What is a tempo run?

Basically, “a tempo run is a sustained effort run that builds up your body’s ability to run faster for longer periods of time, no matter if you’re training for a 5k or a marathon”.

Why Do Tempo Runs Make Me Faster?

Tempo runs increase your anaerobic threshold, so our bodies adapt to performing at higher intensities comfortably. Higher Intensities could take the form of a longer distance or a faster pace.

Tempo runs help you improve in several different areas which will in turn make you a faster runner. Tempo runs:

Improve Lactate Clearance

A tempo run improves lactate clearance as it purposely spikes lactic acid production so our body gets more effective at clearing it. 

Lactic acid can slow down energy production and causes a soreness and burning sensation in our muscles. This may seem counterintuitive, but it’s our body's way of regulating exertion. So the fitter we are, the more efficiently lactate can clear. How to make our bodies more efficient at clearing lactate? By lactate clearance training which tempo runs are. 

By improving your ability to clear or tolerate lactate as it's increasingly produced, it allows us to sustain a faster pace for longer. 

Improve cardio

Poor cardiovascular fitness means that your heart has to work hard to transport oxygen to your muscles during exercise. As a result, your heart rate increases quickly to sustain the oxygen requirements. The faster your heart rate gets, the more you move away from your aerobic threshold and nearer to your anaerobic threshold.

For runners, incorporating a tempo workout into your 12 week half marathon training plan, for example, can quickly develop cardiovascular fitness. And this would be helpful when running at a faster pace than usual for longer. 

Improve mental endurance

Tempo runs are “also a great way to build mental toughness since many of these workouts are done at a pace that could be more difficult than you’re used to”.

We do not want there to be any doubt in our mind that we should not be going at this faster pace, and tempo runs give us a tester to what our pace may feel like on the day and it prepares us, so there are no big surprises when we aim for that goal time. Similarly, we may be able to tell if we are going too fast early on in the race if we have done several tempo runs beforehand. 

Improve your race day performance/ speed

According to Sjödin, middle to long distance runners who implement tempo runs into their weekly training plan for 14 weeks experienced better race day performance than those that did not. 

Reading all the benefits provided above, it is easy to understand our tempo runs will make us run faster on race day.  By regularly practicing tempo runs during your training, when race day arrives, your body (and mind!) will know that it’s an achievable task. You will have ran at the speed that is right for you and know how long you can go for.

To find out more about the benefits of tempo runs, read our recent blog. And to find out how to do a tempo run read to How Do I Run A Tempo Run?

Making you faster!

Tempo runs are all about the pace. You want to maintain a comfortably hard speed, whilst staying in control of your breathing. Your body will soon adapt and be able to run faster over a longer period of time. 

The goal of the tempo run is to push your body to run harder and faster for longer periods of time, says Molly Armesto, a running coach and founder of All About Marathon Training. 

Tempo runs offer an array of benefits, which is why if you want to run faster for longer, try adding these into your training plan. Or sign up to Coopah and you will have your tempo pace worked out for you and a tempo run workout specific to you ready to go.

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Reference

Helming, 2021, Tempo Run: What is it and why is it worth doing?. The Run Experience [online] Available at: https://therunexperience.com/what-is-a-tempo-run/ [Accessed 13th May 2022]

Nike, 2022. What Exactly Is Tempo Running? Nike. [online] Available at:

https://www.nike.com/a/tempo-running-workout-benefits [Accessed 16th May 2022] 

Magness, 2018. Workout to Improve Lactate Clearing Rate. Runner’s World [online] Available at: https://www.runnersworld.com/advanced/a20811165/workouts-to-improve-lactate-clearing-rates/#:~:text=Tempo%20runs%20and%20cruise%20intervals,a%20faster%20pace%20for%20longer. [Accessed 21st June 2022]

Lindberg, S., 2020. How to get in that Tempo Run. Healthline [online]. Available at: https://www.healthline.com/health/tempo-run#benefits [Accessed 10th May 2022]

Sjödin, B., Jacobs, I. & Svedenhag, J. Changes in onset of blood lactate accumulation (OBLA) and muscle enzymes after training at OBLA. Europ. J. Appl. Physiol. 49, 45–57 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00428962 

Jesner, L., 2022. Tempo Running: What is it and why it’s Beneficial. Very Well Fit. [online] Available at: https://www.verywellfit.com/what-is-a-tempo-run-2911659#:~:text=Tempo%20running%20can%20help%20improve,both%20mental%20and%20physical%20benefits. [Accessed 12th May 2022]