Early-Season Fartleks
- Implement as you begin to ramp up volume 10 to 16 weeks from your targeted event
- Select an amount of "fartlek time" for the workout. I suggest a minimum of 10 minutes and a maximum of 25 to 30 minutes. After warming up for 15 to 20 minutes with relaxed running, throw in some gentle, controlled surges. These accelerations in tempo are not terribly hard; they should be a subtle pick-up of perhaps 10 to 15 seconds per mile faster than normal training pace.
- Recruit a partner and take turns deciding the length and speed of the pick-up. When you reach the predetermined time of your pick-ups, cool down for 15 minutes.
More: How to Build Your Base for Peak Performance
Race-Specific Fartleks
As you get closer and closer to your target races, you can tailor your fartleks more to your target race. For example, if you are getting ready for the 5K, particularly if you have little or no access to a quality track, implement a VO2 Max stimulus fartlek 2 to 3 times in the final six weeks prior to your targeted event. Examples:
- After a proper warm-up of 15 to 20 minutes of jogging then light drills and strides, run two sets of 3 to 4 x 2 to 3 minutes at goal 5K race pace or even a touch faster.
- Run 1 minute "on" and 1 minute "off." In the 1990s, I trained with Mexican national champion Marcos Barreto, and his favorite session was a simple 10 sets of 1 minute "on" and 1 minute "off" preceded by a proper warm-up and followed by a relaxed cool-down jog. As Barreto approached his race season fitness, he would commonly run his 1-minute pick-ups close to his 5K race pace, and his recovery was very easy (a virtual walk). This contrasts starkly to the way he would execute this same session 12 to 14 weeks earlier in his ramp-up, when his 1-minute "ons" would be no quicker than roughly half marathon race pace and the recovery "offs" a mere 10 to 15 seconds per mile slower.
- Gear-change fartlek: Common with both the Ethiopian and Moroccan Federations (hint – they are good) are specific race fitness workouts where pick-ups will be a surge within the surge. My favorite of these types of sessions are 1:30 second pick-ups / fartleks with the opening and closing 30 second blocks at roughly 5k rhythm and the middle 30 seconds of each 1:30 a touch quicker. In other words you are teaching your body to change gears slightly even within an already fast pace. Recovery between each surge should be even (1:30) or even 2:00 + easily particularly if this is the first execution of this type of session.
