Do:
-Have the ability (watch, phone, innate psychic power) to know your *current* pace, not just your average pace for the last mile
-If you're running with a friend, make sure it's someone who can keep up with you
-Know what you're doing, and stick with it
-Reign yourself in if you find yourself going too find
Don't:
-Don't pick a hilly course (unless you meant to pick a hilly course)
-Don't go out 50% longer than you're supposed to
-Don't realize you're going way too fast and think "who cares, this is fuuuuuuuuun!"
This is what my stats looked like:
This is, as far as I can tell, what they should have looked like:
Next time will be an improvement.
But, hey, I had fun out there. And, it's always great to run with my brother Sky, even if he is so much slower than I am that I had to keep turning around and running back to get him.
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I had cross training and weight lifting on schedule today. My mom gets in to town right after I finish lifting, so I woke up early to squeeze some time on the bike trainer.
30 minutes @ 18mph
Not bad.
I spent most of the time playing Androidminion on my phone. It's addictive.
Riding on my trainer was so much easier for me butt early than running outside is. I think a big chunk of it is all the gross smells outside in the morning. My body isn't ready to process exhaust and shit, so my stomach freaks out. Inside, everything smells normal, I'm not cold, and I don't have to be awake enough to avoid getting hit by cars. Everyone wins!
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Do you have any tempo tips for me? My plan says to warm up, then speed up until I peak around my 10k pace, hold that for a few minutes, then ramp back down to cool down mode. I read up on tempo runs yesterday and everyone's description of them seems to be slightly different. Which is awesome.
I now have my watch set to tell me my *current* pace, which will help a ton. And I have a flat, uninterrupted stretch of land for next time. But I'm still open to advice.
Great advise for tempo runs!
ReplyDeleteI think exhaust is the worse thing in the freaking world to smell while out running. It chokes you and makes you feel like shit afterwards....can ruin a perfectly good run or ride! Sounds like those trainers are worth every penny...
I am not one to give tempo advice. I did a tempo run a couple of weeks ago and went too fast because it was easy. Then my legs felt like crap for days.
ReplyDeleteTry not to over-think your tempo runs. You are really just trying to get to "ugh, this sucks" for the whole prescribed time. Avoid staring at your watch, trying to match some speed.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I hate running by big roads because of the exhaust smell.
ReplyDeleteNever done a tempo run. I'm just happy when I'm running rather than walking or moving backwards.
This post makes me hate you just the teensiest, tiniest bit. I have yet to have a workout where I accidentally kick my running partner's ass, run way faster than planned and also way longer than planned. When I do you will be the first to know.
ReplyDeleteI'm far from an expert myself, but I've recently figured out how to actually run a good tempo (relative to my ability). The goal is to aim for a minimum of twenty minutes at tempo pace. I have an average tempo pace set in stone prior to going out so I'm not left to my own whims. I usually run the first tempo mile at the higher tempo pace, then the remaining two miles about 5-7 seconds faster. Although I can sometimes speed up a lot more the final mile, I try not to since my goal is an even pace. Like you, I choose a flat course, though I don't mind a hill at the beginning and end just for laughs.
ReplyDeleteIt took me three attempts before I found my tempo pace. I hadn't run tempos in a while and it had been a long time since I raced, so I just experimented with different paces until I got to one that I could keep up for 3 miles, but was tough. And by tough, I mean that after you finish your tempo miles you are very, very glad that it's over, though you know that you could have kept going for at least a half mile longer. (Not that you'd want to.)
Thanks fro the great advice!
ReplyDeleteTempo runs are always my nemesis....I seem to have anxiety about them days before they occur and then I always fail because I'm just too worked out and go out too fast.
ReplyDeleteI can hardly tempo run, much less regular run. I'm zero help.
ReplyDeleteSad right!?
I'm gonna give you an A+ on that graph!
"Riding on my trainer was so much easier for me" .... that's what she said?
ReplyDeleteI mean you must realize I thought you mean your person trainer!! I mean obviously I would think that!
I swear, there are so many definitions of what a tempo run is. It's ridiculous - enough to make you think you never really did a tempo.
ReplyDeleteYou described Hal Higdon's tempo - which I like, but maybe because it's easier than holding 10K pace for an extended period of time.
In HS track, it was mostly like Chad (commenter above) described - "ugh this sucks" for about 20 minutes, with 15-20 warm up and down on each end (so 50-60 mins total). We didn't have garmin's back then, so, you had to go by feel. And coach called them "steady states" rather than tempos.
The latest definition I've read is that it's 20-30 minutes at lactate threshold (which generally translates to 15 or so seconds slower than 10K race pace). With warm up and down.
So I don't know what is right. This is probably why I hate the tempo run. I have no idea if I'm doing it correctly. And it generally feels like crap.