How to avoid getting injured on tempo runs
Tempo running can work wonders for your marathon finishing time: a study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning found those who did regular tempo running were 18 per cent faster over 26.2 miles than those who avoided tempo sessions.
But be warned: the odds of experiencing an injury during the first six weeks of training were four times higher in those who did tempo runs.
How to do tempo runs without getting injured:
Do:
- Leave an easy day either side of a tempo run.
- Consider doing them on softer surfaces.
- Include an easy mile at the start and finish.
Don't:
- Push too hard (think 7/10 in terms of effort).
- Run too far: 20 mins is sufficient to start with.
- Do too many: one tempo run a week is fine
