This is the daily RunBlogRun training program, first published on American Track & Field from 1998 to 2006. This is Week 8, day two of the 2022 RunBlogRun Summer Cross Country Mileage Program. Today’s workout is a tempo run.
Tempo runs have been around for several decades. I recall articles by Dr. David Costill in the Runner in the 1980s about doing sub-maximal work, like 20 times a 400m, with 200m jog at a pace 20 seconds slower than your current two-mile pace.
Our Tempo workout is based around a 20-minute run once a week. We ask you to warm up, then, a 30-minute relaxed run, then, do 20 minutes on the track or flat surface, and run at 20 seconds per mile SLOWER than your current mile pace in a 5k. So, if you race at a six-minute pace, do your tempo run at a 6:20 per mile pace. After the tempo run, we suggest a 10-15 minute easy run and finish up with 6 x 150-meter stride-out runs. After that, a cooldown.
For your workout today, August 23, 2022. Warm-up, 30-minute relaxed, 20-minute Tempo run, 15-minute easy running, 6×150 meter stride-outs, cooldown.
