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Tempo Workouts (Read 237 times)

    Jeff, yes.

     

    In addition, the danger of letting the ex-physiobable creep into our training discussions is that people start to think of these terms such as LT, VO2max, aerobic, etc. as representing separate and distinct "systems." And in fact you'll sometimes see runners talk about these systems on message boards--I'm working on my VO2max system today!--as if they exist (not in this thread, but in general.)

     

    You don't have an aerobic "system", an LT "system", or a VO2max "system". You have a running system (your body and mind.) These ex-phys terms have been established for academic purposes to try and describe various physiological processes that take place at various paces after various duration--but the most important thing to remember about them is that they are imaginary.

     

    The goal of tempo runs is not to improve lactate threshold. The goal of tempo runs is to improve your running fitness so you can go fast for longer. Lactate threshold is just one physiological marker of that fitness--it's s symptom, not the cause of your increased ability to run fast for long. And there's no real evidence that training at exactly LT is any better at improving LT than say running slightly slower (MP for example) but for longer, or running slightly faster (10k pace for example) for shorter.

     

    A runner doesn't need to know the term LT to become a faster racer. But a runner probably needs to know what a tempo run is, even if their definition of a tempo is pretty vague.

    Runners run

    L Train


      Run faster sometimes.

       


      Right on Hereford...

         

        FWIW, during the build up to my PR marathon I did not run a single mile at, or faster than, my goal marathon pace

         

        That was a big mistake.

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