Tempo runs are really simple speed workouts. Just warm-up, run at a challenging steady pace, and cool down. They are also called lactate, anaerobic, or fatigue threshold runs.

When you go above your threshold, lactic acid builds up, breathing becomes laboured, form gets ragged, and muscles tense and tighten as fatigue sets in. RESULT: You’re forced to slow down.

With tempo runs, you train close to your threshold without exceeding it. As a RESULT, you’ll raise it, enabling you to race faster and further before fatigue sets in. Tempo runs offer many advantages;

The pace isn’t as hard as other types of speed training, recovery is quicker and injury less likely. It’s less stressful than track intervals, both physically and mentally. Lactate threshold runs are controlled, so it guards against the tendency to train too hard. Tempo training helps you develop a feel for pace, which means you’ll run more evenly in races.

How fast is a Tempo run? Good question, and probably not knowing the answer, is the reason many runners don’t include lactate threshold runs in their training programme.

The pace is just hard enough to force you to focus on your running and endure discomfort for an extended period. For marathon runners this translates to running between 4 to 6 miles at half marathon pace, or running 10 to 13 miles at marathon pace.

An easy way to get tempo runs with mile markers to judge pace, is to enter a 10k race and run it at your half-marathon pace. Or enter a half marathon and run it at your full marathon pace.

This is great for training, but you need to be psychologically prepared to run a race at tempo pace, and finish slower than you could have run the distance.

John McNally