If your goal is to run further or get to the finish line faster, there is room in your training schedule for fartlek training.
This method of speed training has proven to be quite effective, but you have to be willing to push yourself and experiment with speed and endurance throughout the workout.
You will find that there is more room for creative play and experimentation with this method of training.
What Is Fartlek Training?
This training method is often lumped in with interval training, but there are some differences. The basic idea is to move faster through some segments of the run, while moving slower through other segments of the run.
Just like traditional interval training, you pick up the pace and push your body to go faster during some segments while slowing to a lighter jog during other segments.
Unlike traditional interval training, you are free to decide how long and when you break into those faster segments.
Traditional interval training requires you to run faster for a given period of time and then recover at a slower pace for a given period of time.
This is an effective way for beginning runners to build up endurance so they can run for longer periods of time without walking. It is also effective for some runners trying to improve speed and endurance.
Fartlek training is a bit different because you are not required to sustain the faster pace for any given period of time. You allow your body and your own creative ideas to dictate how long the faster and slower segments are at any given time.
No two training sessions should ever be exactly the same, since you have that freedom to create your own workout on the fly.
Fartlek Training Benefits
For many runners, simply having the freedom to creatively design your own workout is the biggest benefit to fartlek runs. Many runners spend most of their running time following a training schedule designed by a professional or customized just for their goals.
It feels great to break away from the schedule and just select the pace according to creative whims and physical needs.
You will also have the opportunity to run at faster paces for longer periods of time when you perform this type of training. Any speed training workouts require you to pick up speed for shorter periods of time, which doesn’t do much for your endurance.
Not only does fartlek training allow you to improve endurance along with speed, it allows you to improve your lactic threshold.
This simply means that you will be able to run longer at faster paces without your body producing high levels of lactic acid in the muscle.
Once the lactic acid starts to build up, you will experience pain and discomfort in the muscle that makes it difficult to keep running at the faster pace.
If you can build up your tolerance to this and train your body to run faster and longer before reaching this point of pain, your race times can be improved and your race days can feel far more comfortable.
Another benefit of fartlek training is the ability to train wherever you want, whenever you want. You don’t have to time out each interval or segment of the workout, so you are not bound to a track or other setting where you can easily measure your distance.
When your fartlek runs come up on the training schedule you are free to head off the track into a more energizing setting. You may take to the trails at a local park or explore new routes around your neighborhood. This is just another aspect of freedom that comes with fartlek training.
How to Design Fartlek Workouts
While one of the benefits of fartlek training is having the freedom to design your training session as you run through it, there are some benefits to tailoring your sessions to your specific training needs. After all, you want to get the most out of every training session, right?
You can still keep the freedom of motion in the workout while keeping your running and fitness goals in mind throughout the workout.
One way design an efficient workout is to think about the specific needs of your run or sport. If you are a runner, decide whether you are trying to improve speed, want to improve endurance, or have other needs. You can then design your fartlek sessions according to those needs.
For instance, if your goal is to improve speed so you can break your personal best you may go as fast as your legs can carry you for some segments while taking it to a slow crawl for recovery.
If you are more interested in improving endurance you may not run as fast, but may make those faster segments much longer.
If you are using fartlek training for enhanced performance in a sport, you can train for different elements of your game during these training sessions. Even stopping and restarting can be practiced if you get a little creative with your workouts.
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