When to start tempo workouts?

It's not about what you want to run but what you can run right now that will dictate what kind of tempo run you can handle.

What are your most recent PRs?

bump, good question.

I ran a 5k in 15:45 last cross season and ran a 9:40 two mile in track. I did the tempo at 5:26 pace.

Bump for an answer

Mid 5:20's is perfect for a short tempo session for you(15-25 minutes) according to both my intuition and more importantly Jack Daniels running formula. I'm guessing you want to peak in early to mid November? If so then no, now is not too early to start short tempos like that.

You can start running tempos immediately, because they will never cause you to peak unless you're racing them.

Yes I am looking to peak mid november and hopefully race well into the first week of december.

I would start with a tempo every other week for now with long intervals on the off weeks. Keep it a little shorter and a little slower than usual. Mid season would be when I prefer to peak for distance and pace for the tempo, and then during the taper I would back down the distance but keep the pace steady.

You can do longer tempos now, like 10km @ HM pace ad that kind of thing. Tempos should be done during base and in fact all year round.

My ambitious kids who have a good base have started tempos already, limited at the moment to about 20:00. I'm a stickler for true threshold pace at this time. They are also doing some m-pace running and hill repeats, neither of which is overly structured or demanding. I find that at this point in the season I can work them pretty hard and get good results later on as long as they are not having to really think a lot about the workout--don't want to put a whole lot of mental effort into workouts now if you want to be great in November.

Red Lobster, just out of my own curiosity, how many miles are you logging right now during your base and what pace are they on average?

I am logging between 75 and about 82 or so (max so far) and the pace is about 6:30. I feel good at this mileage and this is 20 miles a week more than last summer. 2 weeks ago we started hills and another day we did short reps of 200s and 400s. Then the next week was a hill workout again and the tempo I described. I have been above 70 every week since the 1st of june.

As a high schooler, I did similar training in the summer and ended up fatigued and tired and not racing well. I would just caution you to take easy days as easy as you need to. Lose the ego on rest days. Don't try to drop teammates, etc. But what you are doing now sounds great. Like the above said, tempo runs are fine this type of year, just make sure they are tempos and not time trials like I used to do them.

Maybe never. I race every Saturday and sometimes more. I ran my 42nd race this year yesterdaay, an 800m.

What I do instead is threshold running. Mostly, I run them fartlek style with only 1 minutes recovery jogs where the entire run can be from 80-120 minutes on Tuesday.

On Thursdays, I sprint usually Fartlek. I will run 40seconds with 80 seconds or 30w90, 20w100, 10w110. I do 15 to 25 of those. The entire run is 60-100 minutes.

A few times a year I actually do my speed endurance and speed on a track just to mix it up.

Saturdays I race from 400m to 15K, but I am prepared by my Sunday long run to complete a marathon safely by jogging it.

I never worry about scheduling out a peak because I don't believe in that for myself.

I am in shape and ready to race year round.

When I get tired I just back off on the amount and intensity during the week and still race on Saturday.

I have years of personal experiences and have been doing very close to what I do now since 1991.

You may just have to find what works for you.

Good luck! Have a great season!

As long as you're not tired everyday (it is very okay to be tired sometimes during base phase) you seem to be on the right path. Very impressive training. What are you Junior year PR's?

I am only going into Junior year. I ran 15:45, 9:40 and 4:29 last year as a soph. I felt like track was a let down and that I never reached my potential.

I never feel too tired in my training and I am feeling pretty good every week lately.

Sorry for some reason I was under the assumption that you were about to be a Senior. I think I mixed you up with another thread.

Your track times do seem a little slower but don't sweat it, you've got 2 more years lol.

just run baby

Do tempo runs even lead to early peaking?

I think you can basically do tempo workouts year round without any risk of early peaking -- it's not as controversial as doing speedwork year round.

I once saw a post where doing too many tempo runs (e.g. 3x per week) brings quick improvements, but can shorten your career, and cause you to fall short of your potential.