Today’s workout: 6 mile tempo run
I am super talkative (sigh and super out of it, I just typed “this morning” after talkative… this is what no sleep does to me!) and the husband just “wants to relax” (which I find VERY LAME). So I am drinking a glass of wine (and the answer is YES I drink a glass of wine almost every night) and blogging while he watches golf on TV (which, can we talk about that – it is quite possibly the most BORING sport EVER to watch live on TV… are you kidding me, how is that interesting?!)
As a side note, I just left my blog up to go on a marathon phone conversation with my mom… This is what I came back to:
…..this is your husband, and golf is a very challenging sport, you just have to know what you are watching to appreciate it. BTW I think yoga is way more boring to watch, anyway. So there! Now back to your blog…..
Haha, fair enough.
Anyway, back to tempo runs, the whole point of this seemingly pointless post. I tried to talk to the husband about the tempo run and his eyes glazed over and he finally stopped me and told me he had no idea what I was talking about, so I am turning to you guys.
I had a 6 mile tempo run this morning. Despite the fact that an hour after I got up I was still sitting on my couch while I was supposed to be running, I did actually go. I complained about it right up until I stepped foot out the door and it was one of those runs that I literally had to talk myself through every step of the way BUT I did it and I did it fairly well, I think. The set up was: 2 mile warm up, 2 miles at tempo pace, 2 mile cool down. Easy enough, right?
The 2 miles at tempo pace was supposed to be 15-30 seconds slower than your current 10k pace. Well my 10k pace is 8:15… so 8:30-8:45, right?
These were my splits:
Mile 1: 10:05
Mile 2: 9:10
Mile 3: 8:11
Mile 4: 7:54 (<—- This makes me feel AWESOME that I busted that out 4 miles in on very tired legs)
Mile 5: 8:45
Mile 6: 8:49
Ok so obviously I am no good at maintaining a slower pace… I know I have to speed up for 2 miles so speed up I did… Normally I do all speed work, tempos included on the treamill, but I wanted to start doing tempos outside…
Does that matter? Is there a reason that you are supposed to run your tempo pace slower than your 10k pace?
Currently I’m on the run less, run faster program. Can someone please explain to me if I need to be diligent about running my tempo miles at the pace they designate as tempo pace or if just running them faster is important?
Seriously, please talk me through tempo runs. If it’s too much to explain in a comment, email me at happyhealthyrunner at gmail dot com
Do you love tempo runs? I do. They are one of my favorites!
I actually do love tempo runs, even though I kind of sucked at mine yesterday. So, I think the point of not running super fast on every training run is so that you don’t injure yourself. Of course, I might not have any idea what I’m talking about, so if you get a real answer, let me know!
Enjoy your wine, doll. I’m exhausted tonight, too.
I can only assume you’re having a glass of wine tonight too, so it’s almost like we’re drinking wine together! And if you don’t have a glass of wine, well… fix that.
I’m no expert, but I try to run my tempo runs at the pace *they* designate. Whether that be a Runner’s World training plan or RLRF. I think the key with tempo runs is that they should be a faster/harder effort, but not too fast. That’s where your speed work comes in. It’s all about balance I think. Does that make sense? : )
siiigh yeah that makes perfect sense, i am just sooo bad at guaging pace when i’m running outside… which i guess is why i normally run them on the treadmills – it forces you to run that pace.
Whenever I go to my parent’s house, it seems my dad is ALWAYS watch golf. My mom has tried telling him that when a bunch of us are over, it’s rude to put on the most boring thing to watch EVER, but he doesn’t care and watches away.
I don’t care how skilled you have to be to play the sport…watching it is…absolutely…boring! =)
OMG THANK YOU. It makes me want to claw my eyes out it’s so unbelievably boring! I don’t see how people can watch it for HOURS at a time!!
maybe your new 10k pace is much faster now? i’d go with that. i’m not a very good tempo runner… i just go. no trying to gauge where i am or anything, i just try to find a pace that is faster than usual and something i can hang on to. which reminds me, skipped mine last night. good excuse though, hubs was sick and couldn’t leave him alone with the kids.
oh, and we were totally drinking wine together last night.
i have a possible remedy for your sleeping issues. i’m gonna drop my kids off at your house this weekend and they are gonna wear you out. works like a charm!
ahahahaha I’m sure that would work like a charm! maybe my 10k pace IS faster (doubt it)… guess I should sign up for another race
last night became a multiple glasses of wine kind of night, which meant i was running late this morning because i chose to veg on the couch with my wine versus make my lunch ahead of time. whoops! one of these days i’ll learn… one of these days….
Golf. Ugh. My ex boyfriend used to OBSESS over it and I’d just kinda stare at the tv waiting for my chance to break free and do something more entertaining. As far as tempo runs.. girl I have ZERO idea what that all means. Apparently it’s like a threshold run, but don’t ask me what a threshold run is either haha! Nice run!
it’s soooooooooo boring! i like tempo runs i just don’t understand them, lol.
Pingback: I (almost) bonked last night. | Happy Healthy Runner