Half marathon – tempo advice?

I've always heard that 7 miles or 40 minutes is the limit for half marathon pace tempos. if you split it up into 4x2mi or 2x4mi that would be okay, but I really don't think going over 7 miles is necessary unless you slow down a little bit

71:50 is 5:29s, so maybe if you kept the pace at 5:35-5:40 you could do 10 miles

i just ran 68:30 (5:14 pace), did two 8 mile tempos @ 5:25s and one 10 mile tempo @ 5:30s during my buildup. so HM pace +10-15secs (likely around my M pace) worked well for me, plus it didn't leave me too beat up. (disclaimer: so if you consider true "tempo" or "lactate threshold" pace to be around the pace you can run for one hour, these weren't exactly true "tempos", just long M pace runs...fantastic workouts if kept under control).

71:50 is 5:28s, so I'd suggest running 5:35s-5:45s depending on the workout length.

the most work I did at actual HM pace leading up to my race was 2x3mile in 5:13 on the track...I think any more than 6 miles at actual HM goal pace is too strenuous for a training run, especially for faster guys & in the context of a good 80-100 mile week with 2 workouts + 1 long run. so i'd suggest not going to fast and trying to hit your actual HM pace in the 7-10.5 mile workouts as 1) you risk blowing up if it's not a great day, and 2) if you get through it you'll be hella beat up...might as well save it for race day! good luck & let us know how it goes.

I think it takes a while to build up to tempos runs of that length. I always incorporate them in my plans (usually once a week) but I only increase by 1mi each week, then break it up every 3rd week.

Example

5mi tempo

2x3mi

6mi

7mi

2x4mi

8mi

9mi

2x5mi

10mi

I stop at 10mi. Then drop back down to 5 or 6mi but pick it up 5-10sec faster per mile pace. And then build the distance back up at that new pace.

If you only have 5weeks till your race, your jumps in distance are too much.

I would go with a plan of

7mi - 5:40pace

8mi - 5:40pace

2x4mi (5sec per mile faster 5:35pace)

6mi (At 5:35pace) But this should be more relaxed and controlled.

Then race (5:29pace).

My PR is 71:51 at RnR San Jose (perfect PR course).

all sound advice, thanks.

I would add that I'm averaging about 80-85mpw and I don't think I recover from these sessions as quickly as some of my training partners.

I will keep the tempo length shorter and try not to go out too hard and stick to my target pace.

If I'm breaking up my tempo runs into 2x3mi, 2x4mi and 2x5mi how long recovery should I take?

Tempos beat me up to much. I break them up in more of a fartlek type effort. Instead of a 30 min tempo I'll do 6x4 minutes with 1 minutes in between. The 1 minute is not a jog but more like I back off the tempo pace for a minute. I actually think it is more beneficial than a straight tempo.

Do 13.1 miles at half pace but with a few mins of easy jogging every 3-4 miles.