This is a great session to really enhance your speed over 5km.
Each week I will be posting the Friday Fartlek Run Sessions that you can do to enhance your running. Fartlek is a Swedish term that runners often use and it means speed-play. See a previous post about training intensity (levels) to know how hard to work.
You will need a Heart Rate monitor and this session is best done on an athletics track.
2x 800m, 4x 400m, 6x 200m
- 10min Warm Up Level II;
- 2x 800m Level V, RI until your HR<120;
- 4x 400m Level V, RI until your HR<120;
- 6x 200m Level V, RI until your HR<120;
- 10min Cool Down Level II;
- 10min Stretching
The warm-up should be done at an intensity that is steady but not overconsuming at Level II for ten minutes.
This session is best done on a 400m athletics track and involves three sets. Start with two reps of 800m (two laps of the track starting from the 800m start line) at Level V. After you have run each rep, gentle work around and stretch whilst your Heart Rate (HR) drops below 120 Beats Per Minute (BPM). As soon as it gets to 120 beats Per Minute (BPM) commence your next rep without delay, so make sure you are right at the start line for your next rep.
The second set involves four reps of 400m (one lap) at Level V. As with the previous sets gently walk around and stretch as your Rest Interval until your Heart Rate (HR) drops below 120 Beats Per Minute (BPM).
The third and final set contains six reps of 200m (half a lap, alternating starting, and finishing at the 200m start or the 400m start respectively), all at Level V (as fast as you can go). The same as the previous sets gently walk around and stretch as your Rest Interval until your Heart Rate (HR) drops below 120 Beats Per Minute (BPM).
The cooldown is at a low intensity, jogging for a minimum of ten minutes.
Finish with 10 minutes of stretching to assist with the recovery.
I did this session this week whilst I was over in Malaysia. I didn’t have a 400m track but conveniently had a loop that was 400m (or very close to it) that I used instead. Here is the Strava file for it:
If you would like further advice feel free to contact me.
I am the Head Coach & Director of Qwik Kiwi – Endurance Sports Consultant.
I specialise in assisting first-timers and recreational athletes to achieve their sporting goals. I can be contacted at coachray@coachray.nz and 021 348 729. Make sure you sign up for my informative newsletter.
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Download the Garmin (.FIT) files for this workout for FREE
If you enjoyed this workout, here is a similar session I published 12 months ago.
Friday Fartlek – 8 Weeks to a faster 10k: 6x 1mile
For more great workouts see my eBook: ‘Top 10 Workouts from Coach Ray – The Ten Most Popular Training Sessions from www.CoachRay.nz”. Use the workouts within the eBook to enhance your fitness.