Form Fartlek

Form Fartlek was the order of the day. I was at the track and my running partner du jour, Debbie Hicks had just left. I had a few miles to go, so the fartlek began. Here is a description of the activity. It's an excerpt from my book, Run a Lot.

Fartlek, aka Speedplay, is a distance runner's training approach developed in the late 1930s by Swedish Olympian Gösta Holmér. In its widely adopted contemporary forms, fartlek training alternates periods of faster and slower running, sometimes over natural terrain. It differs from traditional interval training by being less structured. To put it another way, traditional intervals can be thought of as speed work, whilst unstructured off-and-on speed running can be considered speed play, or fartlek. It can be done on roads and trails, and it may seem a little less exhausting. Most speedwork is best when done with friends; there is power in teamwork. Not to mention that misery loves company. This is especially the case with fartlek training.

From Galloway's book, I learned to do 'Form Fartlek' running. This is somewhat more structured than traditional fartlek, but it's also not the same as other interval training. The fast portions are done at close to lactate threshold pace, but it's not the same as tempo running either. After the warmup, I alternate fast and slow half-mile segments. The fast parts are faster than an easy training pace, but slower than 800-meter repeat pace. The easy parts are faster than interval recovery laps. The key point is that while I'm running the fast segments, I concentrate on my running form. Just thinking about it helps make it happen, but you can also apply some ideas about how to concentrate more on your running form.

Efficiency trumps sheer effort. Improve your form, and the speed will come naturally.

There. I successfully made it through that description of fartlek training without the slightest hint of a joke. I am known to have high ethical and moral standards. All types of toilet, potty, and other scatological humor are strictly off the table. (Maybe on the seat, but most assuredly not on the table.) So don't look for any fart humor here, I would never, ever say anything at all like, "I fartlek in your general direction." (See Monty Python and the Holy Grail if you haven't already) It would be beneath me.