Fartlek Workout - Don't worry, it's not another way to pass gas!

Today Sabu and I tried out a Fartlek workout and it was great fun! Despite the fact that I felt ridiculously sore from my brief weightlifting the day before, I enjoyed the unique workout and feel great now.

I'm fundraising for the N/a'an Ku se Foundation for my next race (October 19th in Namibia), a duathlon in Windhoek. My goal is to raise $200 USD to help purchase a tire for the research which is done for the African Wild Dog here at the Foundation. If you could donate $5, that would be great!

So, what the heck is Fartlek workout!? It's Swedish for a speed changing workout and slightly different than other speed changing workouts like a ladder or a tempo run. This one is great for groups or more than one person, though I enjoyed it with my four-legged friend as well. You warm up for 5-10 minutes then keep a steady pace and decide random times to sprint (to the tree, to the sign, etc.). It helps to rev up the body and can be a really nice change to the every day run.

How did Sabu do? Well, we're working on "sprint with me", but he was getting better and better at increasing his speed to match mine. I alternated between looking ahead and not tripping over a rock, and turning back to encourage Sabu. While I don't think I hit a full-on sprint, we did go very fast and got a great workout in. Hopefully the next few times we do it, Sabu will understand more about it and get more into it.

Highly recommended workout! Here is a link to a comparison of Fartlek, Tempo and Interval workouts for your perusal by Active.com.

While we went for our run, we passed a water hole and saw tracks from the local Giraffe. I snapped a picture of them the day before and got it edited by KromePhotos

to help with the brightness. Enjoy our long-legged friend!