Many plans incorporate fartlek training. Fartlek is Swedish for “speed play”. Remember as a kid where you and friends would chase each other from tree to tree, sprinting and recovering as you needed? It wasn’t dreaded speedwork, it was fun!
This past Thursday (my 31st birthday!) I was visiting my uncle. He owns some 140 acres of land out in rural Saskatchewan, and I was absolutely thrilled to be outdoors, riding the quad, wandering the trails, and of course, running! I didn’t do a ton of trail running just because they didn’t have many established trails yet, but I went out of my way to push the speed up a few hills, race my 10yo cousin out to the garden, and even try to sprint my way up the road to the house! (I only ran up 0.14m at an average 7:41 pace before a car came, but I supposedly hit a high speed of 5:23)
Perhaps it was because I had taken a few days off after the marathon, maybe it was simply that I was entranced by the beauty of the setting, but I happily trotted around their property. It was fun, darnit, and I can’t wait to get into my trail shoes and go at it!
