Running News Daily

Get lightning-bolt legs: try a fartlek session to spice things up

Adding a fartlek workout to your regular training is a fabulous way to switch up your routine and give your legs a speedy boost. Fartlek (a Swedish word meaning speed play) involves injecting your workout with varied paces that can range from a sprint to an easy jog. Because these sessions are based on effort, rather than specific paces, they work for roads or trails. You can make these workouts more challenging by cutting back on recovery time between faster sections, or by adding repeats.

Goal-based fartlek

Using landmarks to split up your speedy segments will make your workout go by quickly. Focusing on your surroundings can add a boost of mindfulness to your training, upping your mental game.

Warmup: 10–15 minutes easy running.

Workout: Pick an object in the distance: a telephone pole, tree or building works. Run toward it with an increased effort until you reach that landmark, then pick another object ahead to run easily toward to recover. Start with three to five fartlek segments, adding one or two per week or as you want more challenge.

Cool down: 10 minutes easy running.

Time-based fartlek

For this workout, you’ll use your watch to keep track of time, but will keep your attention on your effort rather than your pace.

Warmup: 10–15 minutes’ easy running.

Workout: Run faster segments of one, two or three minutes with equal amounts of easy running to recover. Begin with three to five faster sections and add one or two per session as you feel stronger.

Cooldown: 10 minutes’ easy running.

Remember to follow a more challenging workout with an easy recovery or rest day, and hydrate often during the warm summer months.