Welcome to Workout Wednesday. Every Wednesday I  post a new Triathlon specific workout. (for free, What a Country!) If you like the workout, fit it into your training plan for the week. If you don’t like the workout you’re crazy, all of my workouts are brilliant pieces programming. (kidding)

This week’s workout: Rocking Fartlek Run

Fartlek, or “speed play” in Swedish is a fancy word for running with sporadic burst of speeds. It’s also, a very fun word to say. Say it three times, and try not to crack a smile. Fartlek workouts teach the body to handle the variations in speed during a race. Also, you learn how to recover your heart rate and breathing while running. There are hundreds of different types of Fartlek workouts, because structure isn’t that important.

One of my favorite workouts is the Rockin’ Fartlek. This workout provides plenty of good effort, and is the cure for your daily five mile run. For this workout, you’ll need a course and some music. Pick the track or a course with low traffic to avoid stops, and the danger of be crushed by a distracted driver. Be sure to pump for favorite jams for extra enjoyment.

Rockin’ Fartlek Run

• Warm up – 10 minutes easy pace
• Main set 20-30 minutes – Jog the verses, and Pick up the speed on the chorus.
• Cool down – At least 5 Minutes

How you structure this work out is up to you. You can work hard every other song. Be sure you are recovering between each Pick up. How hard you run the Pick ups is up to you. If you have a race coming up soon, push the pace. If you are in a build phase hold it back a bit. The purpose of this workout is to vary your speed, and have a good time.

Get out there and fartlek it up! Leave a comment of the best song that came on during your workout.