77. What is a Fartlek and Which Runners Need Them?

Post Cards From the YES Life: Your launchpad for reinvention, empowerment, adventurous living, after life transitions · Sep 24, 2019 · 14m

Fartlek is Swedish for "speed play," and by definition, it should be unstructured. I like to think of fartlek runs as an opportunity for my athletes to get in some speed work without the stress of feeling like they need to hit specific interval times. When I write training plans for more experienced runners, I include fartlek runs as a transition to help them prepare for a phase of training that includes more intense speed work. For my newer runners, I use fartleks as a way to help them learn to vary their pace, and I schedule several of these runs prior to introducing structured intervals…