10 Fartlek Training Sessions by World-Class Athletes & Coaches
[article by Chelsea Ho of Sweat Elite]
What is fartlek running?
Fartlek (which means “speed play” in Swedish) is a continuous form of running defined as periods of fast running intermixed with periods of slower running. This occurs over a predetermined time period or distance. The focus is on being able to change and sustain different paces and be able to surge when needed. This can be carried out on any type of terrain – cross-country, the beach, a football field, up and down hills or on the track.
Here are some example Fartlek training sessions completed by world class distance runners:
1. Doris Brown Heritage, an American runner who won the International Cross Country Games five times along with silver medals at the Pan American Games, trained in the 1960s. Her 20-minute session consisted of 40 to 200-yard sprints in 5-7 minute ‘perceived exertions’, interspaced with mile runs.
2. Gosta Holmer, the Swedish national coach in the 1920s got his athletes to complete as much as 3 Fartlek sessions each week. A typical session would include running for 7 miles continuously with effort distances lasting 40m to 2.4km.
3. Steve Moneghetti, one of Australia’s legendary runners in history ran the famous ‘Mona Fartlek’ devised by his coach Chris Wardlaw. It comprises of 20 minutes of fartlek with recovery time the same as hard efforts. Creighton found this workout to be extremely beneficial for his training as he would be able to push at a steady pace during recovery and float periods. Generally, as efforts become shorter, the intensity increases. The session includes:
2 x 90s with 90s float
4 x 60s with 60s float
4 x 30s with 30s float
4 x 15s with 15s float
4. Renato Canova, coach for several world record holders and medalists across varied athletic events, likes his athletes to continue with a strong pace even during the ‘off’ period during a fartlek run. He uses some basic combinations of 1/1 (one minute hard, one minute easy) or 2/1 especially in the build-up phases of training. For example, during the build-up phase for Ronald Kwemoi in 2017, Canova programmed a one hour fartlek session for him: 20 x (1min on/1 min off) + 20 x (30s on/30s off).
5. Abel Kirui, a double world champion in the marathon and Canova’s athlete, completed a specific fartlek session in the build up to the 2012 Olympic Games:
27km continuous run consisting of 4 sets of 6km @ 2:55-3:00/km (marathon race pace) with 1km “float” recovery in 3:25-3:30.
6. Kevin McCarey is coach to several high-profile athletes including Olympic triathlon silver medalist Michellie Jones, 2003 marathon world champion Tamara Lave, and a large group of U.S. Olympic level athletes. He recommends that beginner runners shouldn’t do more than 5 x 2 minutes hard with 90 seconds of jogging in between. Furthermore, McCarey’s general rule is that:
- Intervals of 2 to 4 minutes should be countered with 90 seconds of easy jogging;
- Intervals of 5 minutes should be countered with 2 minutes of easy jogging
- Intervals of 10 minutes should be countered with 5 minutes of easy jogging.
7. Joe LeMay, a U.S. Champion and Olympic Games runner, used a different type of fartlek training what he called an ‘ice-breaker’ if you have not done speedwork for a while. LeMay did his fartlek workouts during his 10-mile run because he of his extremely busy work schedule. The session started and ended with roughly 15 minutes of easy running which LeMay recommends dropping to 10 minutes if you are pressed for time. The fartlek session consisted of: 6 x 3mins hard with 2mins easy.
8. Steve Jones, ex-world record holder for the marathon and half-marathon. Over a 7 or 12-mile course, Jones would run 12 efforts, ranging from 20s to 2 mins 30s. These were flexible and weren’t timed, but more determined by how he was feeling on the day of training. Jones said, “Fartlek really is what it means – speedplay. With fartlek, because the stress is off, I run how I feel. Sometimes I feel great, and run eyeballs out; sometimes I am so sore, so it is almost like a semi-tempo run. I did not know how long the efforts were in terms of time; but I did them every week from the same tree to the same tree, the same house to the same house.”
9. Jason Stewart, world cross-country team runner and part of the Army’s world class athlete program, would do a short fartlek session after a solid 10.4 mile run. After the long run, he would do 2 sets of 15s hard/15s float. He recommends those training for a road race should do 6-10 miles at an solid, slightly uncomfortable pace followed by this fartlek session.
10. Bill Rodgers, former world record holder for the 25km and 4-time winner of the Boston and New York City Marathons, did not do much fartlek running. However in 1982 in the build-up to the Melbourne marathon, Rodgers incorporated 8 x 3min surges during a 20-21 mile run with up to seven minutes of recovery between each, finishing with a hard 5min-mile pace for the last mile.
Conclusion:
Fartlek training plays an essential part of many elite athlete runners’ schedule. It can train and improve all energy systems with a range of speeds from aerobic to anaerobic running. World class athletes find fartlek a good way to mix their ‘regular’ training to keep things interesting, while allowing them to run according to how they feel.
