Training··5 min read

Tempo Runs Explained

Comfortably hard, sustainable for an hour. Tempo runs raise your threshold and teach you to race.

KY

KYN Coaching Team

Published 4/22/2026

A tempo run is a sustained effort at the upper end of Zone 3 / lower Zone 4 — roughly the pace you could hold for an hour all-out.

Typical sessions

  • 20 minutes continuous
  • 2 × 15 minutes with 3-minute jog recovery
  • Progression: 40 minutes finishing in Zone 4

Why it works

Tempo work increases lactate clearance and trains the metabolic machinery that lets you hold faster paces aerobically.

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