Fartlek ...? ... Fart what? Lick who?

Fartlek, which means "speed play" in Swedish, is a form of conditioning that puts stress on the whole aerobic energy system, due to the continuous nature of the exercise. The difference between this type of training and continuous training is that the intensity or speed of the exercise varies, meaning that aerobic and anaerobic systems can be put under stress.

Ok, now that we got Wikipedia’s definition out of the way ...

Basically, it’s about varying your speed during a specific run. It can be done as part of your regular, weekly running schedule (each mile at a progressively faster pace), or during track workouts, where it’s done during shorter distances with a greater variance of speed.  “Why?,” you may ask? Fartleks build your endurance, speed (during training and for race day) and, ultimately, your overall aerobic capacity.

As part of your training with Peak, we’ll send a Fartlek schedule for you to do as part of your weekly running schedule, if you like.