How To Do A Tempo Run Without Doing A Tempo Run

I am someone that dislikes the typical "Tempo Run." I think a lot of people, including myself, start off too fast and tend to gradually die towards the end of them. Ideally, they're supposed to be done at a moderately hard effort all the way through, but I think most people will get through the first mile or two of a tempo run, then start hurting pretty quickly and finish as if they had been racing. Doing this turns the session into too hard of a workout and sometimes takes more than a couple days to recover from. For those of you that this sounds familiar to, you should try ALTERNATING PACE RUNS.


How To Do An Alternating Paced Run

The goal of a regular tempo run is to increase the length of time you can hold a certain pace, specifically your anaerobic threshold which is the point in which you're starting to accumulate a fair amount of lactic acid. If you were measuring blood lactate, it would be around 4 mmol/L of blood. We can manipulate a workout to achieve the same 4 mmol/L reading without actually doing a straight through effort. This is nothing new and has been used by coaches such as Renato Canova and Steve Magness. If you haven't tried it, it's probably worth your time and you'll get a different perspective on training.

Example of an Alternating Paced Run:
4 miles of alternating 0.5 miles @ 5k effort / 0.5 miles @ marathon effort or slightly slower.

The fast portion will give you a nice little injection of lactate into the bloodstream, and the slower effort will let you clear it to get ready for the next fast segment. Also, mentally, it's easier to be able to crank out a half mile hard and you know there's some easy running coming directly after it rather than trying to hold on for 3 miles straight. It's also more similar to what you would experience in a race situation with pace changes and hills in which you have varying paces.


How To Progress An Alternating Paced Run Over Several Weeks:

Always start on the easy end of things and gradually build your workouts into more difficult sessions. You can also be creative and not necessarily follow this, but here's an example:

- 3 miles of alternating 400m @ 5k effort/ 1200m @ marathon effort

- 3 miles of alternating 600m @ 5k effort/ 1000m @ marathon effort

- 3 miles of alternating 800m @ 5k effort/ 800m @ slightly slower than marathon effort

- 3 miles of alternating 1000m @ 10k effort/ 600m @ slightly slower than marathon effort

- 3 miles of alternating 1200m @ 10k effort/ 400m @ jogging pace

I would recommend doing this type of workout every 10 to 14 days on your schedule and work on building the length of the fast segment and shortening the easier effort as you go.

Betsy after successfully completing her Alternation Workout.

How To Progress Workouts To Get A Desired Effect

We are coming up on Fall race time, and a lot of runners will begin doing workouts in order to achieve a particular race goal they will have at some point during the season. A lot of those runners that run workouts will often do the regular stuff like mile repeats, repeat 400's, the typical 20 or 30 minute tempo run, etc. All of these workouts are good to do in their own sense, but a lot of people will have trouble figuring out how to progress a workout other than just running the same thing faster on a weekly or bi-weekly basis or maybe just doing the random "WOW" (Workout of the Week).

I like seeing progression throughout time, because it helps to avoid injuries while at the same time helps the runner know exactly where their fitness is at that point in time and to see incremental improvement. There are multiple other ways to determine what to do with a workout and where to take it over a period of several weeks rather than just trying to run faster. Here are the steps I take:

Step 1. Define the Goal

What kind of race did you sign up for? A 5k and a Marathon are two entirely different events to train for. If you can run a fast 5k, it doesn't necessarily mean you can run a fantastic marathon, so specificity applies in this case. They are two different types of fitness. Be sure you are working specifically toward your event.

Step 2. Figure Out How Close You Are to Race Day

Are you 6 weeks away or 20 weeks away? Work backwards on your calendar and plan to do your most specific workouts 2 to 6 weeks prior to your goal race. If the goal is to run a marathon, you should probably get in a long run at or close to marathon pace within that time period. If the goal is a 5k, the workouts will probably be longer 5k paced intervals. Get as close as possible to resembling what the race will look like, the nearer you get to the race date.

Step 3. Apply Finishing Touches

You have been doing workouts for a while and are in good shape... now determine what needs to be worked on. Are you weak on Pure Speed, Stamina, or Endurance? You can figure this out mostly by racing once or twice per month. The first race of the season, most people will have a pretty good beginning of a race and die off toward the end, which would indicate stamina is lacking. Some people will be strong throughout, but get passed at the end which would indicate a need for extra speed while being fatigued. Endurance is something more desired for the last 6 to 8 miles of a marathon and assuming you've been doing some long runs and can handle the distance, it is best to add a stamina workout as part of your long run.

Variables that need to be changed for adaptation to happen:

Stamina: Lengthen speed, reduce recovery time, and work on turning sets into continuous efforts

Stamina for Half or Full Marathon Distance: Lengthen tempo run or marathon paced efforts every 2 or 3 weeks. Speed is not as important here.

Pure Speed: Shorten long efforts, increase pace, increase recovery time, work on power and efficiency.

Finishing Speed: Do stamina type workouts with speed changes, or do a stamina/interval style workout then finish with pure speed work.

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Here are some examples of how to progress a workout of 200's to increase stamina for a 5k runner:

Base Workout:

- 3 sets of 4 x 200m @ 1 mile effort with 200m jogs between/ 3min rest between sets

(Technically you are doing mile repeats with speed changes. I like to keep track of the pace for the full mile rather than the 200 splits.)

2 or 3 Weeks Later:

- 2 sets of 5 x 200m @ 1 mile effort with 200m jogs between/ 3min rest between sets. Finish with 400m slightly faster than 5k pace

or

- 3 sets of 4 x 300m @ 1 mile effort with 200m jogs between/ 3min rest between sets

Pre-Season to Mid-Season Workout:

- 12 x 200m straight through @ 1 mile effort with 200m jog recoveries between each.

or 

- 3 sets of 4 x 400m @ 3k effort with 200m jogs between/ 3min rest between sets

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Let's say you changed the goal to racing 1 mile instead of a 5k and your speed could use some work rather than stamina. We can take that same base workout and morph it into pure speed work several weeks later:

Base Workout:

- 3 sets of 4 x 200m @ 1 mile effort with 200m jogs between/ 3min rest between sets

2 or 3 Weeks Later:

- 2 sets of 4 x 200m @ 1 mile effort for the first set and 800m effort for the second set. 1 minute rest between each and 3 minute rest between sets.

or

- 8 x 400m @ 1 mile pace with 1 minute rests between each

Pre-Season to Mid-Season Workout:

- 8 x 200m @ 800m pace with full rests between each

or

- 4 x 400m @ 800m pace with full rests between each

Everyone wants quick results, so it's easy to want to skip steps in the training process, but the "slow cook" process in my experience has been better in terms of injury prevention, tracking progress, and keeping people from overdoing workouts that they are not quite ready for.