The correct training pace has been a bit of a crusade for me lately. On the one hand I've been trying to get people to speed up their running, introducing the idea of a tempo run into the Tuesday night runs, but on the other hand I've been trying to persuade folks to slow down their intervals on a Thursday night.
"Slow down? Are you serious?"
Yes!
Most of us in the typical running club are aiming at running distances of 5 miles or more, competing as we do in Cross-Country and road races. The shortest race most of us ever do is a 5k or the wonderful Victory AC 3.65 mile short handicap race. This being the case, there is generally no need to train faster than your 5k race pace. Think about this next time you are blasting round the first of your 400m intervals - do you reckon you could keep going for a few more repetitions without a recovery?
Probably not.
In fact for most of your training year, you'd be better running your intervals at 10k pace and doing a few more of them than perhaps you are accustomed. So do you reckon you could keep going for another 24 of your 400m reps?
I thought not.
Now before I continue let's get one thing straight for those of you who answered yes to those questions, thinking "24 laps chatting away to Jocasta and Henry - no problem". I'm not saying the slower the better. I'm talking about training at the appropriate pace for your aspirations. There may well be some of you who have aspirations of outdipping Christine Ohuruogu to take 400m gold. For you, a 400m rep that leaves you on the verge of depositing the remains of your bacon, lettuce and tomato on the steps of the pavilion, followed by a 20 minute comatose recovery may well be the way forward. For the rest of you it's time to rein in those competitive instincts and look at the bigger, and longer, picture.
But surely, the faster I do my speedwork, the faster I'll be able to run a 10k?
No!
As bizarre as it sounds, doing fast anaerobic speedwork (your 1-mile pace and faster) will make you a slower distance runner.
The message is that you can't be a master of all distances. If you are training at the sort of paces that a middle distance runner runs then you'll become a better middle distance runner, but unless you are very careful you'll become a worse 10k runner.
To understand why this might happen it helps to understand a little about energy systems:
There are 3 main energy systems: Creatine Phosphate (CP), Anaerobic and Aerobic.
The CP system provides fast energy for just short bursts of activity of just a few seconds. This is 100m sprint territory and as distance runners we can pretty much ignore it, so I will!
The anaerobic system is another high activity, high demand system which can provide energy for efforts of up to a couple of minutes. We're still in sprint territory here but longer distances up to 400m, although it is still important at longer distances (but read on...!).
The aerobic system is the major system for distance runners for anything from 800m upwards. It specialises in efficient supply of energy for long periods of time.
Those are the main energy systems. Let's look at the last 2 in more detail, starting with the Anaerobic System.
The Anaerobic System uses a method known as anaerobic glycolysis to supply energy. Molecules of glycogen are broken down, without the need for oxygen - hence 'anaerobic', to produce a molecule called ATP which fuels the muscle contractions. It is a fast energy source, suited to fast speeds, but is inefficient: for every molecule of ATP produced, a molecule of pyruvate is produced. This by-product has to be dealt with, and this is where the Aerobic System comes in.
The Aerobic System takes fuel and efficiently combines it with oxygen to produce more molecules of ATP for fuelling the muscle contractions. This fuel can be in the form of fat (most of us have heard the term fat-burning) or pyruvate. We can therefore see how the anaerobic and aerobic systems work in harmony: the anaerobic system taking glycogen and quickly but inefficiently fuels the muscles, while the aerobic system mops up the pyruvate produced to provide a slower but more efficient energy system. Along side this is the fat burning system, the 'other half' of the aerobic system. While there are limited supplies of glycogen, as marathon runners will attest, the fat burning system can go on and on. Fancy an ultra anyone?
