Question about tempo effort

I seriously don't think running a 2 mile tempo or a 1 mile tempo are worth your time. I mean it might do something but I'd say if you are a high schooler, you should try and get into the 5-7 mile range for tempo runs. The 3xmile workout is a different story. Those are what you call cruise intervals. Still though, 3 might not be enough in all honesty. 5x1 mile with a minute rest at a little faster than what you would do for a 5 mile tempo would be better in my opinion. I'm not a huge fan of cruise intervals though. Really, if you want to work the threshold, you might just want to run straight tempo runs of 5-7 miles or fartlek runs. If you die during a tempo run, you are going too fast. I used to start mine out way too fast and once I learned to chill a little at the beginning, I started having really great workouts.

Just my 2 cents.

Why not are you a fan of those?

Malmo's advice for high schoolers in the big thread about SoM was in fact shorter tempos and also much shorter intervals than mile repeats (in most cases).

What makes you say what you did?

So what would constitute as a tempo workout. I dont feel like doing a 5 mile continuous tempo run.

Running tempo effort for only 6:20 minutes doesn't sound like it would be much of a benefit. By the time your HR gets into the tempo effort range how much work is really being done at the target effort? As the previous poster said 3 x 6:20 would be better, IMO. These could be done with about 3 min rest.

Can the other poster link to the thread where Malmo said that about short tempos?

F uck it, im just gonna do 2x 2 mile around 6:40 pace with 5-10 minutes rest.

pace doesnt determine tempo effort. effort determines tempo effort.

however, at 6:30ish pace, 2 miles is NOT a tempo effort. it is a warmup.

whosehose wrote:

Why not are you a fan of those?

Malmo's advice for high schoolers in the big thread about SoM was in fact shorter tempos and also much shorter intervals than mile repeats (in most cases).

What makes you say what you did?

I'm not a fan because I don't think it works as well as tempos or fartleks (from personal experience). Also I've read George Malley's training advice, but I'm not him and I know what works for me personally and others that I know personally. What I like about malmo is that he cares about effort and finding your sweet spot over "pace". That's why I don't like these tempo intervals. I find that people care more about crunching numbers, figuring out splits, when they need to feel their threshold and go with the flow. Speed training is a different story, but as far as threshold training, I don't like the intervals.

I hope this is an adequate answer.

pavementandpeople wrote:

pace doesnt determine tempo effort. effort determines tempo effort.

however, at 6:30ish pace, 2 miles is NOT a tempo effort. it is a warmup.

How do you know if it's not a tempo effort? Just because it's not for you doesn't mean it's not for him/her.

i am not a fan of it.

I definitely agree with you on feel,However, this is malmo's quote I was referencing

malmo wrote:

Being that your best mile is 4:42 I would suggest that you limit the repeats to 1200m max, and your tempo run to 3-4 miles. The point of the training is to get your body to runner faster, if you are mile and 2000m repeats and 5 or 6 mile tempo runs you are never going to run very fast.

So, while 5-6 mile tempos are great for longer distances,

if the original poster here is considering tempo runs with distances of 1, 2, or 3 miles it leads me to think that the athlete is focusing on shorter distances, and thus why I believe malmo's quote applies.

tempo effort:

picture yourself running with the top 5 members of your team. you're all running comfortably on an easy 10 miler. 4 miles from the end of your run, the pace starts to pick up. tempo pace is... "when the conversation stops".

FYI: DONT EAT 2 MASSIVE BURGERS THE DAY OF YOUR TEMPO/SPEED WORKOUTS!

Felt comfortable the whole way. Ended up doing 6:35 pace.

Question: my legs didnt feel any burning sensation, but,my breathing was pretty heavy. Am I doing it right?

How far did you go?

I went 2 miles at 6:35 pace. Felt the hamburgers coming up as I was resting for 5 minutes, so ended up doing a mile only as I didnt feel like barfing today (6:29 btw). Pretty hilly course too.

lorge wrote:

F uck it, im just gonna do 2x 2 mile around 6:40 pace with 5-10 minutes rest.

5-10 minutes rest is a lot for a tempo-ish effort. I would only do 2-3 minutes rest between those intervals, definitely NOT 10.