The Secret to Becoming a Faster Runner May be the Fartlek
Initially when I heard the word Fartlek, I thought it was a French word for gas. Turns out I was way off. It’s actually a Swedish word meaning “Speed Play“.
This was introduced to me in the Army, also known as the Indian Run, the Fartlek was adopted as the 
politically correct way of describing this type of training.
The Fartlek is typically utilized as a Rest and Recovery workout for those who are addicted to running and can’t stand to miss a day of cardio. It could also be used to help you develop a stronger run with higher endurance at the same time.
…Pace When Your Comfortable
The objective of a Fartlek is to utilized a slow pace run with sporadic burst of both moderate or high sprints. There is no prescribed time or distance to sprint, run, or jog. You want to pick up the pace when you’re comfortable.
How To Do It!
- Start off with a nice pace
- Pick an object to start from, such as a parked yellow car
- Pick an object to sprint to such as a stop sign as your end point
- Once you sprint to the stop sign from the parked yellow car, jog again
- Pick another start and end point and do it again
It’s just that simple. It’s a great run to use when you’re running in big groups. It keeps you from losing track of your run group and gets everyone on the same page when it comes to working harder and smarter at the same time.
What I love about this workout the most is that 10-15 minutes can give you a great workout, by opening your lungs at the same time allowing you to recover without stressing the body too much. Don’t take my word for it though. Try it yourself and let me know your thoughts on this old but new way to run.
Question of the day!
Do you prefer to run solo or in groups and why?
Shop Now!
Fartlek just sounds wrong on so many levels