Today was the kind of run I had been avoiding for almost 2 years, The Tempo run !
I have never been a fast runner and I have no ambitions to become one so I have tended to avoid any sort of speed run , except for the occasionall Fartlek which I enjoy !
However , over the last few months my running has become stale !
I have been plodding along at the same old distance and pace and definitely not progressing.
So a few weeks ago now I decided it was time for a change !
Embrace the hills , do some intervals, do some speed work , and equally as important, do some strength work also .
So I have been doing mostly NRC runs and today was a Tempo run .
I was dubious!
Should I have been ? No not really!
It's certainly NOT flat out speed , however a pace that can (or should) be able to be maintained , so we are talking a 6 or 7 effort perhaps.
This was fine at first after the 7 minute warm up run at an easy pace , but as the minutes progressed it became a little tougher to maintain and at times I needed to back off a little.
So, am I disappointed? No !
I just realise my tempo pace needed to be slightly less , or does it ?
Maybe next time it will be fine if I continue to mix and match my runs and continue with the strength training that is the James Dunne 30 day challenge!
I have completed day 6, so that's the first stage done ( or Dunne) 😁
And I already can feel a little improvement in my running form .
So although I didn't manage to maintain tempo for the whole run today, it's certainly heading in the right direction and these challenges are certainly helping to get me out of the door more frequently.
And for me, that's what it's all about !
Happy running 😁👍
Written by
Instructor57
Graduate10
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Hello Instructor57, Well done finding new things to try and trying them. I did that exact same run yesterday. My first tempo run ever. Just as Emily was explaining the effort required for the tempo run, I came across a couple of friends out for their morning walk. A very short exchange meant I missed Emily's input! I knew it was less than 5km pace/effort. Note to self: repeat instructions more than once should I ever find myself in that position! I think that Emily did repeat the information, but it was a pity to have missed the first clear explanation.Ah well, such it is.
Sounds as though you enjoyed it, Ian - well done for mixing it up a bit! Note to self try a tempo run 😁. Enjoy the rest of your day, it’s lovely out there isn’t it 😊.
I know what you mean - don’t think I’ve slept that well all week. The one thing on Garmin that seems an accurate reflection is the body battery indicator. Fingers crossed we’ll both sleep better tonight! 💤
Yes if you wear it at night it will tell you how you slept and all that gubbins, which will be reflected in your body battery. Also your resting HR will be more accurate. It’s a double-edged sword really! I don’t know if I’m tired because my body battery tells me I am or if I actually am 🤣!!
Haha, yes, that’s the drawback of working harder if you’re not used to it! More tempo runs! 🤣 I’ve felt tired today just thinking about running! Although I did do some digging earlier. It seems that gardening follows me wherever I go, although fortunately I’ve got much less garden now and can easily manage it on my own.
Well done! Definitely agree that a variety of run types help whatever our goals and to keep us on our metaphorical running toes. I found all the speed runs great fun even when I struggled (always something to learn). I never had expected to find them so enjoyable (and I’m especially missing them while I’m in my rehab phase). Nevertheless, I was still rather frightened of the ones billed as ‘tempo’. I needn’t have been; again, they turned out to be really good, carefully paced and phased. Such a sense of achievement too.
Well done! That was also my first tempo run. I can't say I enjoyed it but my legs felt so much better afterwards! I've done another tempo run since then (I think it's called out strong back fast) which I found harder but again, it worked wonders for my legs. Another one coming up this week (the one with Paula Radcliffe), we'll see how it goes and whether that mobility & strength challenge makes any difference! Good to mix things up for sure 😃👏👏👏
Well that’s good then, anything to get you out the door is a bonus, the run sounds good too. I signed up but haven’t even started the strength challenge, but maybe this week
Yes, it was a good run but thinking about it afterwards I realized I was quite tired , hadn't slept too well .I may have today off from the strength challenge 😁😴
Well done! Yes, just before I headed to the IC I had started with the NRC HM plan, not because I was planning to go all the way to HM but to experience the diversity of runs. And the NRC audio guided runs showed me a whole other running world to explore, with different intervals, fartleks, tempo runs, hill runs… can’t wait to get back to that level again (but also enjoying the journey immensely, again)
Well done Instructor57 ! As far as I'm concerned tempo runs are the work of the devil, even worse than speedwork, and as they make me miserable I only do them if I really have to. So doing one when you're tired is a real achievement.
I think you're brave Ian. I seem pretty content to just bimble along at the moment. Well done for that one, especially as you didn't feel top of your game. 👏👏👏
Well done on braving the speed run! Running the same way every time gets so stale, it's great to do things a bit differently. Take it easy now, you deserve a day off!
Ooh, I’ve just been finding out about tempo runs as well. They’ve started appearing on the Garmin plan I’m in the middle of (trying 5k in 30 minutes - I’m way off 😂) . Gosh they’re hard work. Had a 3k at 6min/km as the middle bit on Friday, followed by an easy 12k yesterday- I’m fit for nothing haha.
Did I see someone else kept chicken? Total subject change 😂
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