What is Fartlek Training? Best Running Workouts For Speed & Endurance
Summary
Spencer Matthews and Ollie Patrick explore the nuances of running training, focusing on the definition and utility of fartleks versus structured intervals. They discuss how unstructured speed play offers a fun, specific alternative to rigid plans like over-unders and pyramids, particularly for maintaining joy in running. The hosts also examine the physiological benefits of polarized training, explaining how low-intensity steady runs build the anatomical base necessary for high-intensity efforts.
Topics discussed
Introduction and the Kenyan training context
Defining Fartlek vs. Over-Under sessions
History of Fartlek and unstructured intervals
Sponsor segments and transition to session types
Steady runs, heart rate, and cardiac drift
Intervals, pyramids, and progression runs
Polarized training and neuromuscular adaptation
Energy systems and the purpose of intervals
Sponsor segments and transition to elite training
The joy of Fartlek vs. structured elite plans
Autonomy, self-coaching, and the cost of structure
Balancing discipline with the joy of running
Fartlek benefits and race-day specificity
Fartlek as an antidote to over-structuring
Conclusion and call to action
Closing sponsor segments
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