Fartlek speed play running

Fartlek is fast growing into a popular form of training used by runners to provide a satisfying and effective alternative to simply pounding the streets with no purpose and plan.

The beauty of fartlek training is that you don’t need to run over a specifically measured route as it is simply a case of altering your running speeds over varying distances.

The easiest way to explain a typical fartlek run would be to jog for five minutes to warm-up, before picking a landmark like the next lamp-post or tree and then running at a pre-decided speed (for example 70% of maximum speed) until you reach that landmark.

Once there you change your speed back down to a jog until you have recovered. Then when ready you will choose another landmark at a slightly different distance away and then run at another pre-determined speed (for example 90% of maximum speed) until you reach it. This practice would continue until you have finished your workout with the pre-determined speeds altering as you see fit between faster and slower than jogging pace.

It is easy to see why fartlek training has grown in popularity as a runner simply has to listen their body and decide how intense or easy to make the session. The benefit of this type of training is that you are not racing against a clock or running a certain distance. You are the deciding factor in how hard or easy the run is and it can become a very useful part of your training schedule.

Example fartlek session:

• You could set a time limit of, for example, 50 minutes for your fartlek session and during that time cover all the training pathways and energy systems utilised by endurance runners i.e. fast, slow, sprinting and endurance.

• To achieve this, you could run over undulating ground either in a park, wood, golf course on the roads or over the hills.

• During your run you could sprint 50m up hills, run hard over a 1,000m repetitions, stride down hills or do short sprints all interspersed with steady running, jogging or even walking.

Although the objective is to run fast when you feel like it, fartlek is not an easy form of training. The intensity and effectiveness of the sessions is down to the athlete’s own strength of mind. The ability to work hard is crucial because in this unstructured training environment, it is easier to miss a repetition or walk or jog.