Okay, back to our "what makes elites elites" discussion from last week, and on to "section 2" of the article. Moving on from base training, the largest gains in terms of fat-burning efficiency can be realized when running close to the highest speed you can run without going anaerobic. For "experienced" runners, this equates to an effort level of 70-75%. While many of us would initially find this pace hard to maintain for 90+ minutes, practice makes perfect, and the author of the article assures us that it will get easier. Personally speaking, while I don't find our "long tempo runs" to be easy, they are getting less horrible (aka I'm not dying quite as quickly and I am recovering a little bit faster). Tempo runs are also the quickest way to raise your lactate / anaerobic threshold, which translates into faster times.
However, not every run should be done at this pace. There is still the need for "easy runs". If you run every run at a tempo pace, you'll begin slipping anaerobic and undoing all of your hard work. Furthermore, lactic acid and other waste products begin to accumulate in your muscles, prolonging recovery. So, bottom line, "it's better to run a little too slow than a little too fast."
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