Fartlek Training

One of the most important things when training for a marathon is to increase your volume of training. This is because an increase in training volume is associated with a number of different aerobic benefits and is considered to be one of the key determinants of improved performance. Some elite marathon runners will build up to over 200km per week leading up to a marathon. For most people, this would be far too much, and you would most likely get injured. The key thing to take away is to increase your volume progressively. The other key stimulus for performance is an increase in the intensity of training. However again an increase in intensity too quickly is also likely to increase the risk of getting injured. This is why it is a balancing act between progressively increasing your volume and intensity. Fartlek means “speed play” in Swedish and fartlek training is essentially changing the different paces you are running at. This can change from running, walking or sprinting. Therefore, using fartlek training is a great way of using both volume and intensity in your training.