If we consider the aerobic system as actually 2 systems, then with the anaerobic system we can see how the 3 systems work in harmony. At slow speeds we have the fat burning system providing most of the energy, with the aerobic and anaerobic providing only a little. At higher speeds the other half of the aerobic system is more heavily used, and at high speeds it's mostly about the anaerobic system. Personal trainers have made us aware of a 'fat-burning zone' implying that at low speeds you are just burning fat, but the truth is that all 3 mechanisms are in use all of the time but the relative weight of them changes with the speed being run. Even at rest, the anaerobic system is being used to some extent but as the speed increases the balance starts to shift in favour of it. We tend to think of the anaerobic system as being the prime source for sprinters, but this plays down the importance of the aerobic system. In the 400m, only half the energy comes from the anaerobic system, the rest being aerobic. In the 1500m, only 20% of the energy comes from the anaerobic system. By the time we get to 10km less than 5% of the energy is from the anaerobic system.
Most of us have heard of glycogen and are aware of the importance of carbo-loading to ensure the muscles and liver are well stocked with it, and are aware of the importance of it for endurance running and marathons. Many of us might be surprised to find then that it's the anaerobic system and not aerobic system that uses the glycogen. The anaerobic system breaks down the glycogen and produces pyruvate as a by-product which the aerobic system then combines with oxygen. Any pyruvate that doesn't get used in this way breaks down into lactate and hydrogen ions. The lactate has to be disposed of by being shuttled away by the blood. We will often refer to lactate build up causing 'the burn' during sprints, but in fact it's the hydrogen ions which actually cause the burn, producing an acidic environment which is toxic to the muscles, reducing their efficiency. High levels of lactate, and hence hydrogen ions cannot be tolerated for very long.
At rest there is a small amount of lactate in the blood (around 1mmol/l) as the anaerobic system is always there ticking away in the background. We then start a low level of exercise and lactate levels actually drop as the pyruvate is gobbled up by the aerobic system. The pace increases and the anaerobic system is called on a bit more, producing more pyruvate, but the aerobic system uses it all and lactate levels remain under control. At marathon pace, things are still under control although lactate levels have now risen to maybe 2mmol/l as the balance starts to shift. As we get past half marathon pace towards 10k pace the anaerobic system is now being called on more heavily but the aerobic system can still cope - lactate levels are up around 4mmol/l but are not increasing by much and we can sustain this pace for as much as an hour (a pace known as the Lactate Threshold). As the pace increases, the aerobic system is increasingly unable to cope with the amounts of pyruvate output by the anaerobic system and lactate levels rocket. We are now at paces which can only be sustained for a few minutes before we have to stop - we are passing into true anaerobic territory.
A key indicator of distance running capability is the lactate threshold (LT). By training the aerobic system to utilise pyruvate we can run at higher and higher heart rates, at faster speeds, for longer and longer without lactate levels rising. To train the LT you typically run at speeds around the LT - simple!
So what's wrong with sprint training?
Nothing, if you want to be a sprinter.
There's a certain intuitive logic that says that if you want to race at a particular speed then you should train at that speed. Train at sprint speeds to be a sprinter. By training at fast speeds, eg mile pace and upwards, you are training your anaerobic system. You are making your body able to produce more and more anaerobic power, which in turn produces greater quantities of pyruvate. This unfortunately has the effect of swamping your muscles in lactate, as the aerobic system is unable to cope. The result is your lactate threshold actually drops. For every bit of anaerobic training you do, you have to do far far more aerobic training to compensate. When it comes to the likes of Haile Gebrselassie, where he's developed his aerobic system to the best it's humanly possible then the differentiator for him is his ability to open up a killer sprint in the final 100m of a 10000m and pip Paul Tergat to Olympic gold. For the rest of us mortals, why concentrate on the last 1% of a race when we can make the most improvements by concentrating on the other 99%? For 10k training the aerobic system is king.
By doing too much anaerobic style training you are tipping the balance of your energy systems in favour of your anaerobic system and leaving your aerobic system struggling to control the levels of lactate produced. It may sound odd, but for distance running of 10km and upwards, having a weak anaerobic system is actually a virtue. Without the large amounts of lactate, we can run at a high heart rate and high pace for long periods of time without lactate build up. By working on pushing up your Lactate Threshold by regular doses of training around the LT, and by avoiding going into our anaerobic zone, we become better distance runners.
