Friday Fartlek Run: Goater’s sets of 200’s

This session is great to improve your speed for runners aiming for an event between 5km and a half marathon.

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.

4 sets of 4x 200m, 1min RI

• 10min Warm Up Level II;
• 4 sets of:
  • 4x 200m Level V, 1min RI,
  • 3min RI between sets
• 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.

The main set is made up of four sets with 3 minutes Rest Interval (RI) between sets. Each set is made up of four repetitions of 200m at Level V with a one-minute Rest Interval (RI) between each rep. For these Rest Intervals (RIs) just gently walk around on the track ready to start again at the scheduled time.

The Cool Down (CD) is at a low intensity, jogging (Level II) for a minimum of ten minutes.

Finish with 10 minutes of stretching to assist with the recovery.

I got this workout from Julian Goater & Don Melvin’s book The Art of Running Faster – Improve Technique, Training, and Performance. This is a really good book that is jam-packed and full of great advice.

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.

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If you enjoyed this workout, here is a similar session I published 12 months ago.

Friday Fartlek: Progressive Run

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