Hi, this is Debbie Boyle's coach at Mojo for Running with podcast number 88, running,

the difference between fartlics, repeats, intervals, and tempos.

I have planned for this podcast to be about hit, high-intensity

interval training, but as I started preparing for that podcast, I realized I should first clarify

what I meant by intervals. Then I got to thinking how the terms interval and repeat are sometimes

used interchangeably, which adds to the confusion.

As I thought about that, I decided to go ahead and record a podcast explaining those two terms,

plus distinguishing them from two other terms, Fartlicks and Tempos.

The hit podcast will follow next week.

Most people learn the meaning of words, not by studying their definitions in school,

but by listening to the way they're used in conversation.

And as they hear them used by different people in different contexts,

they're able to fine-tune the meaning.

This seems to work pretty well, but some words are problematic because

their meanings are similar, and this is true of the four words I want to talk about today,

Fartlecks, repeats, intervals, and tempos as they apply to running. Technically, they each have a specific

meaning, but people don't necessarily use them with that specific meaning in mind.

And to that end, they become general catch-alls, which is certainly confusing.

I've mentioned Fartlicks many times before.

Fartlick, F-A-R-T-L-E-K, is Swedish for Speedplay.

A textbook Fartlick would be a run that alternates easy running segments with harder running segments.

But I would say that any more, Fartlick generally refers to any segmented run,

...