This session is a great way to develop your running speed, particularly over 5km.
I’ve been reading some old magazines lately. This session was inspired by a workout by Dave Scott in the June 1996 issue of Inside Triathlon. I’ve modified and simplified it to make it suitable for this series of workouts. For those unfamiliar with Dave Scott, he won the Hawaii Ironman six times in the eighties. Since then no one has managed to win more Hawaii titles than he did. His nickname was ‘The Man’!!! In 1989 he raced in what became known as IronWar, where he went head to head with Mark Allen in what many consider the greatest Ironman race of all time. Dave finished second beating his own course record in the process.
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.
16x 200m + 2,000m
- 10min Warm Up Level II;
- 16x 200m Desc 1-4 (descend by 2 sec each 200)
- 1st, 5th, 9th & 13th 15sec RI,
- 2nd, 6th, 10th & 14th 30sec RI,
- 8th & 16th 60sec RI,
- All other reps 45sec RI,
- 2,000m Level IV;
- 10min Cool Down Level I-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 can be done either on the road, trail, or track.
The main set involves conducting 16x 200m reps. Descend the time taken to run each 200m every four reps i.e. 1-4, then 5-8, 9-12, and 13-16. You don’t need to increase the speed (to descend the time) by much. Only a couple of seconds each rep and then after the 4th (& 8th & 12th) rep revert back to the pace of the 1st rep. You also get more rest after each faster rep. 15 seconds after the 1st rep of each block of four; 30 seconds after the second rep and 45 seconds after the third and fourth reps. After the eighth and sixteenth reps, you get a full minute Rest Interval (RI). Here is an example of what your times might look like:
|
Rep |
Time Taken |
RI |
|
1 |
45sec |
15sec |
|
2 |
43sec |
30sec |
|
3 |
41sec |
45sec |
|
4 |
39sec |
45sec |
|
5 |
46sec |
15sec |
|
6 |
44sec |
30sec |
|
7 |
41sec |
45sec |
|
8 |
39sec |
60sec |
|
9 |
45sec |
15sec |
|
10 |
42sec |
30sec |
|
11 |
40sec |
45sec |
|
12 |
39sec |
45sec |
|
13 |
44sec |
15sec |
|
14 |
42sec |
30sec |
|
15 |
39sec |
45sec |
|
16 |
38sec |
60sec |
After you’ve done your last 200m and had the Rest Interval (RI) for it, it’s time to do 2,000m reasonably solidly at Level IV.
The cooldown is at a low intensity, jogging for a minimum of 10 minutes.
Finish with 10 minutes of stretching to assist with the recovery.
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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