A tempo run is one of the four components of your weekly training this summer. It prepares you for racing in the fall, by helping make you more efficient, and by helping you build endurance and strength. The workout is simple in its presentation, but the myriad benefits would take a day to describe.
Just stay with the workout plan. Don’t miss days and don’t double up. There will be time for that fun down the road. Right now, I want you a bit sore, but you should recover in a day. There is a method to the apparent madness.
Someone asked me about my favorite running books. Self Made Olympian by Ron Daws, a 1968 Olympian in the marathon, and Once a Runner, a novel about a miler, by John Parker are two of my favorites. The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, a novella by Alan Silletoe, is a masterpiece, and was also a fine film. The Lonely Breed is a compilation of pieces on famous distance runners that fascinated the writer, Ron Clarke, the great Australian distance runner of the 1960s. Finally, Best Efforts, is a compilation of great features on running, written for Sports Illustrated by Kenny Moore, a two time Olympian in the marathon and one of our finest sports writers.
Lauren Fleshman, photo by PhotoRun.net
RBR Summer Mileage, Week 2, Day 2: Tempo Run,
Tuesday: 1 Mile warmup, tempo run, 1 mile cooldown. Here’s how the workout goes: Run 20 minutes at a half-minute pr mile slower than your present mile pace for a 5 kilometer. So if you can run 19 minutes for a 5K now, that means a 6:10 pace plus 30 seconds, or a 6:40 per-mile pace. Warm up, cool down.
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