As with last week’s run which targeted multiple intensities, today’s run is an over-under style of the session with intervals mixing up intensities very close to your threshold giving you a good boost of fitness. All runners (and triathletes) can benefit from this higher intensity of training, especially athletes with events from 10km out to a 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 is often used by runners and it means speed-play. See a previous post about training intensity (levels) to know how hard to work.
The inspiration for this session comes from Watts On Zwift. Although designed for a treadmill, I’ve modified it a little bit. You can read the full article here.
Zwift Academy Tri 2020 Threshold Builder
- 10min WU Level II;
- 4x 30sec:
- Level III,
- Level IV-,
- Level IV,
- Level IV+;
- 3 sets of:
- 2min Level I RI,
- 1min Level V,
- 1min Level IV,
- 1min Level V,
- 2min Level I RI,
- 1min Level IV,
- 1min Level V,
- 1min Level IV;
- 10min CD Level II;
- 10min Stretching
Start the workout with a Warm Up (WU) of ten minutes of easy jogging at Level II.
First up is a build set to increase your Heart Rate (HR) and get your body fully warmed up for the main set to follow. Spend 30 seconds running at Level III, then another 30 seconds at the low end of Level IV (Level IV-), then increase again into Level IV completely, and then another 30 seconds at the higher end of Level IV (Level IV+).
The Main Set is made of effectively six, three-minute reps, with a two-minute Rest Interval (RI) between reps (five minutes total for the full rep (including Rest Interval (RI)) or 30 minutes for the main set). However within each rep, we change the intensity each minute and alternate between high-low-high and low-high-low (or more correctly highest-high-highest, and high-highest-high) I’ve doubled the length of the reps to include both styles of the repetition and halved the number (still 30 minutes for the main set).
As you have just finished the build set, we will start each rep with a two-minute Rest Interval (RI) before the three-minute rep. The first of which is high-low-high. Spend the first minute at Level V, then the second minute at Level IV, and then the final minute at Level V again. Take a two-minute Rest Interval (RI) before the next three-minute rep which is low-high-low. Spend the first minute at Level IV, then the second minute at Level V, and then the final minute at Level IV again. That will take ten minutes to work through. Complete that ten-minute block, three times.
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 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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