Fartlek, despite its off-color sound, doesn\’t fall into the \”unprintable\” category. It derives from the Swedish for \”speed play\”.

I first encountered \”fartlek\” in reference to cross-country skiing. It\’s rather like a song I heard as a young child: \”Giddy-up, giddy-up little pony/Now walk a little while\”. Speed play is very similar; whether on skis or on a bicycle.

Incidentally, this predates My Little Pony® by many years. It was from a kiddie book that my brother had, about a little boy named Billy who got a pony.

A rider doing an interval workout is performing speed play, too. The intervals might be very fast and hard; and the time between them very slow and easy. A cyclist who is out on a casual long ride also might goes fast or slow at whim. Maybe I should try that when I\’m out on a Sunday long ride; instead of trying to maintain a steady pace!

In a sense, you could say that we perform fartlek all day long! Sometimes we walk fast; and at other times we drag our feet. We might run like heck to catch the bus before it pulls away from the bus stop.

There you have it. Play with your speed, and have fun!