So next time you feel like blasting those 400m reps to leave you a quivering wreck after the first few, think again. Throttle back, keep it at 10k pace, take some fairly short jog recoveries and do a few more repeats than you otherwise would have been able to - you're aerobic system will love you for it.
Refs: Energy system contribution during 400m to 1,500m running, by Matt R. Spencer, Paul B. Gastin and Warren R. Payne. New studies in Athletics, no. 4/1996.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Friday, January 18, 2008
Sex
OK, I may have an odd idea of sex, but I'm telling you - I'm going to have this gadgets children.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Lies, damned lies, and HR data: Stubbington 10k 2008
I usually do a race report then add the HR data at the end, but let's get straight in there with a HR analysis (that's Heart Rate, not Human Resources, in case I've just caused a flutter with any personnel department workers):
4:27 135bpm
4:32 146bpm
4:38 148bpm
4:18 147bpm
4:25 148bpm
4:21 148bpm
4:20 146bpm
4:29 148bpm
4:38 149bpm
4:28 147bpm
Overall: 44:41 146bpm
Ave pace 7:11/mile
So that's over 3 minutes down on my best - an indication of the loss of fitness I've suffered since injury.
Hang on a one second though: take a look at the overall heart rate figure. I've run a marathon at a heart rate higher than that. Look at the pace too. If I can manage that pace/HR for London I'm laughing: that's well inside the pace needed for a sub-3:15 marathon.
There are 2 effects in action here as far as I can tell. Firstly, and most importantly: fatigue. I've been training hard, within the limits of the 30-40 miles my body can stand in a week at the moment, and I didn't taper for the race, except for a day's rest on Saturday. As I've seen in the past, this doesn't generally affect my HR/pace relationship: for a given HR I can generally maintain the same speed regardless of how tired I am. The way fatigue affects me is my ability to maintain a particular effort level or HR. I have been able to maintain 155bpm for a 10k in the past, but when tired I just can't get my HR high enough.
Another effect is lactate threshold. The higher one's lactate threshold the higher a HR one can maintain. My LT may well be down at the moment, but surely not by 10bpm? Regardless of my LT level I would not have thought a suppressed LT would cause a drop in the pace/HR relationship though - HR is a fairly direct measure of oxygen consumption which in turn is a fairly direct measure of energy consumption (when operating aerobically), so my running economy, the energy per mile, seems as good as ever. The main effect of a suppressed LT would be my ability to sustain a particular HR for the entire marathon distance. Maybe what the data is telling me is that my endurance is down, but not necessarily my pace? I won't know the answer to that without blood lactate measurements.
So what I'm saying is despite being 3 minutes down, I can take a lot of encouragement from that result that I haven't lost the amount of fitness I feared.
I have many long runs to do between now and 13th April, but things are looking good!
As for actual reportage, the race was dry, temperatures very mild for January, but it was very windy. This was particularly a problem along Lee-On-Solent seafront but it didn't bother me too much, although it would certainly have added a chunk onto my time. The split start, now in its 2nd year, seemed to work quite well, with us sub-45 runners going one side of the roundabout and the slower runners going the other side of the roundabout. There didn't seem to be so much barging this year when the 2 sets of runners met up. As ever, the organisation seemed very good - a top 10k.
As for the team, despite what at first seemed a disappointing turnout from the girls, through injury and illness, and a small matter of a XC race the day before, thanks particularly to Miranda and Lucy we actually scored quite well to put us a solid mid-table in Div 1. Nice work girls!
The men too, although not of course showing the same quality as the girls, fared well to find themselves 7th in Div 1. Keep it going boys - don't let yourselves drift any lower though.
Next up, the Ryde 10 on 3rd Feb - see you there!
4:27 135bpm
4:32 146bpm
4:38 148bpm
4:18 147bpm
4:25 148bpm
4:21 148bpm
4:20 146bpm
4:29 148bpm
4:38 149bpm
4:28 147bpm
Overall: 44:41 146bpm
Ave pace 7:11/mile
So that's over 3 minutes down on my best - an indication of the loss of fitness I've suffered since injury.
