Mona Fartlek — Australia’s gift to the running world
This is unstructured chaos disguised as art and famous for a reason.
I just did this for the first time, and I gotta say that I absolutely love it! It caters to the speed demon/fast-twitch folks, but just like I don’t play nice with tempo runs, slow-twitch folks should do this like they should be eating their veggies.
What is it?
The Mona Fartlek is a 20-minute running workout cooked up by Aussie legend Steve Moneghetti, a retired Olympic professional runner and world championship medal holder.
It’s simple: alternate between running hard and chilling (well, “chilling” at a jog). The lineup:
- 2 x 90 sec hard at slightly slower than current 5k fitness pace (use VDOT calculator), 90 sec jog (keep the jog slightly faster than an easy run or slightly slower than marathon pace)
- 4 x 60 sec hard at current 5k fitness pace (use VDOT calculator), 60 sec jog (keep the jog slightly faster than an easy run or slightly slower than marathon pace)
- 4 x 30 sec hard at current 3k/2-mile fitness pace (use VDOT calculator), 30 sec jog (keep the jog slightly faster than an easy run or slightly slower than marathon pace)
- 4 x 15 sec hard at current 1500m/1-mile 5k fitness pace (or all out!), 15 sec jog (keep the jog slightly faster than an easy run or slightly slower than marathon pace)
That’s it. You’re in, you’re out. This is not easy!
How to do it
Start with 15-20 minutes of easy running to wake up the legs. Then hit the intervals above, keeping the hard bits hard (but not death-march hard) and the jogs relaxed, not walking. Wrap it up with 5-15 min easy running to cool down. Pro tip: do it on a flat road or trail so you’re not dodging curbs or cars.
Why it’s important
This workout hits both your aerobic and anaerobic engines. Translation: it makes you better at going fast and bouncing back. It also sharpens your pace control, teaches you to handle speed changes, and fits into pretty much any training block without wrecking you. Fast, fun, and efficient — what’s not to like?
Fun Fact – Steve Moneghetti (love that name btw!) has the record for a classic point to point race here in Sydney, Australia called “City To Surf”. You go from the middle of the city to the beach… pretty dope and super hilly. But his record time is 40 minutes and 3 seconds back in 1991 (24 years ago!) Absolute bananas CRAZY! For reference, most fast people do it between 55-70 minutes, and my fastest time to date is 53 minutes.
