Comments on: Which is better, tempo training or interval workouts?

By: Last Week Last Year: Doping Charges, Playing Chicken, and Workout Types @ Run to Win

Sat, 22 Mar 2008 19:37:15 +0000

[...] discussed some research on the merits of tempo workouts vs. interval workouts. Personally, I prefer a good mix of different types of workouts in my [...]

By: Blaine Moore

Blaine Moore — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 11:32:17 +0000

Tempo and interval training serve two different purposes, and both can injure you. I don’t think that whether you are over 30 or not has much to do with what type of workout you should be doing.

By: Kitty

Kitty — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 08:46:39 +0000

I guess if interval stands higher risk to get injury? Tempo seems much better for runners age over 30?

By: Is a sub-16 5k possible after a few years off of running? « Run to Win »

Wed, 21 Mar 2007 02:48:27 +0000

[...] I can not say off hand whether Ima is likely to run a sub 16 5k this Autumn, since I do not really have enough information and have never met Ima. As such, I will approach this in very general terms and extrapolate whether I think that I could do it under similar circumstances. [...]

By: Ima

Ima — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 16:07:38 +0000

Good morning,

I came across your website this morning and am interested in asking your advice.
I have been out of running for a couple of years due to injury and am looking to get back into it.
My goal is to go sub 16 minutes for a 5k, hopefully this fall.
Do you think this is realistic and what would your training advice be? My last 5k was about a year ago with no training I ran just over 19 minutes.

Thanks!

By: Blaine Moore

Blaine Moore — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 17:08:59 +0000

Scott, it was a quick 1 sentence for each type answer. As for which race pace, I would say yes. It depends upon which race you are training for. If you are going to run 5k’s, then you wouldn’t want to tempo off of your marathon race pace. The same holds true for both tempo or interval training.

This isn’t to say that you can’t run workouts at 5k pace when your end goal is a marathon, but I think as a general 1 sentence definition they both work well.

I will certainly flesh them out more, hopefully in the near future.

By: Scott

Scott — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 16:33:09 +0000

Don’t take this the wrong way but based on your answer Blaine, it would seem you are not real clear on your definitions.
Tempo training done at 70-80% of race pace does not clarify which race pace. 5k, 10k, marathon?
Also, Interval training by definition is repeated bouts of excercise with recovery periods between work phases. Again, which race paces are you going 90-110% of?
Also, to answer Wes’s question, yes both are considered speed work. Both are very important to any training program as they are designed to train different systems of oxygen processing.

By: Blaine Moore

Blaine Moore — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 13:05:51 +0000

Tempo training is a solid pace run where you are going at around 70-80% of your race pace. Note that you should still warm up and cool down before a tempo run.

Interval training is run at 90-110% race pace, or even faster, for short durations followed by either a period of rest (not running) or recovery (jogging).

By: Wes

Wes — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 12:56:06 +0000

I think I’m about ready to start doing speed work. Are both tempo training and intervals considered speed work?