Fartlek running training

Fartlek training is a Swedish word for ‘Speed Play’

It works as follows

Warm up : jogging easy for 10 minutes

Main efforts :

Stride Hard at a pace you can sustain for 30 seconds followed by easy pace jogging (recovery) for 90 seconds. Repeat with 15 second decreases in recovery jog eg

30 -90, 30 -75, 30–60, 30–45, 30–30, 30–15, 30 –

Repeat x 3 times.

21 x 30 second efforts all up.

Cooldown : 10 minutes easy running + stretching

Aim is to hold your top line pace for each 30 second effort.This is a good session for ALL levels, as beginners can power walk recovery if not able to easy jog and the stronger runners are able to hold there recovery float at a higher pace.
The runs develop both your speed and endurance capacities, by increasing aerobic and anaerobic fitness levels
This type of running is also good not only for running races but also for field games like Football, rugby etc.. which also require alternating periods of fast and slow motion.

Tim Lindop

Running coach