Fartleks on long runs

[dragitoff]

I was just curious if any of you do fartleks on long runs? For those who do not know what they are, that question could sound extremely funny as the kid in me always laughs when I say that word.

I have been working to shave my half-marathon time down and I've trimmed 4minutes off it (previous PR was 2:01 and is now 1:57) doing that. I make myself keep all miles under 9 minutes and then start doing them if I ever get over 9mm for 30 seconds every 2 minutes. I listen to Pandora when running so anytime a commercial comes on, I do a fartlek regardless of my pace.

 

[FFigawi]

My long runs are more intervals than steady pace, but I do a lot of fartleks and ladders and strides and other similar things during my weekday runs. As they say, the only way to run faster is to run faster.

 

[dragitoff]

My long runs are more intervals than steady pace, but I do a lot of fartleks and ladders and strides and other similar things during my weekday runs. As they say, the only way to run faster is to run faster.

It has certainly helped me out on improving pace alot, especially since I've abandoned the run/walk method and went to straight running. I routinely see negative splits on half-marathon distances or shorter and I feel that is attributed to doing this on longer runs.