To celebrate a new month and a new season, we’re launching into a new training block of fartlek ladder sessions—perfect for building speed and endurance and having a whole heap of fun in the process!

WHAT?

Ladder Session (in mins):
1-2-3-4-4-3-2-1
@ 3k-10k race effort

Recovery: 1min easy recovery jogs
Terrain: Mixed, undulating terrain.

Feels: Speed & Endurance.

Most ladder sessions run the shorter intervals faster and the longer intervals slower. So, for this workout, aim for around 3k race effort for the 1-minute intervals and slow up to 10k race effort for the 4-minute intervals.

WHY?

Ladder sessions enable us to get multiple things done in one session:

Get some solid technique work and speed development done at the start of the session when you’re fresh.
Build endurance through longer intervals in the middle.
Work on technique and speed when you’re tired at the end of the session.

And the psychology of starting and ending with shorter, faster intervals and getting through some grind work in the middle always feels right and fun when you do it!

HOW?

With almost any fartlek session you want to be finding some fun trails and offroad terrain. Don’t just keep to the concrete or running track!

The only proviso being for the faster 1-minute intervals that you want to make sure you can run safely. So find somewhere even under foot and without tight corners for the start and end of the workout.