Most of the WhittleFit runners and triathletes will do a Fartlek session at some point in their training, however a new client asked me the other day what fartlek training was, so here goes. The word fartlek means “speed play” in Swedish and it essentially means running and playing around with the speed and duration of running during your training session.

 

Fartlek training basically means you run in an unstructured manner with the intention of stressing both the aerobic and anaerobic energy systems; this means you are training for both speed and endurance in the same session. So you have to run faster efforts (speed and distance of your choice) interspersed with slower recovery efforts (again, speed and distance of your choice). 

Apart from challenging both energy systems and working on speed and endurance in one session, fartlek training also has the advantage of being fun and varied (you can change the speed and duration of the interval as you see fit), whilst being appropriate for all phases of training and seasons of the year.

 

But don’t get me wrong; whilst fartlek training is very good for you (and fun), it is hard work! Don’t underestimate the stress this places on the body.  Give it a try, you won’t be disappointed!