Sustained Tempo Runs. This workout includes one block of running at tempo pace. That might be 20 minutes or 3 miles but there’s no break or recovery in the middle of the effort. A simple example is a workout like this: 7 miles with miles 3-5 at tempo pace. Here you have a 7-mile run with the middle 3 miles at tempo. Sustained tempo runs should be capped at roughly 40 minutes – any longer and the effort becomes too difficult, bordering on a race effort.