RunPackGuides · 4 min read
Fartlek running: the unstructured speed workout (with ideas)
What a fartlek run is, how it differs from intervals, beginner and advanced fartlek workouts, and fun ways to run a fartlek with friends at different paces.
Fartlek is Swedish for “speed play”: a continuous run where you mix in faster bursts whenever you like, with no track and no set distances. It’s the friendliest way to add speed to your running, and it suits groups well.
Fartlek vs intervals
Intervals are structured: set distances, set paces, set recovery, often with walking or standing between reps. A fartlek keeps you running the whole time and lets the route decide: sprint to the next lamp post, ease off to the bench, push up the hill. It’s less precise and a lot more fun.
Fartlek workouts to try
- Lamp posts: after a 10-minute warm-up, run hard between two lamp posts, easy for the next two. Repeat for 15 minutes.
- 1–2–3: 1 minute hard, 1 easy, 2 hard, 2 easy, 3 hard, 3 easy. Twice through.
- Song fartlek: run hard during every chorus.
- Hill fartlek: push every uphill, recover on the flat and downhills.
- The “Mona” fartlek: 2 × 90 seconds, 4 × 60, 4 × 30, 4 × 15 seconds hard, each followed by the same time easy. Harder than it looks.
Fartlek with friends
Take turns choosing the next burst: the leader shouts “to the bridge!” and everyone picks it up at their own speed, then the group regroups and jogs on while the next person chooses. Faster runners loop back to collect the last person. Nobody gets dropped, and everyone works hard. More ideas in 20 social run ideas.
How hard should the fast bits be?
Somewhere between tempo effort and 5K pace for longer bursts, faster for short ones. The easy bits should be a proper jog, not a stop. If you can’t jog between bursts, the fast bits are too fast.
Afterwards, share the run with your crew. In RunPack every run, from an iPhone, Apple Watch or Garmin, lands in a private feed only the crew sees.