I utilise this session mainly with Ultra and Trail runners where I measure their intensity with Heart Rate. Although the purpose of this session is to assess their fitness, it also provides a great training stimulus and can be used for success with all runners including triathletes.
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.
30min Time Trial
- 10min WU Level II;
- 3x 60sec Level IV, 30sec Level II RI;
- 30min Level IV,
- 10min CD Level II;
- 10min Stretching
Conduct this session on a relatively flat circuit that is between one and two kilometres long. Try and avoid an out and back route unless you are really limited to route choices.
The Warm Up (WU) should be done at an intensity that is steady, but not overconsuming at Level II for ten minutes.
The next set is a continuation of the Warm Up (WU) to ensure that physiological systems are all primed prior to the Time Trial. It will get your Heart Rate (HR) up and ready. This set includes three reps of 60 seconds duration running at Level IV, taking a 30-second Rest Interval (RI) between each rep. Aim to finish this phase of the workout as close to your Time Trial circuit as possible.
The main part of this workout is running for 30 minutes, as hard as possible, and recording the distance you ran and your Heart Rate (HR) data. Try and avoid tracking your data as you run. Just make sure your watch records it so you can analyse it afterward.
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.
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.
Join over 2,884 people who have already signed up to be kept up to date with great workouts and training information in my informative newsletter.
Share this post so your friends can benefit as well.
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.
To improve your 5km Time by over 2:30 in ONLY 5 Weeks get my most popular run programme here. Results Guaranteed. Use discount code CR30 to get a 30% discount.