For the tempo, I think it was said the intensity should always be about 65-75% of PB time for that distance; would you time PB 100m on grass and base your target time on that or just base it off of track+spike PB for example (of course, assuming tempo will be on grass)? For 200m, is it okay to just double target 100m tempo time or would you have to take a 200m time and calculate? (I’m currently not interested in anything longer than 100m except for necessary training purposes).
You are asking some excellent questions that are practical because a great deal of this information is very technical and while theoretical the methods have been tried over and over again and work.
I think the best way to explain what is needed for tempo is you need to find the right amount of runs that you can do in order to repeat each run as evenly ( same speed) as possible for the entire number of sets.
For example.
While it’s great to tell people to run 2 sets of 10 x 100 meters I have never seen any beginner or inexperienced athlete start with this volume.
Here is where things become a bit tricky.
Where do you start?
Well it depends.
Sight unseen = for me to say exactly would be irresponsible on my part. I have to watch and see how things are technically before I know what could be done.
As a rule you always start with less and add over time carefully. Everyone is tempted to do more.
Many people would not be able to handle the volume of two thousand meters of tempo to begin. ( 2 sets of 10 x 100 )
Maybe you start with 50 meter runs / walk 50 meters. You see how many you can do within the volume above.
Likely doing 20 x 50 meters is going to be faster however right? Much faster . This is a problem especially if you don’t have a coach watching, timing and regulating.
Doing 80 meters instead of 100 meters might be a good place to start and 80 meter walk back.
Repeat this. If you can’t do 6 consistently and well I would try 3 , each with a 80 meter walk back and 160 meter walk between sets and do another set of 3 @ 80 meters.
My guess is for a few weeks this is a start and then add another set for another 2 weeks. Do you understand the idea?
YOu see many people might not be fit enough to start off running repeat 100’s at any pace.
Another issue is having enough fitness to deal with this amount of load all of a sudden. This is where doing some tempo in a pool and or on the bike might jump start your recovery from the tempo. Remember we are not even discussing speed work.