by Larry Eder
This is Thursday, February 15, 2024.
Today is a hard day, and we will be using Speed Play or Fartlek for your workout today.
Fartlek was the brainchild of Gosta Holmer, 1912 and 1920 Olympian (decathlon, heptathlon), who was coaching the Swedish Cross Country team in the 1930s.
Fartlek uses the natural landscapes as part of the challenge. It is a type of interval training, sometimes based on time and sometimes on distance.
The creativity of Fartlek is all about the maturity of the athlete and coach.
We offer suggestions for the athlete and coach, but the truth is, as long as one keeps moving, pushing the pace, recovering, and pushing once again for the desired time, you get the workout done.
Your workout today:
Warm-up up slowly,
15 minutes of running, easy to moderate,
45-minute fartlek, 3 minutes hard (5k pace), 2 minutes easy, repeat 9 times.
Do the fartlek on good footing, perhaps a park or a trail.
15-minute moderate to easy running.
Cooldown slowly,
hydrate,
change to dry clothes,
Recover,
Larry’s Deep Thoughts: Fartlek is one of the elements that elite athletes and coaches use to build fitness. It can be a basic plan or a complex plan, and it is really up to the athlete and coach. I always loved fartlek to help fine-tune my ability to race well.
