Tempo runs are overated?

Yeah, I agree. We have this genius high school coach in my town who dosen't like doing them either.

He laughs at teh workout.

He likes to hammer repeat 200's.

At the meets, I have never seen any team out preform our team in the first 200 meters.

kenyans like tempo runs. according to more fire. the staple workout.

Nah, definitely not overrated. Possibly underrated.

Tempo runs and cruise intervals + 200m reps = success.

With that as a base, it only takes a few interval workouts to be at your best.

I do think that most people run tempos and cruise intervals too fast, though.

no i don't think they're overrated. i think they're awesome.

yuocxnn wrote:

Does anyone here think that the importance of tempo runs are over emphasized? I'm not saying I do but I have better results through intervals twice a week and only a short progression style run that is akin to tempo training.

3-6 mile tempos are the most important workouts in my training. Without question.

Tempos = bread and butter.

I think tempo runs are overrated by some people and underrated by others.

I underrate them. They are pretty good, to me, when objectively, they are very good.

Tempo runs are overrated by people who insecure about their training plan, and aren't running a certain clip for a 400 and think they aren't in shape. People who have a solid plan understand that lots of tempo volume and a few specific track workouts will lead them to the promised land

It depends. They're probably overrated for sprinters who never run more than 200m, but they're pretty crucial for 5K, 10K, marathon guys.

Overrated and unnecessary. I could never break 3 hours until I ditched the tempos and switched to 2 speed sessions weekly, one long (3-5 miles of 800s and 1600s) and one short (1-2 miles of 200s, 400s). Coach said that tempos are less efficient in producing results and can wear you down.

They're the second-most important aspect of our regimen. The first are the "easy" aerobic days.

On a per run basis, I'd say the tempo run is the best single run you can do.

you have a bad coach

Tempo runs are far from overrated.

johnny rotten wrote:

Nah, definitely not overrated. Possibly underrated.

Tempo runs and cruise intervals + 200m reps = success.

With that as a base, it only takes a few interval workouts to be at your best.

I do think that most people run tempos and cruise intervals too fast, though.

Have you visited "www.therunzone.com" frequently?

If running 7 days a week and training for 10k or longer, then I would consider a tempo run the 3rd most essential part of a training program, 1st being putting in the miles 7 days a week, and 2nd being the long run.

Obviously, the pace of the tempo would vary whether you're training for 5k, 10k, 1/2marathon, or marathon, and it might not be as important for 5k and shorter, but my favorite run is a couple mile warmup then 6-8 miles @ 1/2marathon pace

There are no important workouts....only important training. Don't overthink it. Tempo runs are overrated for those who obsess over them at the expense of other training.

The ability to maintain a fast pace means nothing without actual leg speed. All that means is that you'll be able to sustain a SLOW fast pace instead of a faster fast pace. There has been a shift over the last decade or two from intervals intervals intervals to tempo tempo tempo.

Proper trainining is a combination of speed (50s, 100s, total rest also strength/power developed through weight training, plyos and drills), endurance (intervals, tempo runs and other sustained hard runs), and stamina (long runs, total overall mileage). They are ALL equally important to build a foundation for a great runner. From this foundation you can then implement specific training for your specific race.

Alan

i don't think most runners need 50's or plyos, or really any weight training to be perfectly honest. If anything is overrated it is this aspect of training along with core. The best way to become a great runner is to run. I think my greatest improvement in college was a result of simply doing a 4 mile morning run 3-4 times a week. Also the tempo is important, but most people do them too hard. I actually like doing them on the track and make sure I'm not going too fast or too slow. However, whoever said Kenyans like them you must understand they are very unstructured about their tempo runs. Any training run can easily become a hard tempo run if someone is feeling good.

NE Ohioan wrote:

If running 7 days a week and training for 10k or longer, then I would consider a tempo run the 3rd most essential part of a training program, 1st being putting in the miles 7 days a week, and 2nd being the long run.

I know that one famous LetsRun poster would say that the long run is the least important part of a training program.

Runningart2004 wrote:

There are no important workouts....only important training. Don't overthink it. Tempo runs are overrated for those who obsess over them at the expense of other training.

The ability to maintain a fast pace means nothing without actual leg speed. All that means is that you'll be able to sustain a SLOW fast pace instead of a faster fast pace. There has been a shift over the last decade or two from intervals intervals intervals to tempo tempo tempo.

Proper trainining is a combination of speed (50s, 100s, total rest also strength/power developed through weight training, plyos and drills), endurance (intervals, tempo runs and other sustained hard runs), and stamina (long runs, total overall mileage). They are ALL equally important to build a foundation for a great runner. From this foundation you can then implement specific training for your specific race.

Alan

You're right.