Workout of the Day: 7 x 3 minutes
7 x 3 minutes
Intensity — 3,000m pace
Recovery — 3 minutes between reach rep
Exertion —8/10
Context & Details
Fartleks are a highly effective method of training runners. And yet, they’re grossly under-appreciated today.
Inherent in fartlek design is accommodations for the biological individuality of every runner. A high school coach can easily give a fartlek workout to their entire team and it will be a highly effective stimulus for each runner because implicit within its execution is the ability for each runner to auto-regulate their output.
We know from Dr. Carl Foster’s extensive work on Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE), that auto-regulatory workouts are just as effective, if not more, than “hit-the-split” workouts. Auto-regulation is an internal mechanism everyone possesses which allows each individual to work at appropriate intensity levels for them.
And RPE is quite accurate.
When athletes are asked to rate their RPE in workouts and their feedback is compared to standard physiological measurements like heart rate, respiratory rate, or lactate concentration in the bloodstream, the correlation between RPE expressed and the biomarkers is pretty much dead on.
The takeaway being: when working out, the majority of athletes know exactly how hard they’re working relative to their maximum.
Knowing this, it’s somewhat perplexing that fartlek workouts aren’t more widely used today.
I’m not sure exactly why this is the case but I suspect it’s related to our cravings for control.
The numerical exactitude of having precise preassigned mileage, pace, or split targets for a runner satisfies the coach’s, and perhaps the runner’s, desire to control the conditioning process. It’s why pacing charts exist. These charts seduce us into thinking conditioning of runners is a linear process. Which is a false narrative. Biology and the physical development process is non-linear and chaotic, but one we really, really want to believe is linear nonetheless. Why? Believing we’re in control gives us comfort. And like most placebos, our belief in rugged autonomy and individualism works to a degree because it satisfies deep psychological cravings we want to be true.
All that aside, you can also think of this workout as 7 x 1K at 3K effort with equal work:rest ratios.
For “short” distance runners (3K-10K), 3,000m pace has proven to be the gold standard for upgrading several race day performance variables. It advances VO2 Max, running economy, lactate-threshold velocity, and resistance to fatigue quite well. Making this is a pace/effort level a runner should frequent year-round.
What I like about fartlek style workouts for 3,000m pace is they advance at exactly the same rate as the runner’s condition. No matter how fit a runner gets, 3,000m effort will always feel the same: very hard.
What fartleks do so well is teach the runner at every step of their development to orient their output based on their RPE, not off of a predetermined pace the coach decided upon beforehand. I think this is empowering. In the long run, it gives the runner higher confidence by increasing their exposure, and subsequently their tolerance, to the redlining sensations experienced in short distance (3K-10K) races. When these sensations are met on race day, a runner who has regularly practiced running to their perceived maximum with fartleks won’t freak out, they’ll be steadfast, keep pressing, and ultimately run faster.
Fartleks teach runners to trust themselves and be in the moment on race day. I think this is reason enough, along with some of the physiological and psychological effects discussed above, to reintroduce fartlek workouts as a regular training staple.