Advice on Fartlek please? (Read 547 times)

Ha ha sounds like a rude word doesn't it! My programme calls for my first Fartlek session next week - i've read about the general principle of run slow or fast as you feel you want to, picking landmarks to run to, etc, etc I'm not sure how hard to push myself though? It's a speed session but up to this point (wk4) in this programme i've been running intervals once per week. So question is, should i be putting a similar effort in to Fartlek sessions as i do when doing intervals, or should it be more relaxed pace (i.e. when averaged over the total distance) ? Cheers Davey

My .02 is that fartleks should be a bit more relaxed than an interval session. You should finish feeling more energized than exhausted. Usually the first few tries you end up going too fast on your pickups and wind up suffering a bit at the end. It takes practice, but it's good training for regulating your pace by feel versus needing external cues such as mile or km splits to know if you're going too fast.

Thanks Mike, that's good advice. Especially as i've been using a garmin for the last 6 weeks or so and i've probably been relying on it a little too much to regulate my pace. Cheers D