Tempo Running

A quick 15 minutes warm-up, then 20 minutes tempo running, finishing with a similar warm-down. All up 13.3kms in 52:18 (ave 3:56's).

I'm never quite sure what pace you should run these tempo runs at. According to McMillan, based on my target 10km pace (32 mins), it gives a range of 3:14 to 3:23 per km for tempo running. I guess the wide range is dependent on the length of the tempo effort. I reckon I covered about 6km today in my 20 minutes so that works out to 3:20 per km which is nicely inside that range. You hear people say that tempo runs should be completed at a pace slower than your race pace. That's not very scientific/accurate as race pace varies greatly dependent on the distance. Today illustrates this - I was basically running at my target half marathon race pace but approx 15 seconds per km slower than my 5km race pace. If you're confused then have a look at the pacing charts and McMillan is a good place to start.

Some great athletics today at Daegu. I really enjoyed watching the mens steeple final, the womens 1,500 final and the mens 400 hurdles final. Fantastic viewing.