Fartlek is Swedish for speed play. Along the trails in Sweden, runners like Gunder Haag and Arne Anderson chased the world records for the 1,500m to 3000m in the war years. The idea of running hard, then recovering is not new, but the level of fitness and the flexibility that fartlek gave the runners is what amazined many. Now, most distance runners use one or another type of fartlek in their workouts. We like the variability of Fartlek and the high level of fitness that you can get with these types of workouts.
Stephanie Bruce, winner of AJC Peachtree Road Race, the USA 10k champs, photo by PhotoRun.net
Tuesday, July 9, 2018-warm up, Moderate fartlek, 50 minutes, 5 x five minutes hard, five minutes easy, cooldown
This is a summer long mileage program. We are starting week 3. Show it to your coach, follow it, and we will have you in shape for the first week of September, 11 weeks from now. During the fall, we will provide you 11 more weeks of suggestions to get you to racing fit and help you reach your goals. Fine tune our program, make it work for you. Our themes are this: You need to train your mortal engine. Physical and mental challenges are important. Manage training and life stress. Turn stress into fun. Remember to rest, and have recovery days. Know how to improve your racing skills. Most of all, have fun!
And most of all, remember that, when you are looking for running shoes, check out www.hokaoneone.com and check out their fall racing contest, www.hokaoneonepostalnationals.com.
Week 3, Third week of cross country summer training
Monday-warm up, easy 40-45 minutes, cooldown
Tuesday-warm up, Moderate fartlek, 50 minutes, 5 x five minutes hard, five minutes easy, cooldown
Wednesday-warm up-easy 40-45 minutes, cooldown
Thursday-warm up, 20 minutes steady, 6 times 200 meter hill, jog down, 20 minutes steady, cooldown
Friday-warm up, easy 40-45 minutes, cooldown
Saturday-30 minute walk, 30 minute swim, 30 minute bike ride, just move for 30 minutes
Sunday-warm up, 50 minutes-55 minutes, cooldown
