--- title: "Tempo Runs" description: "The one-page field guide to tempo running — the three formats, how to pace them, how much to do, and the mistakes that turn a threshold session into a race." canonical_url: "https://runima.fit/cheatsheets/tempo-runs" --- > Index of every page on this site: [llms.txt](https://runima.fit/llms.txt) ## TL;DR ## The three workouts hiding behind one word "Tempo" is a coaching term, not a physiological one. A 20-minute effort and a 60-minute one **cannot** be run at the same intensity — so decide which workout you're doing before you start.

At or just under the top of your sustainable aerobic range. Simple, race-specific, unforgiving of pacing errors. **Trap:** turning it into a time trial.

Same target, accumulated in pieces, with a checkpoint every rep. The best format if you tend to overcook tempos. **Trap:** running reps faster because recovery exists.

Clearly below classic threshold. Builds race-specific endurance. **Trap:** attempting 20-minute pace for the whole thing.

## How to set the pace No single metric owns the decision. Use them in this order — the ones lower down are guardrails, not commanders.

Anchor	How to use it	Watch out for
Lab LT2 / MLSS	Run close to, not above, your tested boundary	Result depends on the test protocol used
Recent race result	≈ the effort you could hold for an hour when fresh	"One-hour pace" is an approximation, not a law
Perceived effort	6–7/10 — comfortably hard, controlled, conversational in phrases	Beginners overshoot; needs practice
Heart rate	Roughly 88–92% HRmax as a broad guide; tested threshold HR is better	Lags pace, drifts, moves with heat and fatigue
Blood lactate	Your own validated range, standardised sampling	No universal 4 mmol threshold
Critical speed	A boundary reference — validate against your own LT2	CS ≠ LT2 automatically
Running power	Same device, compared to your own history	Device-specific; not lab power

**The practical shortcut:** effort first, heart rate as a guardrail, pace as the record. When they disagree, don't obey the fastest-looking number — the same pace is a different workout in 30 °C heat or on tired legs. **Don't let HR drive the first two minutes** of a rep. Cardiovascular response lags the change in pace, so "HR looks too low" early on is the classic reason a controlled session becomes a race. ## The session, start to finish **15 min easy** → **4 × 20 s relaxed strides** → **3 × 8 min threshold, 90 s easy jog** → **10–15 min easy** The warm-up exists so the *first* rep isn't the warm-up. Whether recovery is 60 or 90 seconds barely matters — what matters is that the last rep looks like the first: same pace, same relaxed shoulders, no heroic finish. ## How much, by experience

Runner	First-line format	Quality time	Frequency	Guardrail
Beginner (easy habit)	2 × 5–8 min sub-threshold, 2 min jog	10–16 min	every 7–10 days	RPE 5–6/10, deliberately below T
Recreational	3 × 8 min, or 20 min continuous	20–25 min	1× / wk	No end-of-workout sprint
Experienced rec.	3 × 10 min, 4 × 8 min, or 20–25 min continuous	25–35 min	1× / wk	Own threshold HR / RPE
Competitive	3 × 10–12, 4–5 × 8, or 20–30 min continuous	30–40 min	1–2× / wk	2nd session only if recovered
Elite / high volume	Individually designed, often lactate-controlled	Individual	Multiple	Requires a huge base — don't copy

**About the Norwegian double threshold:** the principle isn't two savage workouts a day — it's unusually *tight intensity control*, with frequent lactate checks used to stop sessions getting too hard. Those athletes have enormous aerobic bases and professional recovery. Borrowing the workout without the base borrows only the risk. ## Ten-week progression "T" = controlled threshold, "sub-T" = deliberately below it. **Bold weeks are reduced** — deliberate interruptions of monotonous load, and reassessment points.

