What’s Fartlek training and should I use it?

It’s not a commonly heard term, but it’s one few people forget once they’ve heard it. The word Fartlek comes from Swedish for “speed play”. Let’s dive into some more detail and see how you can you this training method.

What is Fartlek?

In the context we’re interested in, speed play essentially means varying the speed you run at. If you’re familiar with intervals or efforts, you’ll soon realise that you likely do some of that already. The difference between Fartlek training and more typical interval training, is the degree of structure and rigidity.

Most interval session types follow a set number of effort repetitions for distances or times, with set distances or times for recovery. Fartlek training on the other hand, is much more varied and “random” in nature. In any one session you might find yourself running at a full sprint followed by walk, before doing a longer time or distance at 10k pace, followed by a marathon pace recovery jog.

Why would you use Fartlek training?

Fartlek sessions work really well for beginner runners as it gives so much freedom, and the effort level and duration of any part of the run can be adapted so easily. You can run how you feel at any given moment with no pressure.

It can also be used to relieve tedium of training for experienced runners. One of the most enjoyable sessions I’ve ever had at the running club I’m a member of, was a Fartlek session around the town. We were told where we’d be running to and given a rough pace (e.g. 5k, 800m etc.) to run at, but didn’t have an accurate idea of how far it would be. You can be sure we all pushed a whole lot harder on most of the efforts to race one another with a friendly competitive spirit.

Return from injury is another situation which suits Fartlek training for much the same reasons that it works well for beginners. When you come back from a period of time not running, it’s hard to gauge exactly where your fitness levels are, so the ability to stop and start when you need to is very helpful. It takes the pressure off by making it very hard to compare what you would have done before the injury to how you’re running right now, thus reducing the risk of overtraining and re-injuring yourself, when you return.

So yes, I’d say you should include some Fartlek work in your running plan because whether you’re new to running, returning from injury or are at the top of your game, it’s fun and effective training.

Written by Kyle Brooks, Running Coach based in Norwich, Norfolk