It's that time of the year again, time to lay your base or foundation for training later in the season. Base training is characterized by long, slow or long, steady distance workouts. The best way to describe the base training process is training to train.

During base training, your body will go through physiological adaptations that will prepare you for more intense training in the spring. Here are some things your body will go through:

> Your muscles, ligaments and tendons will strengthen, which enables you to handle increased volume and intensity. This might be the most important adaptation.

> Your body learns to burn fat for fuel and spares glycogen, which allows you to go farther without the dreaded bonk.

> You learn the neuromuscular coordination required to perform smooth, efficient movements. Exercise performance becomes more economical and fluid, which requires less energy.

> Your blood volume increases, increasing the ability to deliver oxygen to working muscles.

> You strengthen your heart so that you are able to pump a higher volume of blood with each beat. One way to see if this is working is to measure your resting heart rate. As you become fit, your resting heart rate decreases.

> You build more capillaries, which deliver more oxygen to the cells.

> You increase the size and number of mitrochondria, which are the powerhouses of the cell.

Taken altogether, these changes are referred to as building a bigger engine, and they increase your capacity for work later in the season.

Some people utilize a heart rate monitor to ensure they don't work harder then they should. During the first few weeks it may be difficult to stay in the proper heart rate zones because of reduced fitness. In this case, perceived exertion can be a better guide. On a scale of one to 10, you'll want to keep these workouts fewer than six and mostly in the three to four range.

Rather than focusing on a set distance, athletes should consider training for a specific amount of time. So whether you are running, swimming, biking, walking or rowing, start your workouts at a manageable time for your given fitness level. That could be 20 minutes or more than an hour. Each week, you can increase your longer session by five to 15 minutes until you reach your desired length of time. For swimming, that might be an hour, for running that might be two hours and for cycling that could be up to four or five hours depending on the distance race or event for which you are training.

The most difficult part of base training can be holding back on days where you feel good. For the next six to eight weeks, check your ego and focus on keeping your heart rate in zone one or two or keeping your perceived exertion at less than a six. You’ll thank yourself when it comes time to start adding some intensity into your training schedule.

All right, it’s time to head out for a long, slow run in preparation for marathon season. See you out there on the trails.