tempo for girls

jog 1/2 mile on the track...light stretch.

jog up viro to baptiste to horse trail over to the meadow grove loop...run the loop for 20 minutes. it doesn't matter how many laps you run as long as it's for 20 minutes.

but here's the thing: the 20 minutes will be at tempo pace.

so, what is tempo? tempo is a pace that is popularly defined as "comfortably hard". so, basically, you'll want to gradually increase your pace and hold it for 20 minutes. when 20 minutes is up (by the way, you'll need a watch), you'll drop back the pace to an easy effort; in which case, you'll jog back to school the way you came.

more on tempo pace: if you finish the tempo period feeling absolutely dead, then what you've done essentially is RACED! ...oh, NOT GOOD!! this is not how you should feel. by comparison, you will want to run at a pace that you think you can hold for about an hour. again, it's comfortably hard--still hard--but comfortable in the sense that you're getting a good workout but can still handle it. again, when you finish the 20-minute period, you should know that you could've gone for another 40 minutes at the same pace. another general rule about the pace of tempo is taking your 5k time and adding 30 seconds to your mile pace. so, if you're a 21 minute 3-miler, you would want your tempo to be at 7:40 pace...7:10 pace is what your 5k time would be for a 3-miler that is 21 flat. however, the problem with this gauge is not knowing what you're capable of doing in the 5k right now. that's why we go with a "feel" versus a time.

another thing: we tempo over at meadow grove circle because it's nice and flat--a perfect place for our first one.

hope it goes well...gosh, i guess i should say that i hope someone actually shows up for this.

let me know!