FARTLEKS

I'm not sure about doing fartleks on a treadmill. I have been opposed to running inside. I prefer to run in the elements. So when I do my fartleks I do it by time rather than speed. I use to do mine in a ladder format as follows:

1 min @ 80% pace
1 min rest @ 7 minute pace
2 min @ 80% pace
2 min rest @ 7 minute pace
3 min @ 80% pace
3 min rest @ 7 minute pace
3 min @ 80% pace
2 min rest @ 7 minute pace
2 min @ 80% pace
1 min rest
1 min @ 80%.

This would take me about 21 minutes and get me slightly more than 3 miles. It is a good workout. The miles per hour thing would not work out for me. When I would do this, I would run the same loop over and over again, so that I knew where I would end up each time. There would usually be a 2 mile warm up before hand and 2 mile cool down afterwards. The pace would be set to whatever race I was training for. Usually a 5K. Hope this helps. If you want more information on Fartleks, check out Daniels Running Formula. Dr. Jack Daniels is a genius when it comes to running. The book has a lot of good information on workouts. Later

I always do this on the treadmill - almost the same speeds you're doing. I run a slow mile warmup, then do two miles of 2 min @5.8-6.0 and 2 min of 7.0 alternating, then half a mile cooldown. After doing this the last couple months, I found on my first outdoor run that my pace had improved significantly.

I don't know that I can offer any suggestions, just wanted to say me too!! It's the only way I can entertain myself enough to run on the dreadmill for more than 10 minutes.

Bigdams all my running is done outdoors my question is how on earth do I know what 80% is? I could be running what I think is a good pace but if I dont know how fast I'm traveling how do I know whether or not I'm pushing hard enough or too hard on the pace?

The 80% is just that a guestimate. However, it is based on the fact that you don't want to go all out at 100% of your pace, but a fartlek is also not meant for screwing around on either. It is used to help build up your speed through helping improve your endurance and lactate threash hold. The closer you get to that race pace, the easier you will be able to hit that race pace when the time calls for it. The fact of the matter is you are doing it over a short period of time and you want to push the pace. However, you really never want to do any type of speedwork until you have done some sort of time trial so that you have a base. This base will help you decide how fast you should at least be running and how much more you need to push yourself to reach your goal.