Hang on a one second though: take a look at the overall heart rate figure. I've run a marathon at a heart rate higher than that. Look at the pace too. If I can manage that pace/HR for London I'm laughing: that's well inside the pace needed for a sub-3:15 marathon.
There are 2 effects in action here as far as I can tell. Firstly, and most importantly: fatigue. I've been training hard, within the limits of the 30-40 miles my body can stand in a week at the moment, and I didn't taper for the race, except for a day's rest on Saturday. As I've seen in the past, this doesn't generally affect my HR/pace relationship: for a given HR I can generally maintain the same speed regardless of how tired I am. The way fatigue affects me is my ability to maintain a particular effort level or HR. I have been able to maintain 155bpm for a 10k in the past, but when tired I just can't get my HR high enough.
Another effect is lactate threshold. The higher one's lactate threshold the higher a HR one can maintain. My LT may well be down at the moment, but surely not by 10bpm? Regardless of my LT level I would not have thought a suppressed LT would cause a drop in the pace/HR relationship though - HR is a fairly direct measure of oxygen consumption which in turn is a fairly direct measure of energy consumption (when operating aerobically), so my running economy, the energy per mile, seems as good as ever. The main effect of a suppressed LT would be my ability to sustain a particular HR for the entire marathon distance. Maybe what the data is telling me is that my endurance is down, but not necessarily my pace? I won't know the answer to that without blood lactate measurements.
So what I'm saying is despite being 3 minutes down, I can take a lot of encouragement from that result that I haven't lost the amount of fitness I feared.
I have many long runs to do between now and 13th April, but things are looking good!
As for actual reportage, the race was dry, temperatures very mild for January, but it was very windy. This was particularly a problem along Lee-On-Solent seafront but it didn't bother me too much, although it would certainly have added a chunk onto my time. The split start, now in its 2nd year, seemed to work quite well, with us sub-45 runners going one side of the roundabout and the slower runners going the other side of the roundabout. There didn't seem to be so much barging this year when the 2 sets of runners met up. As ever, the organisation seemed very good - a top 10k.
As for the team, despite what at first seemed a disappointing turnout from the girls, through injury and illness, and a small matter of a XC race the day before, thanks particularly to Miranda and Lucy we actually scored quite well to put us a solid mid-table in Div 1. Nice work girls!
The men too, although not of course showing the same quality as the girls, fared well to find themselves 7th in Div 1. Keep it going boys - don't let yourselves drift any lower though.
Next up, the Ryde 10 on 3rd Feb - see you there!
Friday, January 11, 2008
Cross Country Photo
I found this photo on the Winchester and District AC site (click on the link - it's too big to fit on the blog page). It's a photo of Joy Radford as she towed me through the field overtaking my team mates - this is at the end of lap 1 half way through the field.
Monday, January 07, 2008
Hampshire Cross Country Championships
Saturday was the Hampshire Cross Country Championships - my first race since injury.
This was always going to be a tester: a chance to sit at the back and test how my legs felt, letting the rest of the team do all the work. Oh what joy then when team captain Marilyn told me that we'd had several dropouts due to commitments/injury/illness and she was 'relying on me'. No pressure then!
We arrived at a rather saturated Dibden Inclosure: a beautiful location on the edge of the New Forest. I put on my brand new spikes having first debated spike placement, being the spike virgin I am. They immediately got baptised as I warmed up on sodden ground ankle deep in water in places. As I did my side step drills my adductor tightened - not the best of starts! With hindsight I should have tried to massage away the tightness as I didn't do myself any favours racing with a tight adductor. I seem to have got away with it though, despite running much of the race with a feeling in my lower abdomen worryingly similar to the original psoas minor injury!!
