Pick Up The Tempo
Time will take care of itself, so just leave time alone
And pick up the tempo just a little and take it on home
Ah, the first “tempo” run of the training plan. That particular adjective can strike fear into the heart many a former high school cross-country runner, and this member of the cross-country-to-marathon pipeline is no different. A tempo run is silly name for a workout where you run “quite hard but not too hard”…a pace you can keep up for about 3–4 miles without feeling too bad.
As big a fan of etymological investigations as I am, the origins of the name are a mystery to me. I picked up the name from my high school coaches while they attempted to make me into a merciless 5K machine, while I, on the other hand, considered if I had any angles with my most captivating friend Amanda (that question was left forever unanswered when she crossed that unfathomable gulf between the heavens and earth known as transferring schools). Perhaps if I were not so blessedly lovestruck I would be able to posit with evidence that my coaches got the name from the (Doctor) Jack Daniels’ Running Formula T-pace Threshold workout, one of many carefully designed workouts for runners published in the late 90s. You’ll be glad to know the book also has drinking advice, but we’ll get to that later.
In any event, yesteryear’s program was a Formula program, which I learned after consulting the Formula to inform my Grandma’s running and drinking plans. Based on desired goal time in a target race, the Formula prescribes various training paces and weekly mileages to (hopefully) achieve the goal result. My goal time for Grandma’s is 3:30, which means I have to run roughly 8-minute miles on average for the duration of the race. My T pace is around 7:30 per mile.
A goal time is a great thing to have when coaching yourself; if you don’t put the work in, you ain’t gonna get the time. Christensens such as myself, however, are famously built for comfort rather than speed. It’s helpful to keep Willie and Waylon in mind, too, and leave time alone…some…times…
- Mileage Today: 2.6 (20m at tempo)
- Mileage This Week: 13.7
- Mileage on Lake Patrol: 13.7
- Mileage To Date: A lot.
P.S.: for those of you that were waiting with bated breath for the weather report, there was a bit of snow…and even two sets of tracks before mine (presuming someone wasn’t trying to “come play with us Danny” this “here’s Johnny”).
About Me
Hey everyone! I’m John Christensen, the top-ranked non-finisher at the 2025 Never Summer 60k. I’ll be running the 2026 Grandma’s Marathon in support of the American Cancer Society, a nationwide non-profit in operation since 1913 dedicated to eliminating cancer.
The “Lake Patrol” blog will catalog my training and some of my pontifications and bloviations. I intend to use this as a form of self-coaching, as well as a record of my state of mind that I might appreciate re-reading one day.
If you enjoy the blog, consider making a donation to the ACS on my personal page, directly to the ACS, or to a charity of your choice.