You don’t need a track.
You don’t need a stopwatch.
You don’t even need a particularly structured training plan.
All you need to do is just run a little faster.
Fartlek training is a type of running workout where you vary your pace throughout a run, alternating faster efforts with easier running or recovery. The word fartlek originates from Swedish and means “speed play” – which is a pretty solid description of what makes this type of running training unique.
Unlike traditional interval training, fartlek running doesn’t need to follow a rigid structure. You can run faster for a set amount of time, pick up the pace between landmarks, attack a hill, or just speed up as and when you feel like it.
Today at What We Running, we’re exploring what fartlek training is, how it works, its benefits, beginner-friendly fartlek workouts, and how it compares with interval and tempo training. We’ll also look at how you can fit fartlek sessions into your own running week.
Because getting faster doesn’t always need to mean making running more complex.
What Is Fartlek Training?
Fartlek training is a running workout that involves changing your pace throughout a run, typically alternating between faster efforts and easier running. Unlike traditional interval training, fartlek sessions are usually less structured and can be guided by time, distance, landmarks, terrain, or just how you feel.
In other words, a fartlek run is a run where you can experiment with your speed rather than keeping up the same pace from beginning to end.
What Does “Fartlek” Mean?
The word fartlek stems from Swedish and literally translates to “speed play.” The training method was developed by Swedish coach Gösta Holmér back in the 1930s, originally as a way for cross-country runners to improve their speed and endurance while training over varied terrain.
That idea of play is still central to fartlek training today.
What Makes a Fartlek a Fartlek?
There are three simple ingredients:
1. Pace Changes
You deliberately alternate between faster and slower running rather than sticking to one consistent pace.
2. Recovery is Built in
After a faster effort, you return to an easier pace. This may be an easy jog, a walk or simply slowing down.
3. The Structure is Flexible
A fartlek doesn’t need to involve precise distances or perfectly measured recovery periods. You could run hard for two minutes, pick up the pace between lampposts, or push harder on every hill.
That’s what makes fartlek training so accessible: there are guidelines, but there doesn’t need to be a rigid plan.
How Does Fartlek Training Work?
A fartlek run normally follows a simple pattern: run easily, increase your pace for a period of time, recover, then repeat. The exact structure is up to you, which is why fartlek training is so different from other training methods.
A typical fartlek run might look something like this:
- Warm up with 10-15 minutes of easy running.
- Run easily for a few minutes to settle into the session.
- Introduce a faster effort, increasing your pace for a set period or distance.
- Recover by slowing back down to an easier pace.
- Repeat the faster and slower sections several times.
- Cool down with easy running.
The faster sections don’t necessarily mean sprinting. A fartlek workout could ask you to run hard for one minute, jog for two minutes, and repeat several times. But it could just as easily involve running faster to the next lamppost, easing off until the top of a hill, then picking up the pace again.
What Pace Should You Run During a Fartlek?
There isn’t a universal fartlek pace to stick to. Your faster efforts could range from comfortably hard to around 5k effort, depending on the workout and your experience.
The important thing is that you don’t have to run every fast section as hard as possible. For beginners especially, the aim is to practice changing pace while staying in control. Your recovery sections should feel genuinely easy enough to prep you for the push.
Think of fartlek training as playing with your pace, not racing every repetition.
What Are The Benefits Of Fartlek Training?
Fartlek training can be a handy addition to almost any runner’s training week because it blends faster running with plenty of flexibility. You can use it to work on your speed, endurance, and pacing without needing to follow a complicated workout.
Here are some of our favourite benefits of fartlek training.
1. It Can Improve Your Speed
Fartlek sessions give you regular opportunities to run faster than your normal easy pace. Over time, this can help you become more comfortable with faster running and develop your ability to run at higher intensities.
2. It Can Improve Your Ability to Change Pace
Running isn’t always perfectly consistent, especially during races. Fartlek training teaches you to speed up, slow down, and then increase your pace again, which can be useful when tackling hills, overtaking other runners, or responding to changes in a race.
3. It Can Build Speed Endurance
Repeated faster efforts with easier running in between challenge you to keep running quickly even when you’re beginning to feel tired. This makes fartlek training especially useful for runners prepping for distances like 5k.
4. It Can Make Speed Work More Enjoyable
Not every workout needs to involve staring at your watch and hitting an exact pace. Using landmarks, hills, or how you feel can make fartlek sessions feel more like playing with your speed than completing a strict training prescription.
