Running? Easy, right?

Sometimes you gotta take your victories where you find them.

And sometimes only three and a half minutes at a time.

I need a bit of recovery this week after a good, solid, marathon buildup. And, fortunately, I get a bit of recovery this week.

Only a bit.

Coach must seem to believe I can turn it up a notch from my last marathon effort, because today was scheduled to be 10 miles at an aerobic pace.

When I went out to do it, I could still feel last week in my legs, including Sunday's 21 mile long run. The thought of 10 miles more was more than my wee, canine brain could handle. It immediately started looking for the emergency exit or the ejection switch.

But, notwithstanding the aching in the tired chassis, I rambled through one mile and settled on a plan to keep me from bailing: the Ipod Fartleck workout--a/k/a the I-Fart.

OK, admittedly we need to work on the name.

The basic plan is you only have to run hard for one song--about 3 and a half minutes on average--and then you get to ez jog.

For one song.

Then you have to run hard again.

It's a devilishly clever workout, because by the time you're looking for a way out, you're into the last chorus of the song, and you can make yourself hold out a little longer.

And when it's time to go again, you have enough in the tank you can actually go.

So, instead of running 10 miles, I "I-Farted" one song at a time until 10 miles were done.

Because the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Now for a nap.