Variation To Tempo Run

You have read about my Tempo run workout that was posted in my blog earlier this week. Because the weekend is coming closer and that simply meant more time for most of you to get out and sweat the weekday work stress away, here is some suggestions on the type of Tempo run you can do. Like The Hill Workout that I wrote about, Tempo run comes in a few variation. The key to  running faster and stronger (and obviously losing some fats in the process) is to keep the muscle and body guessing what will be the next meal workout you will throw at (yourself). 
As this will serve as a guide and most of us would not or might not have GPS-enabled devices to track distances, I am writing this based on TIMING, where everyone would at least have a watch that could tell time. The the Tempo Start.
Tempo Basic
Start and end the run with a 7 minutes warm-up and cool-down. The starting and ending should be done at an easy conversational pace. Run the 20 minutes in between at a pace that is about 30 seconds to 45 seconds slower than your average 5km pace.

Tempo Interval
Start and end the run with a 7 minutes warm-up and cool-down. The starting and ending should be done at an easy conversational pace. Run the 20minutes in four-5-minutes interval of fast and slow pace. Maintain the fast to be 30seconds to 45seconds pace slower than your 5k and run the slow pace at about the warm-up or cool-down pace. 

Tempo Negative Interval
Start and end the run with a 7 minutes warm-up and cool-down. The starting and ending should be done at an easy conversational pace. Split the 20minutes into two-10-minutes and run the first 10minutes Tempo at your 30seconds to 45seconds slower than 5km pace. The second 10minutes of the Tempo is to be done at a negative split aka faster than the first 10minutes. In this case, I aimed to do it at almost my race pace. This Tempo Negative Interval is good to build your confidence on finishing a race strong (as you go almost all out at the end).

Tempo Race Pace
The most demanding Tempo run is the one done at Race Pace. As usual, start and end the run with a 7 minutes warm-up and cool-down. The starting and ending should be done at an easy conversational pace. Then, hammer the 20minutes with nothing less than your race pace and make it count.

Now that you have four different tempo run that you can very well do on your own and as part of your training regime. I perform Tempo run twice a week, with certain degree of variation of distance and also intensity. You can do it too. 

Tempo Basic completed on Nov 27, 2012. 7.3km covered in 36mins.

Finding the Correct Intensity
I've written it in my blog entry about Tempo Run and this will serve as a guidance to gauge your tempo/intensity/rhythm. Here is how:

With a device that could tell you your pace
Take your fastest 5km or your 10km race pace (aka the one you just completed) and add on 30 seconds (to the 5km pace) or 10 seconds to your 10km race pace. Example, if you ran your best 5km in average 6:00 pace, do your Tempo in 6:30 or 6:10, respectively.
Talk Test
I know it will sound funny if you talk to yourself, but that's what I do most of the time when I am running. Ask yourself (in your mind) what is your "pace". You should be able to answer (verbally), so that is what we are looking for. But if you ask yourself "What will be eaten for lunch later today" and you have to answer (verbally) a whole paragraph and can still do it, you are running too slow. Go faster.
With a device that can tell you your heart rate
Aim for 85% to 90%. Enough said. :)