5. You Don’t Need a Track
A fartlek workout can be done on roads, trails, parks, or wherever you normally run. That makes it especially practical for recreational runners who don’t have access to an open running track.
6. It Can Be Adapted to Different Fitness Levels
A beginner may run for 30 seconds before taking a couple of minutes to recover, whereas a more experienced runner may complete several longer efforts. The basic principles remain the same – the intensity and structure can change to suit the runner.
7. It Teaches You to Run by Feel
Maybe the biggest benefit of fartlek running is learning to listen to your body. Rather than constantly checking whether you’re clocking the right pace, fartlek training encourages you to judge the effort for yourself.
And sometimes, learning what “hard but controlled” actually feels like is just as valuable as knowing what number your watch is telling you.
Fartlek Vs Interval Training: What’s The Difference?
Fartlek training and interval training both involve changing your pace during a run, but the biggest difference is how structured the workout is.
Traditional interval training usually gives you specific instructions to follow. You may be asked to run 6 x 800m at a particular pace with 90 seconds of recovery between each repetition. A fartlek workout, on the other hand, gives you much more freedom to choose when and how you change pace.
| Fartlek Training | Interval Training | |
| Structure | Flexible | Usually structured |
| Pace | Often based on effort | Usually prescribed |
| Distance/time | Can vary | Usually predetermined |
| Recovery | Flexible | Usually predetermined |
| Location | Can be done almost anywhere | Often done on a track or measured route |
| Mental approach | More playful and intuitive | More precise and controlled |
Is Fartlek Training Easier Than Intervals?
Not necessarily.
A fartlek workout can be just as tricky as an interval session. The difference is that you’re typically given more freedom over how the workout is structured, rather than being asked to hit a precise pace or distance.
For example, my interval workout at the moment is to run 5 x 1km at 5k pace with two minutes of recovery between. A fartlek session here could instead ask me to run hard for two minutes, recover for two minutes, and repeat – or just run faster between a series of landmarks.
Which is Better: Fartlek or Interval Training?
Neither is automatically better. They simply have different uses.
Intervals can be especially useful when you’re following a rigid workout routine and want to practice running at a precise pace. Fartlek training is handy when you want some more flexibility, want to run by feel, or don’t have access to a measured route.
The two aren’t totally separate forms of training either. A fartlek can essentially be a less rigid way of incorporating interval-style efforts into a run.
For many recreational runners, there’s room for both. Sometimes you want to know precisely what your workout looks like before you lace up. Other times, it’s nice to put the watch away and simply play with your pace.
How To Do A Fartlek Run
One of the best things about fartlek training is that you don’t need a complicated plan. You can build a session around time, distance, landmarks, hills, or simply how you’re feeling.
Here’s a simple formula to follow.
Step 1: Warm Up
Start with 10-15 minutes of easy running to gradually raise your heart rate and prep your muscles for faster efforts.
Step 2: Choose Your Fast Efforts
Decide how you’ll introduce faster running. You could use:
- Time: run faster for 1-2 minutes.
- Distance: run faster for 400m.
- Landmarks: pick up the pace until you reach the next lamppost.
- Hills: run harder on an uphill section.
- Perceived effort: speed up whenever you feel ready.
Step 3: Decide Your Recovery
After each faster effort, slow down and recover. This could mean an easy jog or, if you’re a beginner, a short period of walking.
Step 4: Alternate Your Speeds
Repeat your faster efforts and recoveries several times. There’s no magic number – start conservatively and build up as you become more comfortable with the workout.
Step 5: Cool Down
Finish with 5-15 minutes of easy running to bring the session to a relaxed wind-down.
If you’re new to fartlek training, start with shorter and more controlled efforts rather than trying to run every fast section as hard as possible. The goal is to practice changing pace, not turn every repetition into a sprint.
5 Fartlek Training Examples
There’s no single fartlek workout you need to follow. That’s part of the appeal. You can structure your faster efforts around time, distance, hills or landmarks, depending on what you enjoy and what you’re training for.
Here are a few fartlek workouts that have worked for me in the past:
Beginner Fartlek Workout
If you’re new to speed work, keep things simple:
- 10 minutes easy running
- 1 minute faster
- 2 minutes easy
- Repeat 5 times
- Finish with easy running
The faster sections should feel controlled rather than an all-out sprint. You should finish the workout feeling like you could have done another repetition if necessary.
