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Interval and tempo runs

Running / Popular

Structure threshold, tempo and interval sessions.

What coaches agree on

  • Tempo pace is roughly the pace you could race for about an hour — often between your 10K and half-marathon pace, or about 85–90% of max heart rate — and you can estimate it from a recent race time, a pace calculator, or a hard 30-minute time trial.
  • Structure a tempo session as a warm-up, then 15–40 minutes at tempo pace — either continuous or broken into a few long reps like 3x10 or 2x15 minutes with short jog recoveries — then a cool-down, starting shorter and building up over weeks.
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  • Recover between hard interval reps with an easy jog or walk — this keeps you moving and helps clear waste product so the next rep goes better.

Common mistakes

  • Pushing a tempo or interval effort into race pace or an all-out effort spikes your breathing, breaks down your form, and forces you to slow down or cut the session short.
  • Adding another hard interval or tempo session before the body has recovered from the last one piles on fatigue faster than it can repair, so form and performance suffer and injury risk climbs.