Let's face it: Training for a marathon or half-marathon can get monotonous. Both programs involve lots of sustained running at or around goal race pace. This is a part of the deal, of course, and an important component for developing fitness, dialing in pacing, practicing fueling, and more. That said, it gets repetitive, if not boring, and a lot of people tend to lock in to a set pace and then zone out until it's time to stop. Racing, however, requires you to pay attention, listen to your body, and make adjustments on the fly, which is why I love to assign the In-n-Out Tempo Run from time to time. Not to mention, it's much more interesting than its more classically constructed cousin!
Fartlek, in its purest form, is unstructured speed work. "Speed play" is its literal translation. Now, I'm as guilty as anyone else who has ever called any structured interval workout done off the track a "fartlek" session, but if we're being honest that's not a fartlek: it's just an interval workout. A fartlek is simply a series of faster pickups with a recovery interval in between. It's also an interval workout, but the length and speed of the pickups, as well as the recovery intervals in between, are not pre-planned and totally up to you.
We're in the midst of marathon season which means the long run takes on an extra level of importance if you're training to race 26.2 miles. The 3 x 3 Cutdown is one of my favorite go-to long runs to help develop the specific fitness and skills necessary to succeed on race day. Here are the details:
As runners, we all have unique backgrounds and different reasons for getting into the sport. The following seven habits are tried-and-true behaviors the most highly effective runners — not necessarily the fastest runners — have in common and practice every day. Make them work for you and become a more motivated, happier and fitter athlete.
Variety, it’s said, is the spice of life. It can also be the key to spicing up some of the same old workouts you do week in and week out. Can't decide between hill repeats, a tempo run, or an interval session? Try rolling them all into one workout! I call this cover-all-your-bases butt-kicker “The Mixed Bag” and it will help to stimulate fitness gains that you didn’t even realize were stuck in stagnation.
The 10K Overdistance Interval Session is a 10K-specific workout that totals about 6-7.5 miles worth of quality work when all is said and done. It's a race-specific interval sessions will help fine-tune your fitness and boost that all-important element of confidence in the final 4-6 weeks leading up to your goal event.
