It seems plod regularly takes speed (5)
I believe the answer is:
tempo
'speed' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'it seems plod regularly' is the wordplay.
'it' becomes 't' (abbreviation. e.g. in 'tis).
'regularly' means one should take alternating letters (regularly take one letter, leave next etc.).
'seems'+'plod'='seemsplod'
The alternating letters of 'seemsplod' are 'empo'.
't'+'empo'='TEMPO'
'takes' is the link.
(Other definitions for tempo that I've seen before include "Pace of a musical piece" , "Musical beat or rhythm" , "Muscial time" , "Speed of a musical piece" , "Rhythm, metre" .)