Simple 5k Fartlek Workout
This is a useful option if you’re training to improve your 5k:
- 10-minute easy warm-up
- 5 x 2 minutes comfortably hard
- 2 minutes easy between efforts
- 10-minute easy cool-down
Aim for an effort that feels strong and sustainable rather than trying to run each repetition at maximum speed.
Check Out Our Guide On How To Improve Your 5k Time
30-Minute Fartlek Run
For a more varied session, gradually change the length of your faster efforts:
- 10 minutes easy
- 1 minute fast
- 1 minute easy
- 2 minutes fast
- 2 minutes easy
- 3 minutes fast
- 3 minutes easy
- 2 minutes fast
- 2 minutes easy
- Finish easy
The changing intervals keep the workout interesting while giving you a mixture of shorter and longer efforts.
Hill Fartlek
Forget the stopwatch and use the terrain instead.
Run hard uphill → recover downhill → run easily → repeat.
This works especially well if you don’t want to obsess over pace. Running uphill naturally increases the effort, while the downhill recovery gives you an obvious point to slow down.
“Run to the Lamppost” Fartlek
This may be the simplest fartlek workout of all.
Choose a landmark ahead of you – a lamppost, bus stop, bench, or tree – and increase your pace until you reach it. Once you get there, return to an easy pace until you feel geared up to pick up the pace again.
There’s no stopwatch and no target pace. Just run faster, recover, and pick another landmark.
That’s fartlek training in its simplest form: speed play.
How Often Should You Do Fartlek Training?
For most recreational runners, one fartlek session per week is plenty. You don’t need to add several speed sessions to your training programme to benefit from mixing up your pace.
A fartlek session can sit alongside your normal easy runs and long runs, giving you one dedicated opportunity each week to practice running faster.
If you’re already doing another hard session, such as intervals or a tempo run, you probably don’t need to add a fartlek on top. Rather, you could use a fartlek workout as an alternative form of speed training.
The same applies if you’re racing regularly or running parkrun on Saturday morning. A hard parkrun can already count as a quality session, so adding a demanding fartlek immediately beforehand can leave you fatigued.
Most importantly, don’t mistake flexibility for ease. Fartlek training is still a hard workout, even if it doesn’t look as intimidating as a traditional interval session.
Give yourself plenty of easy running and recovery around your faster sessions. The aim isn’t to make every run difficult – it’s to make the hard runs count.
Fartlek Training Vs Tempo Running: What’s The Difference?
Fartlek training and tempo running can both involve running at a challenging pace, but they work differently. The simplest distinction is that fartlek training involves changing your pace, while tempo running usually involves maintaining a sustained effort.
| Fartlek Training | Tempo Running | |
| Pace | Changes throughout the workout | Relatively consistent |
| Effort | Faster and easier sections | Sustained hard effort |
| Structure | Flexible | Usually more structured |
| Guidance | Can use landmarks, hills, time or feel | Usually based on time, distance, or pace |
| Recovery | Easier running between efforts | Often no recovery during the main effort |
A fartlek might involve running hard for two minutes before lightly jogging for two minutes, then repeating the pattern. A tempo run could instead ask you to maintain a comfortably tough effort for 20 minutes without stopping or significantly slowing down.
That doesn’t mean one is inherently better than the other. They’re simply designed to provide different training stimuli.
Fartlek training gives you opportunities to practice changing pace and running faster while recovering on the move. Tempo running focuses more on your ability to sustain a challenging effort for an extended period.
Both can have a place in a training plan. Which one you land on depends on what you’re looking to improve, how you’re feeling, and what type of workout you enjoy more.
Check Out Our Guide On Whether To Focus On Speed Or Distance
Wrap Up
Fartlek training doesn’t need to be complicated. At its core, it’s just about playing with your pace – running faster when you feel ready, recovering when you need to, and repeating the process.
You don’t need a track, expensive gear, or a perfectly structured training plan. You can use a stopwatch, follow landmarks, attack a couple of hills, or just run by vibes.
That flexibility is what makes fartlek training so useful. It can help you develop speed, build endurance, and become more comfortable changing pace, while keeping your workouts varied and interesting.
So, the next time you set off for a run, try putting the watch away and seeing what happens when you play with your speed. You may just discover that getting quicker can be fun.
Check Out Our Guide On How To Fall In Love With Running Again
Loves Parkrun. Hates running uphill. After investing in his first pair of proper running shoes, James was inspired to found What We Running in 2026 with the aim of sharing his favourite tips, tricks, and motivational hacks needed to sustain a running journey.
