I am working on speed endurance. My 100m PR is 10.95 electronic and 200m is 22.70.
How do I figure my tempo pace (what time should I be running) for speed endurance work. I feel like I am dying in the last 60m of the 200.
Age: 23
Height: 6’1"
Weight: 173lbs
My post was wrong… duh!
Divide the time by the percentage (see below)
See Duxx’s post for the maths…
Sorry for Not helping!
TC
I thought you divided you time by the percentage:
10.95 / .70 = 15.6
Have I been doing it wrong all along??
Let me explain mathematically:
If you run 100m in 10.95s, your average speed over that distance is
SpeedAvg = Distance / DistanceTime
SpeedAvg = 100[m] / 10.95[s] = 9.1324 [m/s]
The average speed of tempo should be bellow 75% of the average speed of that distance:
TempoSpeedAvg = SpeedAvg * 0.75
TempoSpeedAvg = 9.1324 [m/s] * 0.75 = 6.849 [m/s]
With this average speed you should run tempo distance of 100m not above:
TempoTime = Distance / TempoSpeedAvg
TempoTime = 100 [m] / 6.849 [m/s] = 14.6 [s]
14.6 is upper limit for tempo - not a point - it is a limit, so you can run it slower!
The problem with this equation is that it is long. We will now try to reduce it. Just watch me 
TempoTime = Distance / TempoSpeedAvg
TempoTime = Distance / (SpeedAvg * 0.75)
TempoTime = Distance / [(Distance/DistanceTime) * 0.75]
TempoTime = Distance / [(Distance * 0.75) / DistanceTime]
TempoTime = (Distance * DistanceTime) / (Distance * 0.75)
TempoTime = DistanceTime / 0.75
If we check it out with numerical data we will get the following result
TempoTime = 10.95 [s] / 0.75 = 14.6 [s]
So this is correct!!!
Another thing we can do is to
TempoTime = DistanceTime * (1 / 0.75)
TempoTime = DistanceTime * 1.333
If we check it out with numerical data we will get:
TempoTime = 10.95 [s] * 1.333 = 14.6 [s]
Again correct!
So you have two options:
I hope I cleared all this mathematical mess!
Hope it helps!
Yes it does… thanks for pointing out my mathematical incompetance! Bizzarly, I always used the correct formula for myself (and i’ve posted it before) but when thinking about how i was going to answer this post i rethought my logic and decided i was wrong! 
I was talking to Nik about it before i posted… Another sign i am getting old!
You are getting old, because you were talking to me? :eek:
Your wit never fails to amuse me Nik! Even in my old age!
duxx or anybody that knows, a question that i have about tempo and the percentages is, should you take your percentage of your personal best (best conditions, blocks, spikes, peak, etc.) or what you could run on that given day. of course it would be hard to guess, but i have always gone with what i could do in the given conditions. help!
The formula for determining tempo pace is correct, but I wouldn’t call this speed endurance work. It is recovery and general conditioning work. Your speed endurance work should be done at 85%-95%.
For tempo its just a general guideline. You can probably go up 5% and be fine so don’t worry about it. 75% is a maximum not the pace you need to keep. So if you run 100 in 10 flat then 13.4 is the maximum you shoud go at but 14 will be fine as well…
I’d say 95-100. I’ve never had an athlete that couldn’t do 95% for under 500m of volume with full recovery.
I wonder this myself too…
Do you calculate the tempo time based on
a) PB on the track
b) Best time on the grass for given distance
Or you just use PB based tempo time (a) and reduce it based on a conditions on a praticular day for example 5-15%?
I do tempo for general conditioning and I run 100m in 20secs…
Well if you set the upper limit at your PB then you know never to go faster than this! Obviously if you ran 10.0 at 21 and are now 45 you want to adjust it relative to what you are capable of now though!
As for grass well i add on about a second per 100m because it is much more muscular due to longer ground contacts.
These are fastest limit times for tempo- not exact times to be met. also the time would be based on the same conditions, so running on grass in flats must be slower.
If doing short recovery for speed endurance, such as 3x4x60 with about 1 min. recovery between reps and about 6 min. between sets, the 85% can come into play. I agree with full recovery work at 95% or higher. My larger point was just that you wouldn’t be doing speed endurance work at 75% or less.