Just had our first meet, and I dropped my PR to 16:20. Wasn't expecting it, but I put a lot of miles in this summer and I feel strong. We normally do a tempo run once a week, but the coach doesn't give us a lot of guidance on pace. What is a reasonable tempo pace for me? I know that some people end up running their tempos too fast, and I don't want to make that mistake. I'm thinking maybe 5:45 - 6 depending on how I feel?
yes
If the tempo is 3 miles or longer, you should run at 85% of your 5k pace (I'll let you do the math). Any shorter tempos/intervals then you can quicken the pace.
Thanks, that helps a lot.
For a 3-mile tempo, J.D suggests you should run at your threshold pace, which is way faster than 85% of 5k pace I suppose.
I used a calculator to figure out some times. OP ran 16:20, so that's a 5:15 pace. Working off that:
85% = 6:11 pace
90% = 5:50 pace
95% = 5:32 pace
85%, or 6:11, seems a little slow as a tempo pace.
The calculator I use suggests 5:58-6:08. For short tempos (3 miles or less) you could go up to 10 seconds faster. But learn to pay attention to your body. If you are tired, a tempo run should be slower- don't be a slave to the watch. I tell my kids that they should be breathing harder than an easy run but still able to speak a sentence (but not a long conversation!)
Lots of good replies but I think your "depending on how I feel" is the best answer.
Daniel's numbers aren't bad but they are really too hard for an undertrained HS kid who might be running two races on top of his training.
85% would be ok, sometimes, but if you ran your 16:20 on a hilly, grass covered XC course and you do your tempo on the road during a week without a race it could be too slow.
You have to take everything into account to get the right pace.
One way to find the pace is to start at the slowest suggested pace here, say 6:15. Then run the next mile a little faster, maybe 6:08. Then a little faster, call it 5:58. If at the end of the 3rd mile, if you feel like speeding up, DON"T, just run a fourth mile again at 5:58. Your 3 mile tempo is then at 6:01 pace with a 6:15 warmup.
Next time you might start at 6:05, then 5:55 and 5:45. If you don't feel good enough to want to run a 5:35, you found your tempo pace for the day, 5:55. If you don't end up adding the fourth mile, do not increase the pace on the next tempo run. If you can't run your mile times so that each is faster than the last, slow down until you can.