Having the Courage to Start

"The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start."
-John Bingham 

I remember what running was like before I became a runner.  We used to do “the mile” once a year in school, and every year I dreaded that day.  I wasn’t even able to run the whole mile, and in the short stretches where I did manage to run, my throat burned and my legs felt heavy and sluggish.  I didn’t understand how some people in my grade could finish in six minutes.  I especially didn’t understand the few people who seemed not just unfazed by this relatively short ordeal, but actually seemed to enjoy it.   

Fartleks: or, Sprinting for Non-Sprinters

fartlek |ˈfärtlik|
noun
a system of training for distance runners in which the terrain and pace are continually varied to eliminate boredom and enhance psychological aspects of conditioning.
alternately: a system of training in which you will simultaneously curse and praise the day the Swedes introduced this brilliant torture to the rest of the world.
ORIGIN 1940s: from Swedish, from fart ‘speed’ + lek ‘play.’

Today I want to talk about my simultaneously most and least favorite exercise: the fartlek. Fartlek is Swedish for “speed play,” and it’s a more flexible version of interval training. It’s most often used in reference to running, but the principles can be adapted for essentially any cardio workout: running, walking, cycling, or swimming.