Week	New to tempo	Established recreational	Competitive
1	2 × 5 min sub-T	3 × 6 min T	4 × 8 min T
2	3 × 5 min sub-T	3 × 8 min T	3 × 10 min T
3	2 × 8 min sub-T	2 × 10 + 1 × 5 min T	5 × 8 min T
4	2 × 5 min	20 min continuous	20–25 min continuous
5	3 × 7 min	3 × 10 min T	4 × 10 min T
6	2 × 10 min	4 × 8 min T	3 × 12 min T
7	3 × 8 min	22–25 min continuous	4 × 10 min, or 30 min continuous
8	2 × 8 min	3 × 8 min	3 × 8 min
9	18–20 min, or 3 × 7	4 × 10 min T	5 × 8 min T
10	20–22 min, or 2 × 12	28–30 min, or 3 × 12	30 min continuous, or 3 × 12

**Time before speed.** 3 × 6 → 3 × 8 → 3 × 10 min is a far more controlled progression than making a fixed 20-minute session faster every week. Once you're in the right domain, let *fitness* supply the pace. ## Where it fits in the week

Day	3–4 runs/wk	5 runs/wk	6–7 runs/wk
Mon	Rest / strength	Rest or very easy	Easy + optional strength
Tue	Easy	Tempo: 3 × 8–10 min	Threshold: 4 × 8–10 min
Wed	Rest / cross-train	Easy	Easy / recovery
Thu	Sub-T reps	Easy + strides	Easy aerobic + strides
Fri	Rest	Rest or easy	Easy (2nd quality day replaces , never adds)
Sat	Easy	Easy	Easy
Sun	Longer easy run	Longer easy run	Long run

Elite distance runners train **pyramidally**: most volume at or below the first threshold, less between thresholds, least above the second. They run fast — but most of their running still isn't tempo running. ## Progress, hold, or back off?

Signal	Decision
Completed the work, controlled, no odd next-day symptoms	Progress next week
Session productive but recovery is marginal	Hold the dose
Fatigue, illness or pain accumulating	Reduce or replace with easy running
Focal bone pain, limp, altered gait	Stop — assess before any tempo

The most informative signal is **decoupling**: your usual 3 × 10 min at 4:00/km normally sits at RPE 6–7, but today needs RPE 8–9 for 4:05/km. That gap says more than either number alone. **Postpone tempo entirely** for: suspected bone stress injury, gait-altering pain, fever or acute illness, suspected myocarditis, or any medical restriction on vigorous exercise. Reduce it when signs of low energy availability (REDs) are present — under-fuelled threshold work makes no physiological sense. ## Myths worth deleting **"Tempo teaches you to tolerate lactic acid."** Lactate is fuel, shuttled between tissues and burned for energy — not waste. Training changes how you produce, move and clear it. **"4 mmol/L is threshold."** A convenient operational marker, not a biological set point. Different labs report different "thresholds" for the same athlete. **"My watch's critical speed is my tempo pace."** Critical speed, LT2 and MLSS are *not* interchangeable. Treat CS as an upper boundary, not a target. **"Cool down to flush the lactate."** Blood lactate falls fast; neuromuscular, glycogen and connective-tissue recovery doesn't. Low lactate ≠ recovered. **"Never increase load more than 10% a week."** Not a law of biology — the evidence linking specific load jumps to injury is weak. Progress by symptoms, history and recovery, changing one stressor at a time. **"More tempo is more fitness."** Piling on middle intensity isn't the best route to a faster 10K, and threshold work isn't the most efficient stimulus for VO₂max either. It's one tool, not the plan. ## How to track it Set your targets with the [**Training Pace Calculator**](https://runima.fit/tools/training-pace-calculator) and [**Heart Rate Zone Calculator**](https://runima.fit/tools/heart-rate-zone-calculator), then let the [**Runima app**](https://runima.fit/) follow the trend that actually reflects a threshold block: your **pace at a given heart rate**, drifting faster week over week. ## Go deeper Read the full deep-dive — [**Tempo Run Guide: The Workout Most Runners Ruin**](https://runima.fit/blog/tempo-runs) — for the studies, the reasoning, and every reference behind this sheet. Related: [**Lactate Threshold: Your Hidden Redline**](https://runima.fit/blog/lactate-threshold) and [**Train LT1 by Heart Rate, LT2 by Pace**](https://runima.fit/blog/training-lactate-thresholds). ## Sitemap See the full [sitemap](https://runima.fit/sitemap.md) for all pages.