Race Surge Fartlek
Workout - Race Surge Fartlek
- 0.0mi @ 9'00''/mi
- 4 lots of:
- 100m @ 5'00''/mi
- 10 lots of:
- 2min @ 6'25''/mi
- 2min @ 10'00''/mi
- 0.0mi @ 9'00''/mi
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Intro
Curious about fartlek workouts? We’ve pulled the essentials from Matthew Choi’s What Is a Fartlek Workout? | New Running Workouts so you can jump into one right away. The full video has plenty more insight if you want to dig deeper.
Key Points
- Fartlek literally translates to “speed play”—the idea is switching between hard efforts and recovery jogs to build both aerobic capacity and pace.
- Matthew’s marathon training follows an 80/20 split: 80% of your mileage stays easy, while 20% goes toward focused speed sessions.
- Repeating cycles of fast and slow work trains your body to recover between surges, a skill that pays off on race day.
- Effort matters more than pace; run the hard sections with purpose but keep them manageable, and make sure you truly recover.
Workout Example
- Warm‑up: 2 mi easy + a few 100‑m strides.
- Main set: 10 × (2 min fast + 2 min easy jog)
- Hard pace: around 6:10–6:40 min/mi (match your goal marathon speed).
- Easy jog: conversational recovery pace.
- Main set takes roughly 40 min.
- Cool‑down: 2 mi easy jog.
Closing Note
Test this fartlek when you’ve got a speed session scheduled, then dial in the paces based on your zones—your Pacing app can help there. You’ll notice it gets easier to handle those race-day accelerations. Enjoy the run!