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!