Hiruni Wijayaratne is Sri Lanka’s most decorated distance athlete. She has PBs of 4:30.89 for the mile, 16:17 for 5km, 33:55 for 10km, 74:07 for a half, and 2:34:10 for a full marathon. This session develops speed on tired legs. This session is great for runners and triathletes especially those running a half marathon or longer.
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 workout comes from a Sweat Elite video that followed Hiunui and her teammates through this workout under the guidance of Rick Rojas (her coach), 19 days out from the California International Marathon (which is on Sunday – good luck Hiruni).
Hiruni Wijayaratne’s Pre-Marathon Speedwork
- 10min WU Level II;
- 1 mile Level IV, 3min RI;
- 6x
- 600m Level V, 200m Level II RI;
- 200m Level V, 200m Level II RI;
- 1 mile Level IV
- 10min CD Level II;
- 10min Stretching
Start the workout with a Warm Up (WU) for a minimum of ten minutes of easy jogging at Level II.
There are three main sets: the first is made up of a single mile at Level IV. Take a three minute Rest Interval (RI) before the next set.
The second set is made up of six reps of 600m at Level V, with a 200m jog at Level II for your Rest Interval (RI) then a 200m sprint at Level V, before another 200m jog at Level II for a Rest Interval (RI)to complete the rep.
The final set is a single mile at Level IV.
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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Download the Garmin (.FIT) files for this workout for FREE
If you enjoyed this workout, here is a similar session I published.
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