Dear Coach: I am a 41 year old male who started running January 1 after twelve years of a relatively dormant lifestyle. I am 5' 9" tall and weighed 232 on January 1. When I began to run, I could not even run a quarter mile. Today, I weigh 185 pounds (20 more to lose) and can run five miles in roughly 46 minutes. I have jumped into some 5Ks and consistently run between 27 and 28 minutes. My goal is to run 5Ks under eight minutes per mile. Is this possible and how long should it take? Mark.

Dear Mark: First, let me congratulate you on your lifestyle change. I think an eight minute per mile pace is realistic. Keep in mind that it took you twelve years to get out of shape so it will take some time to get back into shape. I suggest that you slowly build up your weekly mileage following the rule that you do not increase your weekly mileage by more than ten percent, and every three to four weeks should be a short week. I also suggest that you incorporate a long run into your running routine by increasing your long by one mile every three weeks. Make sure your long run is comfortable before increasing it. Within three to four months, a long run of five miles can become a ten miler. Once you get up to weekly mileage of 25 to 30 miles and a ten mile long run, you may want to start doing a 20 minute anaerobic threshold run at 80 to 85 percent of maximum heart rate. After a few weeks of AT training, I am confident that you will be running your 5Ks under eight minutes per mile.

Dear Coach: I have a goal of breaking four hours in the marathon. I have been unsuccessful in my first four attempts. I have made all the rookie mistakes of going out too fast, not taking enough water or carbs during the race, and poor training. I am now running 30 to 35 miles per week and within the past year have run 44:30 for 10K, 1:13 for ten miles, and 1:41 for the half marathon. Do I have what it takes to run sub-4:00? Peter.

Dear Peter: There is no reason why you cannot run sub-4 hours. In fact, I think you should be able to run around 3:40. The main ingredient missing from past training has been training at marathon pace. To run a sub-4:00 marathon, your Predicted Marathon Pace should be nine minutes per mile. Begin running three nonstop PMP miles twelve weeks before the marathon, and add a mile each week until two weeks before the marathon when you will do a 13 mile PMP run. Make sure that you are doing your easy days at 60 to 70 percent of maximum heart rate--you should be able to maintain a conversation without any effort. Long runs should be between 60 and 75 percent. Finally, be sure to taper three to four weeks before your marathon, with your last long run occurring three weeks before the race. Reduce your mileage 25 percent three weeks before the race, 50 percent two weeks before, and 75 percent in the final week.

Dear Coach: I am a 17:00 5K runner who often gets a bad case of stomach cramps in 5K races. I usually have to slow down and walk a bit. It does not happen to me when I run 800s twice a week. I usually drink four to six ounces of water an hour before the race. Could my problem be due to a lack of oxygen? Ron

Dear Ron: It sounds to me like you are the victim of the infamous stitch. One suggestion that has worked with some of my runners is to do some breathing exercises. Lie on your back and put a large book on your rib cage. Then practice breathing as the book goes up and down on your rib cage. Secondly, you may also want to increase your warm-up before the race. Run at least one mile very easy and then do a series of 40 to 50 yard strides at race pace effort just before the start of the race so that you are hot and sweaty when the gun goes off. Finally, taking in too much water can affect some runners. Generally, you will not get dehydrated in a short event like the 5K so you may want to stop all water intake two hours before the race.

Coach Kirt West is a private coach who works with motivated adult runners. Questions for Coach West can be e-mailed to Kirt West or submitted c/o the Washington Running Report.