← EXERCISE LIBRARYConditioning
Fartlek Run
Continuous running with unstructured surges of faster effort. Adds intensity without a track or a stopwatch, which makes it easy to fit into any route.
- 01Warm up with ten minutes at easy conversational pace.
- 02Pick a landmark ahead and lift to RPE 7 to 8 until you reach it, typically one to three minutes.
- 03Drop back to easy pace and keep running until the breathing is fully settled.
- 04Repeat six to ten surges of varying lengths across a thirty to forty-five minute run.
- 05Finish with five to ten minutes of easy running.
- 01Surge until the landmark, then let it go completely.
- 02Recovery is running, not walking.
- 03Vary the length so no two surges are the same.
- 01Never dropping fully back to easy, which makes the whole run a moderate slog with no real hard efforts.
- 02Surging so hard you have to walk, which breaks the continuous nature of the session.
- 03Running fartlek on every run, which leaves no genuinely easy days in the week.
Note: Reference material, not a prescription. Load, volume and whether this movement suits you at all depends on your assessment — if something hurts, stop and get it looked at.