Just one race at a time

Looks like you did a fine tempo run. Normally it is just faster then your MP so yours is 8:34 Anywhere between the like 7:50 to 8:20 I would say your good. And it is good that you started out slow like that. You did it just right be my book. Great job.

It was more of what I call a progression run, but it was a great workout. Are you training for a 10K? What's the race? For me a 35 min tempo run would be half marathon pace after a mile warmup.

Kathie...Good workout. Mine didn't go as well. My foot hurts when I run on the treadmill. I will try and do a temp tonight.

Rhett

I am training for painter half marathon. 8:30 is my goal pace for that race. So you think I should warm up for a mile and then run 8:20 for the rest of the time? If I did 8:30 (my half marathon pace) That would be a race pace run rather than a tempo run right?

Great job Kathie...Sounds like you did what I do a lot of on the treadmill.

Dale

Kathie, I still think tempo runs are based off of mathaton pace, but if you keep them short enough you can go faster. I guess I would warm up for a mile then 3 miles around 8:20 then cool down the rest of your time. Of course, in the end, you have to figure out what works best for you. Those progression runs are great too, but I would do those on long run days, that way you train your body to finish strong on race day.

I consider 1/2 marathon pace to be tempo pace. I second Rhett's advice. Warm up a mile then run a few miles at tempo pace then cool down.

Good, I'm glad Andy agrees that tempo runs are at 1/2 marathon pace even when training for a 1/2 marathon. I was starting to question myself.

Kathie -- Great workout. What schedule are you following? Are you using McMillan's calculator for the pace? I like Rhett's and Andy's advice. To me it's simpler to run a certain miles at tempo pace rather than time.

I am using Hal Higdon's intermediate half marathon training and McMillan's pace chart.

I think the main thing I did wrong last year is I didn't take my training one race at a time. I was always training for the race down the road rather than the one right in front of me. Or even worse half way training for two different races.(trying to train for Ogden's half marathon and Ragnar for example) I hope that makes sense.

So that is why I am trying to train for this half as if it were the only race I am doing this year.

Hey Kathie!!

No matter what you do I am sure you will be fine because you push yourself. But just fyi, last year I ran Painter's at an 8:23 pace, and looking at my running log my tempo runs were right about that exact same pace, give or take a few seconds. Perhaps just coincidence ... who knows.

Kathie..great workout! I know Higdon likes to use an amount of time for his tempo runs. When I used his plan I would figure out my tempo pace and then translate it into miles. I work better if I have a set number of miles than a time. So for your run today I probably would have made it a 4 mile tempo run with 1 mile of warm up and 1 mile of cool down. Your tempo pace is supposed to be right about your half marathon pace. Since you are training for a half marathon I think you could push that pace down a little to like 8:15-8:20, like rhett said. The most important thing for me in a tempo is a good warm-up. Make sure your muscles are good and warm before you start pushing. You're doing great.

Jeff,

My question is you say your tempo run should be 4 miles with 1 mile warmup and cool down. So does that mean you are running your tempo for 2 miles? Or is your total run going to be 6 miles?

Kimmy....Total run would be 6 miles. 1 warm up, 4 tempo and 1 cool down. Tempo runs should probably be 3-7 miles in length. I don't know if the cool down is as important as the warm-up. I suppose if you walked for a few minutes after the last tempo mile, that would get you a nice cool down and you could limit the run to 5 miles. Today after my marathon pace run I ended with a martahon pace mile (instead of a cool down pace mile), then I walked about a quarter mile back to my house and did some stretching when I got home, it was a pretty good cool down.

Kimmy..Just to clarify my comment above on the length of tempo runs (since I am such a numbskull). When I say that tempo runs should be 3-7 miles in length that does not include the warm up or cool down miles, it only includes the tempo pace miles. The total run would probably be 5-9 miles. I sure said a lot with these posts, but I really didn't say much....geeeeez!!!

Jeff, (sorry to hijack here) I totally understand your description of a tempo run. That's how I do mine too. The important thing for me in Tempo Runs is to be able to sustain that "tempo pace" for x amount of miles. I did all my tempo runs on the road. It took a lot of focus for me to sustain that pace for that long. Pfitzinger suggests a 2-3 mile warm up, slower runners run closer to their 15K race pace whereas faster runners run closer to their half marathon race pace.

Kathie -- you're doing awesome. I don't think there's anything wrong with what you were doing: "I think the main thing I did wrong last year is I didn't take my training one race at a time. I was always training for the race down the road rather than the one right in front of me."

I have done it both ways. In Nov 2006 I used Higdon's half marathon schedule to train for Painter's 07 and meshed it well into a full marathon training for Ogden 07.

In Nov 2007 I began training for Boston 08, all the races in between were incorporated as "training runs". I didn't train specifically for the upcoming race per se. I can see your point in training for the race so it serves the purpose of a "tune-up race". But then again, if you're gunning for a PR or a win with "the race in front of you", then definitely train with that goal in mind. Am I making sense? Either way you are doing what fits you the best and serve the purpose. You're working so hard, you will do GREAT at Painter's.