Ramp up speed through any weather with these fartlek sessions

Unpredictable weather through fall and winter can make speed sessions a challenge for even the most experienced athlete–if you train outside, slippery leaves, snow, and ice can make those hard sessions almost impossible, and sometimes dangerous. Fartlek (a Swedish term that translates to “speed play”) sessions are perfect when the weather derails your fast training. Here’s why, and how to add them to your repertoire.

Fartlek training is a traditionally unstructured form of speedwork, with varied paces from sprints to very easy running. Because fartlek training can be done anywhere, it’s ideal when you want to fit in speedwork but know you can’t run by specific paces due to unpredictable terrain. Try one of these simple sessions per week, and adjust accordingly–if you want more of a challenge, add repeats or reduce the recovery time between fast sections.

The time-based fartlek

Your watch is your guide for this one, and you can run it on any terrain. Don’t worry about pace, focus on effort.

Warm up with 10–15 minutes easy running.

Run faster segments of one, two, or three minutes, with equal amounts of easy running for recovery. Start with three to five faster sections, and add one or two per week as you feel stronger.

Finish off your run with 10 minutes easy running.

The hill-based fartlek

Adding hills to your fartlek session will give you an added strength benefit. If you don’t have a hill nearby that is runnable, think outside the box–overpasses, inclines in parking garages, and stairs that you can run safely are all perfect substitutes.

Warm up with 10–15 minutes easy running.

Run up your hill of choice (smaller hills are great for this) gradually increasing turnover and speed.

Recover by running easily back down. Start with two or three incline repeats, increasing up to eight (or more) as you gain strength.

Cool down with 10 minutes easy running.

The goal-based fartlek

This session uses landmarks to split up your speedy segments, and the workout will fly by as you focus on your surroundings and your effort.

Warm up with 10–15 minutes easy running.

Pick an object in the distance: a telephone pole, tree, or building works.

Run faster until you reach that landmark, then pick another object ahead to run easily toward. Start with three to five fartlek segments, adding one or two per week or as you want more challenge.

Finish off your run with 10 minutes easy running.

These workouts are great at helping you learn to run by feel instead of having to glance at your watch constantly, and getting outdoors to run, no matter the weather, has brain-boosting benefits. Remember to follow a speed session or harder workout with an easy running or recovery day.

posted Wednesday November 9th
by Running Magazine