The start was uphill which helped me sit back and let Shelly and Lucy go off and take up the pace. As we U-turned on to the first of the 2 laps I encountered a small gorse bush right in the middle of the course on the bend, which I ran straight through giving me several long scratches on my leg. Surely they could have put the turn 1 metre further south?
The course is fairly flat with terrain varying from grass, sandy trail with or without tree roots depending on whether it was heath or woodland, and a few short sections of boggy mud. Hills were mercifully few with 2 short but steep sections on each lap. All in all quite a nice course.
I made a few places up as soon as we hit the first boggy bit as runners pussy-footed around the edges trying to avoid the thickest mud. Why do we do that? It was much quicker to just plough through the middle, taking the direct route. I nearly lost a shoe on one bit though!
I also overtook a few on the uphill sections, which rather surprised me. I haven't done any hill training in the last 6 months so expected to be poor on the hills. What I have done though is lots of weight training: I'm currently dead-lifting my body weight and squatting 75kg. It looks like the strength work may be paying off!
I was overtaking regularly on the first lap and by the 2nd I caught and overtook Shelly and Lucy, somewhat to my surprise. The 2 of them were having a good battle, with Shelly eventually prevailing. Well done to Lucy who has been improving rapidly lately. Let's hope she can continue to improve at the same rate!
I led the team home. Given that I've only been running outside for a month I'm over the moon about that. I'm clearly slower than I was, but I haven't lost too much speed in my time off. That makes me optimistic that I can get everything back in time for FLM08. The power of cross-training during injury!
Marilyn and Ruth followed us home to score well for the team. Lucy is a senior, so the rest of us were all needed to score for the vet team. We finished 12th senior team and 5th vet team - a good result! I was 43rd and 5th W45. Marilyn was 2nd W60 - nice one Marilyn.
The men were also 5th vet team and 16th senior team - well done boys.
This was always going to be a tester: a chance to sit at the back and test how my legs felt, letting the rest of the team do all the work. Oh what joy then when team captain Marilyn told me that we'd had several dropouts due to commitments/injury/illness and she was 'relying on me'. No pressure then!
We arrived at a rather saturated Dibden Inclosure: a beautiful location on the edge of the New Forest. I put on my brand new spikes having first debated spike placement, being the spike virgin I am. They immediately got baptised as I warmed up on sodden ground ankle deep in water in places. As I did my side step drills my adductor tightened - not the best of starts! With hindsight I should have tried to massage away the tightness as I didn't do myself any favours racing with a tight adductor. I seem to have got away with it though, despite running much of the race with a feeling in my lower abdomen worryingly similar to the original psoas minor injury!!
The start was uphill which helped me sit back and let Shelly and Lucy go off and take up the pace. As we U-turned on to the first of the 2 laps I encountered a small gorse bush right in the middle of the course on the bend, which I ran straight through giving me several long scratches on my leg. Surely they could have put the turn 1 metre further south?
The course is fairly flat with terrain varying from grass, sandy trail with or without tree roots depending on whether it was heath or woodland, and a few short sections of boggy mud. Hills were mercifully few with 2 short but steep sections on each lap. All in all quite a nice course.
I made a few places up as soon as we hit the first boggy bit as runners pussy-footed around the edges trying to avoid the thickest mud. Why do we do that? It was much quicker to just plough through the middle, taking the direct route. I nearly lost a shoe on one bit though!
I also overtook a few on the uphill sections, which rather surprised me. I haven't done any hill training in the last 6 months so expected to be poor on the hills. What I have done though is lots of weight training: I'm currently dead-lifting my body weight and squatting 75kg. It looks like the strength work may be paying off!
I was overtaking regularly on the first lap and by the 2nd I caught and overtook Shelly and Lucy, somewhat to my surprise. The 2 of them were having a good battle, with Shelly eventually prevailing. Well done to Lucy who has been improving rapidly lately. Let's hope she can continue to improve at the same rate!
I led the team home. Given that I've only been running outside for a month I'm over the moon about that. I'm clearly slower than I was, but I haven't lost too much speed in my time off. That makes me optimistic that I can get everything back in time for FLM08. The power of cross-training during injury!
