Dear Coach: How soon can I return to running after having a baby? Sylvia.

Dear Sylvia: First, you need to get a medical clearance from your obstetrician. Assuming you get a green light, you can probably start running right away. The more important question is how you come back. Unfortunately, you will have undergone detraining as the result of the reduced exercising during the last part of your pregnancy. Thus, I recommend that you start very easy, running every other day. Run 10-15 minutes the first two or three times you run. These runs should be at a very easy, conversational effort, that is 60-70% of your maximum heart rate. Chances are that your heart rate has increased during your inactivity. Make adjustments accordingly. When you can run for 10-15 minutes without much effort, increase to 20-25 minutes. Keep on increasing in five minute increments and before you know it you will be able to run 4-6 miles quite comfortably.

Dear Coach: Can you suggest a training program moving me up from 10K racing to 10 milers? Mark.

Dear Mark: The major difference between racing 10Ks and 10 milers is that you can run a 10K slightly above your anaerobic threshold (AT) whereas 10 milers can be run at AT pace. The spring is a good time to move up in distance because there are several good 10 mile races then. The Nortel Cherry Blossom which is on April 5, fills up very fast so be sure to enter right away. There will be a new race called The Defender's 10 Mile Run being held in Washington, DC on May 31. Look in the January/February Washington Running Report for details.

I recommend that you engage in base work through January with the goal of building up your total mileage and your long run. Try to get your long run up to 10 miles. You should try to increase your mileage base by 50% of your weekly average mileage so that if you normally run about 30 miles per week, build up to 45 miles. All your runs should be at 60-70% of Maximum Heart Rate (MHR). The only track workout I advise, if you do one at all, is aerobic intervals where you run the straights at 10K effort and jog the curves very slowly.

In February, begin to do two to three AT workouts each week. AT workouts are run at 80-85% of MHR. You might run three (3) one mile repeats with 400 meters recovery between miles. You can do a 15-20 minute continuous AT run. I also suggest considering doing hill repeats where you charge up the hills at 80-85% of MHR and then jog down. Consider entering some longer races this spring, such as the Bethesda Chase 20K, the Howard County 10 Miler, or a leg of the Washington Birthday Marathon Relay.

In the middle of March, run a 10K or two to tune up for Cherry Blossom. If you want to continue to race 10 milers through the end of May, run a 10K every other week and keep on doing two to three AT runs during non-race weeks. Be sure not to do a hard workout the week of your 10-mile race.

Dear Coach: I am not absolutely sure what my maximum heart rate is. I have been using 182 as my maximum that I hit at the end of an 800-meter workout a couple of years ago. Recently, I just hit 184 while doing a similar workout. I am concerned that it might be some sort of fluke and that if I change my numbers I might be doing my workouts too hard. Dave.

Dear Dave: My guess is that your maximum heart rate is probably even higher than 184 as most runners rarely hit their maximum during a workout. However, you can confidently use 184 as your maximum Keep in mind that 800s should be run in 85-90% range. If you are running your 800s at your 5K race pace, chances are that your maximum heart rate is probably higher. I have projected my maximum heart rate to be 180 and the highest I have ever seen it is 174.

Questions for Coach West should be directed to: Kirt West or (contact the Washington Running Report. Coach West offers private coaching for motivated individuals.