Best Speed & Tempo Runs for Beginners!

Welcome back to Unexpected Abundance! I’m so excited to be back with you guys again for another great conversation. With my race season coming to an end with the upcoming OC half marathon, I’ll be pivoting into writing about the technical side of running: workouts, programs, nutrition, tips, gear, and more. For the last few months, I’ve been focusing on recapping my training for the races which is great, but I am aware that you guys want more than that. And frankly, I want to write more. I have learned so much over the last few years that I want to share with our community that we're building here at Unexpected Abundance.

With that being said, let’s get into today’s conversation: Speed and tempo workouts! When I started running, speed workouts really intimidated me. I didn’t think my body could handle the speed workouts, especially training for longer distances. After getting a few speed and tempo workouts under my belt, I found them to be my favorite! Just the other day, I finished an 8-mile tempo run where I felt strong after completion. It takes time and practice, but speed and tempo runs are amazing for your conditioning. Whether you’re training for a race or are just staying in running shape, speed workouts need to be part of your training!

Before we start, let’s define what a speed and tempo workout are. They sound the same but have some slight differences.

A speed workout focuses on running at or near your maximum speed for a short distance or period with a break between intervals. Speed workouts also improve endurance and running form. These workouts are done at 90%-100% effort and should only be done 1x a week to avoid burnout and overtraining. Speed workouts are usually done using repetitions and involve tracks or hills. If you're like me and don't have access to tracks or hills, don't worry. The sidewalk will do just fine.

A tempo run focuses on maintaining a sustained pace for an extended distance or period. Tempo runs are meant to be run faster than your normal pace and they should feel “comfortably hard”. What does that mean? The run shouldn’t be easy, but you shouldn’t be completely out of breath. You should be in control with a little bit of fatigue. Tempo runs will build your Vo2 Max and increase your lactate threshold. Your Vo2 Max is the amount of oxygen your body can absorb and use during exercise. In simple terms, the higher your Vo2 Max, the better your body receives oxygen and delivers it to your muscle. The oxygen break downs the glucose in your body to create adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is the energy source your body uses to keep moving. Your lactate threshold is the pace or effort where your body fatigue begins to accelerate. The two work in parallel because if your Vo2 Max is higher, then your lactate threshold is also higher, meaning you can run for longer distances and delay your body fatigue. Yay for science!

Now that you understand some of the differences, let's can move to the actual workouts. I will preface by saying there are so many speed and tempo workouts available with different levels of difficulty. As you get better at speed and tempo runs, you can begin to do harder workouts, but I would start with these workouts to get comfortable.

Workout 1: One minute on, one minute off

• 5 minute warm up (Recovery pace – you should be able to hold a conversation with no difficulty)

• 1 minute at full speed, 1 minute walking or jogging

• Repeat 8 times

• 5 minute cool down (Recovery pace)

This was my first speed workout I ever did and it’s a classic for me. Once you feel better, you can increase your running time, decrease your recovery time, or increase your intervals. This is a great baseline workout to test your conditioning. I’d do this workout every week and make slight modifications as you feel more comfortable. Track your time/results and compare them to the first time you started. Seeing progress, even it’s a slight improvement, is a huge win and will go a long way towards building your confidence!

Workout 2: Quarters Tempo Run

This will require a watch to measure distance. If you don’t have a running watch, you can use Strava or any running app to track the distance.

• 5 minute warm up (Recovery pace)

• 0.25 miles at 7/10 effort, followed by 0.25 miles at 4/10 effort

• Repeat 10 times

• 5 minute cool down (Recovery pace)

When I first came across this workout, I was intimidated by the quarter mile distance. After I finished the first interval, I was like, “That’s it?!”. A quarter mile goes by fast, you won't notice it. I love this workout because it challenges you to play with different paces and tempos, and you don’t get a break. Tempo runs best simulate race day because during a race, your time doesn’t stop when you take a break. You need to train your body to recover while running and keep a strong form. The first time you do this workout will be hard, but it gets better each time you complete it. Same as the first workout, you can alter the workout depending on your comfort levels. Once you feel stronger, you can increase the intervals and do 20 repetitions!

Workout 3: 5k Tempo Run

• 0.30 miles warm up (Recovery pace)

• 0.75 miles at 6/10 effort

• 0.75 miles at 7/10 effort

• 1 mile at 8/10 effort

• 0.30 miles cool down (Recovery pace)

Out of all the races, the 5k is amazing. And I haven’t done an official 5k event either. I just love the workout. 3.1 miles is a perfect distance to go all out without completely breaking your body down as you would for a full marathon or even a half marathon. Not to mention that training for a 5k isn’t as taxing as training for longer distances. This is a great baseline workout, so if you need to alter the workout, please do so. This workout has been great for me to start off, and it’s helped me maintain those harder efforts for longer distances. As I mentioned previously, I followed a similar baseline on Friday and ran a 8 mile tempo run and felt strong after. Try this workout a few times and see how much you progress. Like the workouts I previously mentioned, as you get more comfortable, you can increase the distances and repetitions.

Workout 4: Fartlek Tempo Run

• 5 minute warm up (Recovery pace)

• 2 minutes hard running, 1 minute easy running

• 5 minute cool down (Recovery pace)

If you’re wondering, yes, I do giggle every time I say “fartlek”! Besides the funny pronunciation, I love this workout. The fartlek is similar to our first workout, “One minute on, one minute”, with the only difference being there are no breaks in between and the hard running is for 2 minutes instead of 1. This workout will be weird at first especially if you don’t know your pace. How I approach this workout is to run this at an 8/10 effort (or a little slower than your 5k pace) for the hard portion and run the easy portion at a 4/10 effort (Recovery pace). You want to slow your heart rate down and catch your breath while running, because you’ll need to do that during a race. Let’s say you’re running a half marathon, and you just finished a hilly portion of the course. Stopping to walk will slow your time and momentum down, so your body needs to recover while running without losing a step. The fartlek run is a great workout to practice controlling your pace and recovering while on the run.

These four workouts are great for beginners to start practicing their speed and tempo runs. By no means are these intervals, repetitions, distances and times set, so feel free to modify based on your fitness level. I threw a lot of information at you, so let’s quickly recap. A speed run focuses on running at or near maximum efforts for short distances with breaks in between repetitions. A tempo runs focuses on maintaining a sustained effort for an extended period or distance but is run at about 60-80% effort. If you’re focused on running for longer distances at a controlled effort, incorporate 1-2 tempo runs a week and make sure to increase the distance or time once you feel the run is easier. If you want to focus on short distances and getting faster, incorporate 1-2 speed runs a week. As long as you’re doing one or the other, you’re already better than you were yesterday!

That does it for today’s conversation. I hope you learned something and can apply it in your training. If there’s anything you guys would like me to write about, please fill out the inquiry on the home page and I will definitely take a look! Thank you guys for dropping by and chatting. I wish you the best of luck in your training and until next, stay safe!

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