Punching in

Base One, in the Friel book, is some kind of godawful boring.

It's all long, steady miles with some high-cadence and one-leg drills thrown in for good measure. Had I not started doing that stuff in June, I'm sure it wouldn't be so bad.

But since my race season effectively ended on the slimy spot of death on the West Papio trail, I've been doing nothing but long miles ever since. Bleh.

But Base Two started today, which means it's time to add a small amount of spice to the proceedings: tempo intervals.

The word "interval" makes some guys get all "older brother who is smarter than you and knows what's best for you and will let you know about it," which is fine if your definition of interval means only "high-intensity death sprints."

Those intervals will come, but not until April at the earliest. Right now, intervals are long, moderate-intensity grinds - zone 3, if you're keeping track. It was 30 minutes at that tempo today. By the time we get to the heavy stuff, it'll be 60 minutes and then some.

Step by step, the edge gets sharper.