Hi
I'm stuck on a grotty 50 mins. for my 10k (the last three races). I'm not too disappointed as I used to be rather tubby, but I do want to break at least 47 mins. so I've started doing some speed work. Intervals - 400/600m at abt 80% MHR. But I've read I need to do some fartlek work too. What is the difference between interval and fartlek and is there anything else I can do to build up speed over 50 mins. ... ?
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400m with 200m walk recovery x 3
5 minutes rest, then repeat.
You could use a track and do shorter reps like this, or you could do 1000m reps all in less than 5 minutes (say 4 mins 50 seconds)if you want to break 50 min for 10k. then you'd get used to how that pace feels. I've tried this at my projected race pace and it works, helping you to settle into a pace. If you're doing 1k intervals, do about 4 or more and have like 4-5 mins rest in between.
Alternatively, intervals can be done for time, such as 2 mins fast, 2 mins slow. Remember your recoveries can be walks, jogs or complete rests.
Fartlek is more informal than intervals, it's usually not measured, you see an object in front and increase your pace til you reach it, you can aim to have about 5-10 bursts of speed during your run depending on how long you're accelerating for. it's also good to finish off with a few strides, accelerating over 50-100m gradually, before cooling down.
i hope that helps, those are my own experiences, there's probably some articles on this site, too!