|
The Heart Rate Fartlek
By Coach Roy Benson, MPE
 You may know that the term
fartlek, or "speed-play,"
refers to a workout that involves alternating periods of hard
and easy running. Less structured than track workouts, these can
be done anywhere, on any terrain.
The Heart Rate Fartlek is a variation of this classic workout
that incorporates feedback from your heart monitor, to insure
that all that freedom doesn't result in a workout that is too
hard or too easy, given your overall plan for the rest of the
week, and for the season.
This workout requires you to set your heart monitor alarms, high
and low, to values that bracket your target training zone. I use
lower values early in the season (60-75% effort) and use the workout
to add interest to all those base building miles. Then later in
the season, I will raise the low and high heart rate values to
70-85%, and the workout becomes a challenging day at your AT level.
Set your high and low alarms, but turn them off at first. After
a jogging warmup, turn on the monitor's alarms. Shift gears to
a quicker pace until you hit the upper limit and your monitor
begins to beep. Then slow down to a jog until you hit the low
end of your zone and the low beeper sounds. That is when you know
it is time to pick it up again. Repeat these pace changes for
the workout duration, and finish with a jog cooldown.
The beautiful thing about this workout is that it is self adjusting.
You can alter the duration of both the work and recovery segments,
by adjusting your fast and slow paces slightly. This gives you
more or less rest, as needed, but always keeps you within the
boundaries you have set for that workout.
Another beauty of this workout is that you can perform it many
different ways. On a flat course, it gives you a chance to stretch
out your stride, even on an easy day. I also like to take this
workout out to the trails, and use the uphill segments for the
work, and the downhills for the rest. There, I call it my "Hard
and Hilly Heart Rate Fartleks".
You will find the Heart Rate Fartlek, as well as many other heart
rate based workouts, when you use the Coach
Benson Heart Rate Running Plan software. To order Coach Benson's
software, or any PC Coach product, visit Roy
Benson running software
|