Marilyn and Ruth followed us home to score well for the team. Lucy is a senior, so the rest of us were all needed to score for the vet team. We finished 12th senior team and 5th vet team - a good result! I was 43rd and 5th W45. Marilyn was 2nd W60 - nice one Marilyn.
The men were also 5th vet team and 16th senior team - well done boys.
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
The classic tempo session
I coached the Tuesday club run yesterday as our level 2s were away enjoying the New Year festivities. We usually just belt off on a pre-determined route, some choosing to run it hard, others preferring to chat away a gentle jog. I thought it would make a change to actually coach the session and introduce the idea of a tempo run.
The plan was to split the run into 3 sections - a gentle jog warmup, a middle section of effort, followed by a jog recovery. The route was out and back which lent itself nicely to being split in this way. We ran out from Havant Leisure Centre at a gentle pace (9:30/mile in the case of the group I was pacing), then at the Ship Inn, a distance of 1.6 miles, we picked the pace up for 20 minutes. We ran onto Hayling Island, down the main road, around a loop of Victoria Avenue, Rogers Mead and Kingsway and back up to the Ship Inn, a distance of about 2.5 miles. We then slowed back down to jog back to the Leisure Centre along the same route.
Tempo runs are done at threshold pace, the main issue being exactly what this pace is. I was pacing my group at around 8:00/mile - a pace appropriate for a 48-49 minute 10k runner. The usual description of threshold pace is that it is "Comfortably Hard": you are right on the edge of your comfort zone. At the end of the effort section of the run you should be welcoming the chance to slow down and jog back, but it shouldn't be so fast that you are exhausted and reduced to walking at the end of the effort. The specific pace is that which you can sustain for an hour when racing (and properly rested). For most people this is a little slower than your 10k race pace and a little quicker than 10-mile race pace, although for the fastest men in the club it will be near enough your 10-mile race pace. When running at this pace you should be unable to maintain a conversation. Speech will be along the lines of: "I'm OK - huh huh - at this - huh huh - pace - huh huh - but - huh - I don't - huh - think I - huh - want to go - huh huh - much faster".
Typical paces are as follows:
36-minute 10k runner: tempo pace 6:00/mile (this is your 10-mile pace)
40-minute 10k runner: tempo pace 6:40/mile
44-minute 10k runner: 7:20/mile
48-minute 10k runner: 8:00/mile
52-minute 10k runner: 8:40/mile
60-minute 10k runner: 9:40/mile (ie your 10k pace)
The recovery/warmup paces should be at least a minute/mile slower than the above.
By "xx-minute 10k runner" I mean someone who is currently capable of running a 10k in this time, not someone who aspires to one day run this time or someone with a PB of that time from a few years ago. Be honest with yourself about your capabilities. Some of the improvers in the club may need to run a little quicker if their last 10k was a while ago and they are now much quicker. Out-of-form or recovering runners will need to run a little slower. I have a 41-minute 10k PB but I'd estimate that I'm currently a couple of minutes off that, so I'd run tempo at around 7:15/mile.
This style of run has great benefits for the distance runner. It's great training for your aerobic system, which for anyone racing 800m and above (ie most of us) has a huge impact. At this pace you are just starting to accumulate lactate in your legs and these sessions train your body to mop up the lactate and use it as fuel for your aerobic system. Doing regular tempo runs enables you to run longer and faster at higher heart rates.
As you can only sustain an hour of this pace racing flat out then clearly you only need to run it for a much shorter period in training. The typical session involves just 20 minutes at tempo as part of a longer run, as described above. As you improve, you can extend this to 30 minutes. Another variation is to do 2 15-minute efforts, with 5 minutes of jog recovery between them.
I will pace further sessions for the club in the future, but the important thing is to recognise your own threshold pace as to get the most out of the session you need to be running as close to it as you can. Clearly, if running in a large group then only some will be at the right pace, others will be either too fast or too slow.
