Tempo Training - The Details

Tempo workouts often sit in a misunderstood space between easy endurance work and hard threshold sessions. But in reality, this "moderate-intensity" zone is one of the most powerful tools for building sustainable fitness, particularly in endurance sports like running and cycling.

What is Tempo Training?

Tempo training is steady, moderate-intensity work performed above Zone 2 but below threshold (Zone 4). In this zone, your body shifts from mainly using fat as a fuel source to relying more heavily on carbohydrates, but without triggering a rapid accumulation of lactate. It’s often described as “strong but controlled” or “just uncomfortable enough to notice.” You can’t quite chat easily, but you’re not gasping for breath either. It’s the type of effort you could sustain for 60 to 90 minutes.

Why Is Tempo Training Useful?

Tempo training targets a crucial area of physiology that often gets neglected. By training in this zone, you:

• Build muscular and metabolic endurance at a pace closer to race intensity

• Improve carbohydrate metabolism efficiency

• Delay the onset of fatigue by improving your body’s ability to buffer lactate

• Teach your mind and body how to handle discomfort without tipping over the edge

For both runners and cyclists, tempo efforts translate directly to the kind of sustained power or pace needed during long races, hard group rides, or the back half of endurance events.

What Does Tempo Feel Like?

In both running and cycling, tempo effort should feel like a steady grind — you’re working, but not blowing up. You can maybe say a short sentence, but conversation becomes hard. You’re not accumulating massive fatigue rep by rep, but by the end of a 30–60 minute tempo block, your legs will know they’ve been working.

If you use heart rate or power:

• Runners: ~80–88% of max HR, or 85–95% of functional threshold pace

• Cyclists: ~76–90% of FTP (Functional Threshold Power), often called “Sweet Spot” when slightly higher

How Long Should Tempo Sessions Be?

The beauty of tempo training is that it’s sustainable — so you can stretch the duration without needing huge recovery. A typical tempo session lasts between 30 and 90 minutes of total work, broken into blocks or done continuously.

• Runners might do 2 x 20 minutes at tempo with a short jog between

• Cyclists might do 3 x 15 minutes at tempo with light spinning in between

As your fitness progresses, those intervals can be extended or stitched together into longer steady blocks — even integrated into long runs or rides.

How Is Tempo Training Different from Threshold Work?

This is a key distinction. While threshold training (Zone 4) hovers right around your lactate turn point (LT2), tempo training deliberately stays just below it. You’re not trying to flood the system with lactate and suffer — you’re trying to build aerobic strength at an intensity that teaches you control, rhythm, and metabolic efficiency. Threshold efforts are typically shorter, more intense, and require more recovery. Tempo efforts are longer, more aerobic, and can be repeated more frequently within a training week.

Should Everyone Do Tempo Training?

Almost everyone training for endurance events — from a 10K to a gran fondo or marathon — can benefit from tempo work. It’s especially valuable for:

• Time-crunched athletes: You get a high return without full-throttle effort

• Base-building phases: Bridges the gap between Zone 2 and harder intervals

• Athletes struggling with pacing: Tempo teaches effort regulation and mental control

However, if you’re in a polarized training model (emphasizing lots of easy work and very hard intervals), your coach may limit tempo work strategically. It’s not that tempo is bad — it’s that it must be balanced properly in the broader training plan.

Examples of Tempo Workouts

For Runners:

• 2 x 20 minutes @ Tempo (Z3) with 4 minutes jog recovery

• 10 km steady run @ Tempo effort (just slower than half marathon pace)

• Long run with final 30 minutes @ Tempo

For Cyclists:

• 3 x 15 minutes @ 85–90% FTP with 5 minutes recovery

• 60-minute ride with middle 30 minutes at Tempo

• Sweet Spot workout: 3 x 12 minutes @ 88–94% FTP

These sessions are great on their own or in combination with high-cadence drills, big gear work, or fast finish blocks.

If you have more questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Email: info@breakaway-coaching.com