Tempo Runs from Tray

Best of luck to Barbara @ Avon. Looks like Lani, Peter, Tray, Lee, Rose and Mary'll be tackling Newington Library 5K. Linda will be camera-ready at the finish line.

Tray sent the following to me and I thought others might be interested. This is her follow-up on what I did yesterday on the Newington HS track (see below).

      time           distance

  1  00:01:44        0.26
  2  00:01:09        0.14
  3  00:01:41        0.27
  4  00:01:15        0.13
  5  00:01:36        0.27
  6  00:01:11        0.12
  7  00:01:38        0.26
  8  00:01:29        0.13
  9  00:01:41        0.27
 10  00:01:16        0.13
 11  00:01:33        0.26

The 6 odd-numbered splits are the "fast" 1/4s. The even-numbered splits are the slow jog 1/8ths in between.

Here's what Tray sent. Thanks a lot. These 4 different schemes are easy to remember, are good for both short and long race training and contain a really slick mixture of different challenges.


    Traditional Tempo

Begin and end the run with a 1-mile warm-up/cool-down. Run these beginning and ending miles at an easy conversational pace. Run the miles in between at a pace that's 30-45 seconds slower than your 5K race pace. (*Example:* 1-mile warm-up; 2-miles @ tempo pace; 1-mile cool-down)

    Tempo Intervals

Begin and end the run with a 1-mile warm-up/cool-down. Run these beginning and ending miles at an easy conversational pace. For the miles in between, alternate between a 5-minute fast and a 5-minute slow interval. The fast intervals should be run at a pace that's 25-30 seconds slower than your 5K race pace. Continue alternating the fast and slow intervals until you reach the last cool-down mile. (*Example:* 1-mile warm-up; 3-miles alternating 5-min fast pace/5-min slow pace intervals; 1-mile cool-down)

    Race-Pace Tempo

**This tempo run is particularly good when training for a half or full marathon. Begin and end the run with a 1-mile warm-up/cool-down. Run the miles in between at your half or full marathon race pace. (*Example:* 1-mile warm-up; 4-miles @ race pace; 1-mile cool-down)

    Negative Split Tempo

**This tempo run is great for teaching your mind and body that you can "pull-it-out" on the back-half of a run. Run the first half of the run at an easy conversational pace. Run the back-half at tempo pace creating a negative split. (*Example:* Run out 3 miles @ easy pace; Run back 3 miles @ tempo pace)