2026 Winter Middle Distance Training (800m-5,000m), Thursday, January 8, 2026, Week 1, Day 4, the first Fartlek Run of 2026

Hello, high school distance runners and Happy New Year from RunBlogRun!

This is the fourth day in week 1 of our ten week Winter Training program, which goes up until the NIKE Indoor Championships (March 12-15, 2026, more info at https://nikeindoornationals.runnerspace.com/). Our workouts in Winter program will include long run, tempo day, fartlek day, race day or repetitions day, plus 3 easy days a week.

The goal is to have you in track shape at the start of Outdoor season (March in most of the country).

The NIKE Indoor Nationals will be held on March 12-15, 2026 at the NIKE Track & Field Armory. We encourage high schoolers to race indoors but always note that the Big Season is Outdoors!

Workout for Thursday, January 8, 2026

Fartlek workouts are one of the most simple ideas for training that may become as complicated as you so desire. Gosta Holmer, a former Olympian and Swedish national coach in the 1930s developed Fartlek, Swedish for ‘speed play’ to use the interval system on the wonderful trails that Sweden had. Holmer noted that the Swedish cross country team in the 1930s sucked, and he used fartlek to build their strength, speed and endurance. You can too!

Thursday workout, warm up, 45 minutes of fartlek, First five minutes , run 3 minutes hard, 2 minutes easy, next 20 minutes, run 1 minute hard, 1 minute easy, then, for fifteen minutes, 3 minutes hard, 2 minutes easy, 3 times, and finally in last five minutes, five minutes hard, cooldown for 15-20 minutes. Hard should equal effort for current 5k pace.

Conversations with Larry, 2025 World Athletics Championships Reviews, September 16, 2025, Day 4, Faith Continues to Shine in the 1,500 meters!

Kenya’s Dynasty Faces a Challenge as Tallahassee Prepares to Crown a New Queen

Coffee with Larry, Episode 832, January 6, 2026, XC mania !

Hydrate well, spend time stretching, keep running at conversational pace and also, vary your surfaces, perhaps some park trails, and sidewalks.

The 50th NIKE Pre Classic was held on 5 July 2025, photo by Brian Eder for RunBlogRun.

Monday, January 5, 2026

Sunday, an easy 60-70 minutes of fun running with your friends! Keep it relaxed!

Nike Pegasus PLUS, photo by NIKE communications

The NIKE Pegasus PLUS may be the perfect NIKErunning shoe for training for the winter as a middle distance runner (800m-5000m). It is light, sturdy and built for miles! I would recommend it for speed days, fartlek days, hill days and if you have just one shoe, a good trainer/racer. Nike is back on track with this shoe, part of the NIKE Pegasus 41 evolution.

I recommend two pairs of training shoes for this winter, such as a NIKE Pegasus PLUS and a NIKE Vomero 18 or Vomero PLUS (shown below) for easy days and long days. The Pegasus PLUS is well constructed, can handle dirt and mud and gives you a stable, comfortable ride without overdoing the cushioning. As always, we do not recommend that you buy your running performance shoes remotely, but go into a real live running store.

If you need a little more cushioning, try the Vomero 18. The Vomero 18 has more cushioning that the Pegasus PLUS. If you like NIKE, I would suggest high schoolers use the NIKE Pegasus PLUS for Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. I would suggest the Vomero 18 for Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I always suggest two pairs of training shoes. Learn more on www.nikerunning.com.

NIKE Vomero PLUS, photo by NIKE communications

Do you want to be a better cross country runner than you were in the past? Focus and follow our training. It is all about the consistency.

For Winter reading! Self Made Olympian by Ron Daws, A Clean Pair of Heels by Murray Halberg, Pre! by Tom Jordan, Quicksilver, The Mercurial Emil Zatopek, by Pat Butcher, The Destiny of Alain Mimoun, by Pat Butcher (a monograph)

Remember, one day at a time!!!! #crosscountryrunning, #trackandfieldtraining, #winterrunning, #wintertraining,

Author

Larry Eder

Larry Eder has had a 52-year involvement in the sport of athletics. Larry has experienced the sport as an athlete, coach, magazine publisher, and now, journalist and blogger. His first article, on Don Bowden, America's first sub-4 minute miler, was published in RW in 1983. Larry has published several magazines on athletics, from American Athletics to the U.S. version of Spikes magazine. He currently manages the content and marketing development of the RunningNetwork, The Shoe Addicts, and RunBlogRun. Of RunBlogRun, his daily pilgrimage with the sport, Larry says: "I have to admit, I love traveling to far away meets, writing about the sport I love, and the athletes I respect, for my readers at runblogrun.com, the most of anything I have ever done, except, maybe running itself." Also does some updates for BBC Sports at key events, which he truly enjoys.

Theme song: Greg Allman, " I'm no Angel."

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