The Tempo Pace Rule

Lactate threshold or tempo run pace is about the pace you can maintain when running all out for one hour. This pace is about 20 seconds slower per mile than your 10 K race pace, or 30 seconds slower per mile than 5 K race pace. The key benefit of this pace is that its fast enough to improve your threshold for hard endurance running, yet slow enough that you dont overload your muscles, says Daniels. The ideal duration of a tempo run is 20 to 25 minutes. The Exception The exact pace is less than 20 seconds slower per mile than 10 K race pace for faster runners and slightly more than 30 seconds slower per mile than 10 K race pace for slower runners.