by Larry Eder
This is Thursday, April 4, 2024.
This is Week 4, Day 4.
This is Fartlek Day.
Gosta Holmer, a Swedish Olympian who competed against Jim Thorpe, invented this interval program for running on trails and in parks.
Mr. Holmer developed it for the Swedish cross-country team in the 1930s, which did poorly in European competitions, and Gosta wanted to motivate them.
He did!
This is your workout:
Warm up today,
60 minute fartlek,
10 minutes slow to moderate running,
4 x 5 minutes hard, 5 minutes easy,
10 minutes moderate to easy
6 x 150m stride-outs,
Cooldown,
hydrate
get out of your wet clothes,
recover;
Larry’s Deep Thoughts: Fartlek is for the newbie runner and elite. It provides challenging work at whatever your level.
Ian Stewart is the second man in the picture. He is from Scotland but has lived most of his life in Birmingham, England. Ian
was one of the great British runners in the 1960s and 1970s. He won European titles, indoor and outdoor, Commonwealth Games and
the Olympic bronze medal in the 5,000m 1972.
A fine cross-country runner, Ian won the World Cross Country title in 1975 in Morocco, battling Mariano Haro (Spain, in silver) and Bill.
Rodgers, then, is an unknown in bronze.
Ian Stewart won the cross country. Twelve days before his Cross Country win, he had defended his 3000m indoor European title. Ian Stewart was a junior British record holder and loved cross country.
Ian told me stories about racing Mariano Haro and how challenging and fun those races were!
Those who ran cross country have an edge over other distance runners. If you did not run cross country last year, consider it for next season. For now, focus on the daily workouts!
