Correct Tempo Pace

the mile is too short a distance to determine a tempo pace with accuracy - you need to do some 5k/10k races to see where you are at longer distance races.

or you could do a heart rate calculation - there's probably some table suggesting tempo paces by a percent of max hr.

You said you didn't reach 83% of max heart rate at end, and you also stated that you could run 6:27 for at least 30 minutes without hurting much.

You can run a marathon with 83% hr max.

Probably your mile time is not correct or your heart rate max is not correct. I hope it is the former. But even then, a 5k is a better indicator for what your tempo pace should be.

what I think wrote:

You said you didn't reach 83% of max heart rate at end, and you also stated that you could run 6:27 for at least 30 minutes without hurting much.

You can run a marathon with 83% hr max.

Probably your mile time is not correct or your heart rate max is not correct. I hope it is the former. But even then, a 5k is a better indicator for what your tempo pace should be.

I'm pretty comfortable with the max heart rate, I actually might be slightly underestimating my max. I use the same heart rate monitor all the time and I've seen what I use as my max a few times, usually at the end of 5ks.

I would bet I under perform at the mile, but it's still the best I've run, ever. I'm still trying to build back up to a decent 5k/10k. I'm just trying to figure out a tempo pace so I can actually improve my stamina. The mile time is within 0.1 sec, haven't seen the final results yet from Tuesday night.

Everybody says run tempo by feel, but I don't know what it is supposed to feel like.

Distance Fan wrote:

[quote]what I think wrote:

Everybody says run tempo by feel, but I don't know what it is supposed to feel like.

Comfortably hard, in my experience you should be able to get words out, but NOT be able to carry any kind of conversation (granted I can usually say words even while I'm racing).. You shouldn't be all out, and it shouldn't be easy. But I agree, the mile is not a good race to base your tempo on, because me for example, in high school I was able to run 5:30 but not break 20 for a 5k (female)....the 5:30 would indicate a tempo pace much faster than my aerobic capacity was...

Distance Fan wrote:

Everybody says run tempo by feel, but I don't know what it is supposed to feel like.

Then learn. Training is about developing skills as well as fitness. You don't learn how to juggle by reading a book.

You may find the link below to be of interest.

Try the 6:47 on the road, not the treadmill. Daniels hasn't wriiten a treadmill training book yet.

it doesn't work on the treadmill, do it on the road. Every treadmill (IMO) feels different - my treadmill at 6:30 at home feels a lot faster than the gym's 6:30 pace.

I was in a similar situation as you last year (ran 5:41 or something) and I did tempos at about 6:40 or 6:45 pace

You should use the longest current race distance time you have to put into a calculator to determine training paces. Right now call your tempo pace 7:20. You don't get any points for having a faster tempo pace, just a faster race time.

UK Limey runner wrote:

Distance Fan wrote:

Everybody says run tempo by feel, but I don't know what it is supposed to feel like.

Then learn. Training is about developing skills as well as fitness. You don't learn how to juggle by reading a book.

You may find the link below to be of interest.

http://www.letsrun.com/2005/jkfitness.php

I agree with what you say. But Jk just bores the heck outa me with his endless OCD blather.

Don't trust the TM unless you know it's been calibrated. They can be way off. For example, mine is slow by about 2.5% across all speeds. The other thing is about the incline: I read somewhere...maybe here at LR, that all TM's at 0% are actually set at about .05% grade to help take some of the load off the motor. Don't know how true that is though.

Read pp.66-76 of the third edition. ;)