Hey everyone, I did my first fartlek yesterday as one of the Nike Guided Runs. The thing is that the coach was saying to do my efforts at 5k pace, and the recovery at recovery pace. I’ve never done a ‘fast’ race-like 5k since I’ve just started running so my ‘5k’ pace felt quite low and the transition to recovery pace wasn’t a big transition at all. For reference, I was running recovery at roughy 6:45 / km and the efforts at 6:15. Should I run my efforts faster and my recovery slower?
Should I run my efforts faster and my recovery slower?
Yes and yes.
I sympathize since it’s really hard to know without a reference, but 5k pace is supposed to be pretty darn quick. It’s not a 5k that you’re doing just to finish, it’s a 5k that you’re doing as fast as you can.
Recovery should be between 50% and 75% of your 5k pace, so if the fastest you can run a 5k is 6:15/km, then your recovery should be around 8:20/km or slower. You might feel like you’re plodding, but you’re supposed to plod after working hard. It’s a distinct difference.
5k pace is pretty fast, as in you can’t comfortably talk to someone next to you. Recovery pace should feel very easy and where you could easily have a conversation with someone. So it depends, but it sounds like the difference could be bigger.
Are you using the guided run option on NRC? If not, I recommend it. I just finished the Next Long Run (the one immediately after the Fartlek Run) this morning. I’d say as long as your 10k pace is more effort than recovery and 5k is more effort than the 10k, you are doing fine. Just getting out and doing the run is a success!
Edit: I just noticed your post was a month old! I only found this magazine today. Hopefully your running is going well!
