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Runner’s World January 2006
By Jeff Galloway

THE STARTING LINE

WINTER BLAST
The best speed workout for the season

MESSY WINTER WEATHER can make track workouts and other types of speedwork difficult to do consistently and safely. Not so for fartlek workouts. Swedish for “speed play,” fartlek training is an unstructured form of speedwork where you vary your pace from fast bursts of running to easy jogging. Because fartlek training is a free-form activity that can be done just about anywhere, it’s the perfect type of speedwork for winter.

To maintain your speed during the cold-weather months, do one fartlek workout every week. Try any of these three workouts, or use them as the basis to make up your own. Keep in mind that the fartlek segments are run hard, but not all-out.

RUN FOR DISTANCE. With this workout, use landmarks to dictate the length of your faster and slower segments. Once you’ve warmed up, look ahead and pick an object-maybe the next telephone pole or tree. Run faster until you reach that landmark, then immediately pick another object up ahead about the same distance away and jog to it. Start with three to five fartlek segments and add one or two per week.

RUN FOR THE HILLS. Add an extra strength component to your winter fartleks by running them on inclines. Short hills, overpasses, inclines in parking garages, and ramps in stadiums all work well. Begin with inclines that are about 50 steps in length. As you go up the incline, gradually increase your turnover and speed. Walk or jog down. Start with two or three incline repeats and add one more each week until you can run eight.

RUN FOR TIME. You can do this type of fartlek workout anywhere since your watch is your guide. After your warmup, run faster segments of one minute, two minutes, or three minutes. Alternate the fast segments with easy jogging or brisk walking for the same amount of time as your fartlek segment. Start with three to five fartlek segments and add one or two per week.

Q+A
Q:As a new runner, should I time myself on every run?
A: Feel free to leave your watch at home on most of your runs. After giving the runners in my training program the choice of timing their miles or not, those who ran watchless most of the time remained more motivated to run regularly. Micro-managing your pace each mile by watching the clock adds extra pressure to perform-which counteracts the stress-busting capabilities of running and can lead to injury and burnout.

Timing yourself during a weekly speedwork session is helpful when you’re gauging your progress. But even speedwork can be dictated by effort instead of time. Fartlek workouts, for example, don’t always require a watch (see “Winter Blast,” above). So lose the watch more often than not to keep running enjoyment high, since that’s what will keep you coming back for more.

(SAY WHAT?) RUNNING JARGON, TRANSLATED
Master- A runner who is 40 years of age or older is designated a “master” in the United States. Other countries use the term “veteran.”