My apologies to those who would prefer a nice chat, but at least you get to chat for the first and last bits, even if the subject of the chatting is along the lines of "That Windsurfin' Susie's a bit of a hard task-master isn't she!". I hope a lot of you will continue to do these sessions as I'd rank them at least as important as interval sessions in developing your fitness and racing abilities. I hope you enjoy them!
The plan was to split the run into 3 sections - a gentle jog warmup, a middle section of effort, followed by a jog recovery. The route was out and back which lent itself nicely to being split in this way. We ran out from Havant Leisure Centre at a gentle pace (9:30/mile in the case of the group I was pacing), then at the Ship Inn, a distance of 1.6 miles, we picked the pace up for 20 minutes. We ran onto Hayling Island, down the main road, around a loop of Victoria Avenue, Rogers Mead and Kingsway and back up to the Ship Inn, a distance of about 2.5 miles. We then slowed back down to jog back to the Leisure Centre along the same route.
Tempo runs are done at threshold pace, the main issue being exactly what this pace is. I was pacing my group at around 8:00/mile - a pace appropriate for a 48-49 minute 10k runner. The usual description of threshold pace is that it is "Comfortably Hard": you are right on the edge of your comfort zone. At the end of the effort section of the run you should be welcoming the chance to slow down and jog back, but it shouldn't be so fast that you are exhausted and reduced to walking at the end of the effort. The specific pace is that which you can sustain for an hour when racing (and properly rested). For most people this is a little slower than your 10k race pace and a little quicker than 10-mile race pace, although for the fastest men in the club it will be near enough your 10-mile race pace. When running at this pace you should be unable to maintain a conversation. Speech will be along the lines of: "I'm OK - huh huh - at this - huh huh - pace - huh huh - but - huh - I don't - huh - think I - huh - want to go - huh huh - much faster".
Typical paces are as follows:
36-minute 10k runner: tempo pace 6:00/mile (this is your 10-mile pace)
40-minute 10k runner: tempo pace 6:40/mile
44-minute 10k runner: 7:20/mile
48-minute 10k runner: 8:00/mile
52-minute 10k runner: 8:40/mile
60-minute 10k runner: 9:40/mile (ie your 10k pace)
The recovery/warmup paces should be at least a minute/mile slower than the above.
By "xx-minute 10k runner" I mean someone who is currently capable of running a 10k in this time, not someone who aspires to one day run this time or someone with a PB of that time from a few years ago. Be honest with yourself about your capabilities. Some of the improvers in the club may need to run a little quicker if their last 10k was a while ago and they are now much quicker. Out-of-form or recovering runners will need to run a little slower. I have a 41-minute 10k PB but I'd estimate that I'm currently a couple of minutes off that, so I'd run tempo at around 7:15/mile.
This style of run has great benefits for the distance runner. It's great training for your aerobic system, which for anyone racing 800m and above (ie most of us) has a huge impact. At this pace you are just starting to accumulate lactate in your legs and these sessions train your body to mop up the lactate and use it as fuel for your aerobic system. Doing regular tempo runs enables you to run longer and faster at higher heart rates.
As you can only sustain an hour of this pace racing flat out then clearly you only need to run it for a much shorter period in training. The typical session involves just 20 minutes at tempo as part of a longer run, as described above. As you improve, you can extend this to 30 minutes. Another variation is to do 2 15-minute efforts, with 5 minutes of jog recovery between them.
I will pace further sessions for the club in the future, but the important thing is to recognise your own threshold pace as to get the most out of the session you need to be running as close to it as you can. Clearly, if running in a large group then only some will be at the right pace, others will be either too fast or too slow.
My apologies to those who would prefer a nice chat, but at least you get to chat for the first and last bits, even if the subject of the chatting is along the lines of "That Windsurfin' Susie's a bit of a hard task-master isn't she!". I hope a lot of you will continue to do these sessions as I'd rank them at least as important as interval sessions in developing your fitness and racing abilities. I hope you enjoy them!
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