Your tempo workout for the day has a target pace of 7:00. Should you push the pace to 6:40? If you can survive that pace in the workout, that will mean a faster time on race day, right? Unfortunately, training doesn’t work that way, and it’s easy to fall into the trap of running your workouts too fast. 

It’s tempting to push yourself to faster paces in training to build confidence that it will translate to a faster race time. And you might also think that greater effort to hit these faster paces will make your workouts more productive. However, consistently pushing yourself beyond the training paces that correspond with your fitness level can be counterproductive.

Too Much Load

Racing your workouts can put you into a state of under-recovery and lead to underperformance on race day. Think of your body as an energy tank. If you consistently race your workouts, you are “spending” more energy on those days. The accumulated training stress can interfere with recovery and reduce your ability to absorb subsequent training. Adding too much intensity with paces that are too fast will increase the load on your body that will be difficult to recover from.

Not Targeting The Right System

Training at faster paces than the workout prescribes will target the wrong energy systems. A workout targeting lactate threshold that is run too fast can shift the physiological emphasis toward higher-intensity work. This changes the purpose of the workout, turning it into a more intense session that will require more recovery. Aerobic, lactate threshold, and VO2 max are targeted by different paces and intensities. By staying within your proper pace zones, you will stimulate the adaptations toward the system you want to improve.

Training Does Not Equal Racing

Workouts don’t automatically “translate” to race times. A workout should be at a relatively controlled effort, finishing like you could go a little further if you needed to. If you finish a workout feeling like you went all out, it is unlikely you will be able to sustain that same pace in a race where you will get no breaks.

Managing the Red Line

Find the pace that still allows you to accomplish the purpose of the workout without turning it into a race. Anything above this pace is crossing the red line where there is a well-defined increase in effort and is much less sustainable. Finding this threshold and staying just below it ensures you are giving a controlled effort that is appropriate for a training session while also maximizing the benefit of the session. It is always better to stay slightly below your target pace rather than forcing a faster pace.

Managing Effort During Training

Heart Rate Zones: If you know your max heart rate, using heart rate zones can be a great guide to ensure you are running at the proper intensity during your workouts. For example, if your lactate threshold heart rate zone is 170-180bpm, you can keep your effort in check by making sure you don’t go over 180bpm at any point in your tempo run. Keep in mind that this may only be useful if you know what your true max heart rate is. Heart rate can be useful as a check, but perceived effort and pace should be considered alongside it—especially in heat and humidity.

Give Yourself A Mental Check: Think to yourself if the pace you are running honestly feels sustainable relative to the targeted race pace. If you are running a 10 mile tempo at marathon pace, think to yourself “do I feel I could hold this pace for a full marathon?” If you are doubting you can and are just trying to survive the workout, the pace is most likely too fast for the workout.

Think of Workouts as Race Simulation: Particularly for workouts that have rest intervals in between, it can be tempting to run each fast portion as fast as you can. However, this does not help you practice race simulation and leads to unnecessary fatigue. If you are running a workout of 5 x 1K at 5K pace with 90 seconds of rest in between, you should think of each 1K rep as stages of a 5K race and how pacing and effort should feel throughout. This workout should feel relatively controlled, but will gradually become more difficult throughout. If you give a near all-out effort from rep #1 and your focus is getting through each rep on target pace and using the rest to collect yourself, you are not simulating a 5K race nor properly developing the energy systems it utilizes. Instead, you are most likely just training yourself to get good at running 1K repeats with some rest in between.

Adjust Paces For Non-Ideal Conditions: Always make sure you adjust your paces if the conditions are not ideal. Temperature, terrain, and altitude can all affect the effort your body needs to perform. For example, in very hot or humid weather, you will want to slow your paces down (yes, even in workouts) to maintain the correct effort instead of an exact pace.

So even though you may be tempted to run faster during your workouts, keeping your paces controlled will help you adapt and progress, which will lead to better fitness and faster race times. The goal of a workout isn’t to prove how fit you are today. It’s to become fitter for race day. 

Not sure what your paces should be? We show you how to use the VDOT calculator to determine your correct paces here: How to Use Your VDOT Training Paces to Run Smarter and Get Faster.