An Out of shape 32,33,34 35 Year Old New Runner's Journey into fitness, running, and road racing (5k, 10k, and beyond).

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Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Tempo Run (A New First)

Hal calls for a Tempo run tommorow. I have never done one of these but the definition is

"Tempo Runs: This is a continuous run with an easy beginning, a buildup in the middle to near 10-K race pace, then ease back and cruise to the finish. A typical tempo run would begin with 5-10 minutes easy running, continue with 10-15 faster running, and finish with 5-10 minutes cooling down. You can't figure out your pace on a watch doing this workout; you need to listen to your body. Tempo runs are very useful for developing anaerobic threshold, essential for fast 5-K racing."

Seems I will get to visit the hell known as my "race pace" for 20 minutes tomorrow..LOL..it should be fun.

I figured out how to set my watch up to do interval timers...so when I hit the middle button (if all is set correct) tommorow at 5:30 AM the following should occur
  • 5 minute warm up in Zone 2 (60 - 70 percent heart rate.)
  • 20 minute fast in Zone 4 (80 -90)
  • 5 minutes cool down in zone 2 (again 60 -70)

I'm hoping to feel a lot of pain in my legs prior to wednesday as my legs were soar for days after last race (only race).

Let the fun (pain) begin.


2 comments:

M. Tate said...

Make sure that you do not start out at race pace right away once you hit the middle part of your workout. Race pace should only be a couple minutes at the end of the middle part. Its a gradual buildup of speed.

I live in a somewhat hilly area, so I use downhills to make me pickup speed, and when I reach the bottom I try to keep my new speed. It works out great for me.

Good luck though!

Mr.Cheapo said...

Thanks for the advice. I think I did it wrong but I had a decent run..problem is no hills in FL (unless I go find a causway..lol)...in two weeks I'll tryin a little different (next week I do intervals instead)