Tempo Runs, the least effective form of training

What would John Kellogg Say???

Malmo said something like that too.

The guy's an ultra runner. Tempos probably very ineffective for 100 milers over the river and through the woods, etc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19ze1yH7sSQ

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Mind... Blown!!! wrote:

I came across this gentleman's site awhile back and was blown away by some of his claims. Starting with this one:
http://fellrnr.com/wiki/Tempo_Runs
Where he claims Tempo Runs are ineffective.

He makes a few other fun claims too, on different threads. Among them are...
- Running 3 or 4 days per week is optimal, even for elites (in his marathon training program comparison where he decides RUN SMART is one of the best choices because of this)
- HIIT is king

Anyway, I thought I'd throw this out there for you piranhas

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more of the same crap:
"Running on the easy days is often referred to as "junk miles" as the only result of these miles is impaired recovery. If the benefits of training go down as the effort on easy days increases, why run at all on the easy days? So far I have found no evidence to indicate there is any training benefit from running on the easy days. In fact, all the evidence supports Supercompensation and Training Monotony, therefore I recommend running only 3-4 days of the week for optimal results."

Well. In my opinion and based on my experience it's completely the opposite.
The utmost important factor in long distance running is your speed at LT. Because your performance is literally based on your capability to run fast without "choking" with lactic acid.
I started running quite late in my middle 20s and have progressed rapidly thanks to regular threshold training. It is very important to teach your body to deal with lactate and reuse it for energy reproduction.

q: How can you tell when an ultra runner is sprinting?

a: You can't.

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Don't know 'bout this wrote:

The guy's an ultra runner. Tempos probably very ineffective for 100 milers over the river and through the woods, etc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19ze1yH7sSQ

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Not doing tempo runs is probably why he's sticking to the ultra. He's right for his distance it is irrelevant, though.

As for typical distance events, tempo runs are great, but steady runs are the best.

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somebloke wrote:

more of the same crap:
"Running on the easy days is often referred to as "junk miles" as the only result of these miles is impaired recovery. If the benefits of training go down as the effort on easy days increases, why run at all on the easy days? So far I have found no evidence to indicate there is any training benefit from running on the easy days. In fact, all the evidence supports Supercompensation and Training Monotony, therefore I recommend running only 3-4 days of the week for optimal results."

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You meant to say "ultra-jogger", didn't you?
Btw, what caught my eyes was "43 views, 2 likes", a bit pathetic.

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As I recall wrote:

Malmo said something like that too.

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As I recall wrote:

Malmo said something like that too.

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What is the difference between a steady run and a tempo run?

A tempo is supposed to be run at, or very close to, lactate threshold (~1 hour record pace). A steady run is a run at any challenging pace from ventilation threshold (4-5 hours record pace, 90-95% MP) to lactate threshold.

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Mind... Blown!!! wrote:

Anyway, I thought I'd throw this out there for you piranhas

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malmo wrote:

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As I recall wrote:

Malmo said something like that too.

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I've never said that.

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joho wrote:

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malmo wrote:

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As I recall wrote:

Malmo said something like that too.

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I've never said that.

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Malmo, Didn't you say that tempo runs, if done correctly, can be done several times a week? I might have a thread bookmarked where that was discussed.

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Goes to show they should require a license to create a website...or at least an IQ test.

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Mind... Blown!!! wrote:

I came across this gentleman's site awhile back and was blown away by some of his claims. Starting with this one:
http://fellrnr.com/wiki/Tempo_Runs
Where he claims Tempo Runs are ineffective.

He makes a few other fun claims too, on different threads. Among them are...
- Running 3 or 4 days per week is optimal, even for elites (in his marathon training program comparison where he decides RUN SMART is one of the best choices because of this)
- HIIT is king

Anyway, I thought I'd throw this out there for you piranhas

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loqueelvientoajuarez wrote:

A tempo is supposed to be run at, or very close to, lactate threshold (~1 hour record pace). A steady run is a run at any challenging pace from ventilation threshold (4-5 hours record pace, 90-95% MP) to lactate threshold.

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