Funny Name. Great Results.

For those of you who are trying to increase your milage times - me included - there's a sure way to make it happen. A lot of years ago, speed workouts were developed and introduced to drastically cut milage times. The same principles still work today. You can read up on it if you do a Google search for the term "Fartlek."

That's right. Fartlek. It's a funny name with great results.

Here's the easy way to do Fartlek training.

• While on your normal training run, pick a marker out in the distance. It can be a tree or a house or a fence post. It doesn't matter. Once you pick it out, try really increasing your speed until you get to that point.

• Once you hit that marker, don't stop, just resume your normal speed.

• A little while later, do it over again.

• On a 4 mile run, do about 6 of these mini speed workouts.

• The speed workout should only be between 100 - 250 yards, no more.

• Also, introduce more hills into your routes. You can even try some slower Fartleks on the hills.

Once you begin doing this, you'll find that your milage times will really drop. A family friend just sent me the "official" BYU Cross Country team (she's a member) summer workout. It's no surprise that it includes lots of speed workouts.


-Brian