What is a tempo run?

To get some good general info of training you should go to the United States Institute for Distance Running website and go to the "Running University" part.

A tempo run is a workout where you push your body to the point where you are right at your bodies ability to remove lactic acid from your muscles (lactate threshold). For a high school runner, you would typically warm up then get into the tempo run of about 2-5 miles then cool down. The research shows that when you train at your lactate threshold your body works to lower it, thus improving your race times. There are charts out that that tell you effort percentages of your prs that are helpful in doing tempo runs. The key is to not work too hard and race. I hope this helps.

fodder for further mental mastication:

If you ran the 1600m or mile in track last spring, a good estimate for an appropriate pace for your tempo runs under good conditions will be ~50-60 sec per mile slower than your mile PR. Obviously, conditions such as hot weather, hilly terrain, wind, and your physical condition now will affect that estimate.

If you had a solid base of miles, tempo pace is a pace you could run for about an hour in a race. My experience is that few high school kids, especially those just starting in the sport, have the base to use that method of estimating your pace.

If you have run a 5k race or time trial, your tempo pace will be ~25-30 sec slower than your race pace.

Have fun this season. Listen to your coach. Realize it takes time for your body to adapt to training loads - don't rush things physically. Learn to compete with every fiber of your being - this is a mental thing. When you line-up for a race, know that you may not be the fastest one in the field yet, but that you are the toughest one mentally.

If you are into reading about the sport, consider picking up "Running Within" and "Pursuing Excellence". The latter is by Terry Orwick, who has articles on various sites around the internet. Some of the mental training stuff seems a little goofy, but try it. Keep what works for you and throw out the rest.

Good Luck!

Thanks to all of you for your help!

grun wrote:

A tempo run is a workout where you push your body to the point where you are right at your bodies ability to remove lactic acid from your muscles (lactate threshold).

Isn't that the same thing as Lydiard's 'long aerobic runs'?

Or does Lydiard just enyoy cranking out his long runs at tempo pace?

Simplified, a tempo run is a hard run for 3-8 miles, depending on your fitness level. If you don't have a marked course, go by time (20 minutes and up). Try to run evenly throughout. In your weekly schedule, you could easily incorporate 1 tempo run/week. Do a good 20 minute warmup and 20 minute cooldown.

Watson

CONCRETE EXAMPLES:

25-29 minute continuous run (about 15 seconds per mile slower than 10k pace or 30 seconds per mile slower than 5k pace, but do not FORCE yourself to hit certain times) beginning with 4-5 minutes ~ 10 seconds per mile slower than LTV (lactate threshold velocity), 18-22 minutes @ LTV, last 2-3 minutes fast (but not racing).

Another one I have seen JK recommend a bit:

10-15 X 3minutes @ LTV w/ 30-40 seconds recovery jog

All of these should be comfortably fast and never struggling. If you race them, or tie up in any way, you defeat the purpose of the workout and are better offnot even running it.

You MUST have the discipline to stay BELOW the threshold until the very end, meaning the breathing should be fairly controlled and the upper body relaxed.

The legs should not get "tight" or tie up until that last 2 minute segment, and even then not to a great degree, as this will signal that you have passed your threshold (you might even pass it before this happens).

So what happens if you are 15 minutes into a Tempo/LTV-10

sec run thats suppose to go 25 minutes, and you shift into

lactate production? How does the body interpret the first

15 minutes, and the last 10 minutes?

Do you get credit physiologically for both?

I am not sure what you mean when asking if the body "gets credit."

The bottom line is this; if you have started to tie up fifteen minutes into a planned twenty-five minute tempo run, it is no longer a useful tempo run.

As I said before, you must have the DISCIPLINE to start SLOWER than LTV.

Even IF the overall pace of the run turns out to be a bit slower than what you COULD have run for a good tempo run, it is almost ALWAYS bestter to be on the slow side in these workouts.

Crossing the threshold will not serve the purpose of the workout, which is to get time at a fast but controlled aerobic pace WITHOUT significant lactate production, ultimately RAISING the pace at LTV over time.

When you get on the track or road or grass to do a tempo run, remember that it is NOT a time trial or a race.

Thisis why it is helpful both to start on the slow side and PAY ATTENTION TO RESPIRATION!!!

If you are huffing and puffing like you might in a 5,000 meter race, you have done it wrong.

To make a long story short, try some tempo runs SLOWER than you COULD run them to get a feel for a sub-LTV effort, OR try the interval workout version of an LT run with 10-15 x 3 minutes w/ short rests, which may make it abit easier to stay in control.

I'm sure someone out there with a Exercise Phys degree can clarify any errors in what I am about to say...

I believe your body is always producing pyruvic/lactic acid, but in the presence of sufficient oxygen and transport system it is broken down and actually supplies a great deal of the ATP our muscles require to function.

Our slow twitch fibers are super rich in mitochondria (oxygen processing plants) and as long as our efforts can be sustained by the slow twitch fibers the cycle works fine and we don't tie up. When the load exceeds the abilities of our slow twitch fibers, the aerobic fast twitch are called into use. These fibers are not near as rich in mitochondria and are not near as good as converting pyruvic/lactic acid into useable energy. Excess quantities of pyruvic/lactic acid flood the blood stream looking for underworked fibers that can pick-up some of the conversion duties. When the body can no longer convert the pyruvic/lactic acid into useable energy as fast as the acid is being created, we have exceeded the threshold and it's only a matter of time that the hydrogen ion concentrations in the muscle fibers increase to the point to where the cannot contract effectively.

The goal of a tempo run is to run at a rate that forces our bodies to operate at this threshold for an extended period of time. If we go too fast at the beginning, we crash and don't spend enough time at the treshold level to bring forth optimal adaptation. If we approach the pace conservatively, it may not be a perfect workout, but you can maintain the workout for a much longer time and nearly maximize the time at threshold.

Your tempo pace may change from day to day. Changes in blood volume due to dehydration can significantly affect your threshold heart rate which affects your pace. Air temperature which can draw blood to the skin surface also reduces the blood volume available to carry oxygen to the working muscles. There are many factors which can affect your tempo pace. As you do more of the runs, you'll develop a "feel" for the correct pace - this will be more accurate than any table of paces or suggested heart rates.

Good Luck!

Yeah, but what I'm trying to get at is that Lydiard's 'steady state runs' closely resemble the definition of a tempo run. Lydiard says that you should run at 'close to maximal aerobic effort' or something along those lines...can anyone shed some light on the matter? What am I misinterpreting?

Lydiard's steady states at maximum aerobic effort took place at the AEROBIC threshold.

This is what JK is always calling rhe high-end of aerobic effort. This is NOT LTV work, but rather what Lydiard called "effortless effort."

The goal is to go as fast as you can WITHOUT struggling AT ALL.

LT workouts work the ANAEROBIC threshold, although the lactate threshold and the anaerobic threshold occur at slightly different points due to differennces in blood lactate and muscle lactate.