What’s the Difference Between Fartlek, Tempo, and Interval Runs?
Here’s a quick breakdown of these
three common types of speed workouts.
Interval Workouts
Intervals are short, intense
efforts followed by equal or slightly longer recovery time. You can perform intervals in a
variety of modalities, but here, we’ll
focus on running. For example, after a warmup, run two minutes at a hard
effort, followed by two to three minutes of easy jogging or walking to catch
your breath. The interval should be performed at an effort in which you’re in
the red (think: reaching hard for air, unable to hold a conversation, and
counting the seconds until you can stop). It should be a controlled, fast
effort followed by a truly easy jog. The secret is in the
recovery as patience and discipline while you’re running easy allows you to run
the next interval strong and finish the entire workout fatigued but not
completely spent. Just like rest, your body adapts and gets stronger in the
recovery mode.
Benefits of
Intervals: Improved running
form and economy, endurance, mind-body coordination, motivation, and
fat-burning.
Tempo Runs
Tempo Runs also known
as threshold runs, are like an Oreo cookie, with the warmup and cooldown as the
cookie, and a run at an effort at—or slightly above—your anaerobic threshold
(the marker in which your body shifts to using more glycogen for energy) as the
filling. This is the effort level just outside your comfort zone—you can hear
your breathing, but you’re not gasping for air. If you can talk easily, you’re
not in the tempo zone, and if you can’t talk at all, you’re above the zone. It
should be at an effort somewhere in the middle, a “comfortably hard” effort
that allows you to talk in broken words and hold that effort for at least 20
minutes. Pace is not really an effective means for running a tempo workout, as
there are many variables that can affect pace including heat, wind, fatigue,
and terrain. Learn how to find your threshold and run a tempo workout that is
spot on every time here.
Benefits
of Tempo Runs: Increased lactate threshold to run
faster at easier effort levels. Improves focus, race simulation, and mental
strength.
Fartlek Runs
Fartleks are not only
fun to say out loud, but they're fun to run. Fartlek is the Swedish for
"speed play," and that is exactly what this run is all about. Unlike
tempo and interval work, fartlek is unstructured and alternates between
moderate to hard efforts with easy efforts throughout. After a warmup, you play
with speed by running at faster efforts for short periods of time (to that
tree, to the sign) followed by easy-effort running to recover. It’s fun in a
group setting as you can alternate the leader and mix up the pace and time. And
in doing so, you reap the mental benefits of being pushed by your buddies
through an unpredictable workout. If you’re running solo, you can use it as a
playful way to pass the time by targeting random markers as the finish line for
the hard efforts. The goal is to keep it free-flowing so you’re untethered to
the watch or a plan, and to run at harder efforts but not a specific pace.
