the course in somewhere in the mid 22s and I was worried about the girl having taken something out of the tank for the next day. Instead, she PRd by over a minute, running 19:12.

I subsequent years, I played around with the concept of some light workouts the day before early season meets and found that my kids would often have great races after a low volume / moderate intensity quality session. A real common one for us became" 4 x 800 @ around tempo effort (3:05 ish for kids aiming to run 5:45 pace for 5k, for example) with one minute of rest. We'd follow this up with 4 x 200 @ about current mile RP with full recovery (usually a slow walk back across the infield. 3 years ago, our varsity boys did this prior to a mid season league cluster meet. We won that meet, beating a team that had beaten us by almost 40 points 3 weeks earlier. 4 of my top 5 ran PRs in that race.

So, again. 2 miles at 5k pace, probably too much, but that doesn't mean that complete rest or very easy jogging is the best idea either.

Speaking of Bakken, he also used to do some tempo effort 1k reps (around 3 min for a guy running 13:06) as part of his warm up on race day.

CoachB wrote:

Speaking of Bakken, he also used to do some tempo effort 1k reps (around 3 min for a guy running 13:06) as part of his warm up on race day.

Good post which I agree again. I actually ran my HM PB (1:14,22) the day after 5x1k close to 5k race pace. I felt strong and the HM pace was easy to maintain. It was a bit extreme, but I was young then and recovered faster.

Bakken told later that his pace at the LT was 2:53 per kilometre 5 days or so prior his 5k PR. But he suggested to stay about .5 mmol below the LT, in most of the the LT/sub-LT runs. I also included 5-10min around the LT during my warm ups. For me a tempo run meant staying about 5-10 beats above the LT HR.