Fartlek in the base phase: how do you proceed and why this way ?

let's start with the end of your post and work backwards because that makes it easier to understand the answers. you ended by asking:

what do you think is the best approach for amateur runners... and most importantly why ?

the why depends on who you are, where you are in your running career, which event you are training for and how many times you've been through base phase before. in short, it depends on what you are trying to achieve and the journey you need to make to get you there.

training is a goal-based endeavour. by which I mean that you start with a goal and the objective is to take you from where you are to where you want to be.

so, you start by analysing yourself and let's say you determine that in order to get where you want to go you will need to be doing a lot of speed development work in the early season and summer. an 800m runner who needs to work on his flat 400m speed, for example.

that will require a fair amount of fast running, on the track, over short distances, with long recoveries. to prepare for that you will need to have done several weeks of hill work and some sharpening over short distances. to prepare for that you will need to have done some Daniels-type striders over various distances so you spend some of your base phase doing a fartlek-type session consisting of slow jogging interspersed with faster paced work over distances of up to around 150 - 200m.

alternatively, suppose you are a 5000m runner who can do 400m in 51 flat but your endurance is not up to scratch and you tire badly in the last kilometre of races.

for you, the track work you are preparing for will consist (at least in part) of long intervals at 10km pace, or at critical velocity pace if you prefer, off short recoveries, working towards a slightly faster pace while keeping the recoveries very short.

to prepare for that your base phase will have you doing a different type of fartlek with longer efforts starting at around half-marathon pace. over a couple of months you increase the pace and reduce the recoveries so that you are gradually moving towards the race specific work you need to do to achieve your goal.

have a clearly defined goal and base your training on what is required to move you towards that goal.

choose the specific stress that induces the specific adaptation that makes you better suited to meet your performance goal.

Cheers.

Thank you for your very insightful answer Cottonshirt.

You mentioned that the answer also depends on the number of times the runner has gone through a base phase.

Could you expand on that ?

how many times you have been through base phase before is a way of referring to your experience and your current position vis a vis your goal. ultimately, all training decisions are about the most efficient way to get from where you are to where you want to be.

"have a clearly defined goal and base your training on what is required to move you towards that goal."

if you have been through base phase a couple of times with your current goal and made little identifiable progress, and particularly if you have made little progress in areas of specific weakness (the 800m guy who needs more speed, for example) then it might be time to decide more fundamental issues such as whether or not you are focusing on the correct event, is your goal still in sight or is it time to reasses the direction your journey takes.

you would obviously need to know the answers to these questions before deciding which type of fartlek session to run.

if, on the other hand, this is the first base phase for you, or maybe a second or even a third after a good season of clear progress, then you are good to go and can choose a specific type of fartlek to run.

anything that helps you understand where you are, is relevant.

Cheers.

I suggest you reread Livingston page 62-63 ---- Leg-Speed Drills & 1. Alactic Exercise.

To continue...

These short bursts are much different than longer "intervals" where VO2 and lactic systems are stressed (which are to be avoided during base phase, according to Lydiard).

That makes sense. Thanks again for your answers. Very helpful !

I never said anything to the contrary.

On the other hand, these kenyan 1'/1' intervals are not alactic short bursts. They are short intervals performed in the base phase.

Different things work for different people.

Perhaps the most important thing to remember about base training is that it primarily develops what is "basic" to an athlete--not to an event. And, as Cottonshirt suggests out, what is basic to an individual may change as s/he matures (physically, and within a particular event).

The key, I think, is that base training should make only mild demands on someone's adaptation reserves. So it should focus primarily on developing what "comes easy" to the athlete. For an all-slow-twitch individual, that might mean plenty of miles at a steady pace, with only very limited higher-intensity work. For a speed-oriented 800/1500 runner, on the other hand, to focus primarily on logging lots of miles (especially during the early part of the base phase) makes no sense: that doesn't come easily for such an athlete, and adjusting to it can drain the adaptation reserves that you'd want to tap much later in the season, during the time of peak races.

This goes beyond just running. Suppose you have a fine all-round high school athlete who's done well in a number of team sports and decided that s/he wants to give cross-country a try in the fall. The emphasis on his or her base training--again, especially during the early part of the summer--should be on a variety of activities, because that matches who the athlete is: some running, yes, but also games (pickup basketball or soccer or ultimate frisbee, maybe), swimming, etc. About the worst thing for this individual would be to drop all outside activity and start slogging through a lot of steady-paced miles, because that would call for a lot of adaptation and drain those reserves--resulting in a runner who, if s/he even remained healthy, would probably run season's-best times in September, show little or no progress thereafter, and not be able to contribute much during the championship season.

And even for the more mature 800/1500 runner who's planning on doing a fall of cross-country, the emphasis in his/her base-phase running, particularly in the early weeks or months, should be a mix: lots of variety in speed and terrain, accumulating mileage more from varied-speed runs--fartlek, in other words--than from steady efforts.