Dear Coach: This past fall I ran two marathons and then ran Disney in early January. After Disney I experienced some pain in my knee. I took off a couple of weeks and then ran a half marathon. The pain returned during the race. I have run a 3:25 marathon and need a 3:15 to qualify for Boston. I am preparing to run the Rock and Roll Marathon in San Diego in early June. What do you suggest that I do to prepare for it? R.E..

Dear R.E.: To be blunt, you are beating the hell out of your body. Racing three marathons in four month is almost always a sure ticket to disaster as you have now found out. You are probably going to have to take more time off and come back easy. I recommend that you forget about running the June marathon. If you persist in running marathons with such frequency, you will most likely continue to have knee problems, and if it is not the knee, chances are that it will be something else.

Marathons are not to be taken lightly. Forget what you may have read about Doug Kurtis and others who frequently race marathons. For us mere mortals, we should stick to racing at most two marathons a year and preferably one per year. Because the act of running a marathon (racing beyond 20 miles) tears down our bodies, I recommend that my runners taper 3-4 weeks before the marathon in order to be fresh. I insist that they take a full month recovery before returning to any kind of hard running or racing. This, of course, does not count marathons in which you essentially jog at your normal training pace. I am talking about limiting yourself to one or two marathons a year where you have an all-out effort.

I also think that by limiting yourself to one or two marathons a year, you will also be able to do some shorter racing such as 10Ks and 10 milers. This racing will help your speed, which in turn will help you run a faster marathon and perhaps qualify you for Boston.

Dear Coach: I have been working out on a consistent basis for over a year. However, I have only been running for the past six weeks. My goal is to run a spring 5K and eventually run a 10K by the end of the summer. I have been running on a treadmill and found three miles very easy to do. However, when I began to run outside when the weather got better, I could barely complete a mile. What can I do to prepare for my upcoming 5K? Rhonda

Dear Rhonda: Congratulation on making commitment to becoming a runner and taking advantage of the many races offered in Washington, DC area. As you are finding out, treadmill running is very different from outdoor running. When you run on the roads, you have to supply all the power when you push off whereas the motion of the treadmill does some of the work for you. Also, the treadmill has you running a certain pace. My guess is that you are trying to run too fast on the roads. I suggest that you do your outdoor running at an effort that would allow you to carry on a complete conversation as you run. If you were training with a heart monitor, that would be at 60-70% of Maximum Heart Rate. You should concentrate on running very easy and build up to three miles on the road before your 5K race. I think you will find that after a few more runs on the road that you will discover a comfortable conversational pace.

Attention Marathoners: For those of you training for a fall marathon, my July and September columns will offer you some of my special workouts and provide tips on how to train properly to run a good, fast marathon. My suggestion for right now is to spend May and June building a mileage base in which you increase your long run so that your weekly or bi-weekly long run is around 10-12 miles by July 1. Also, you should be doing many easy miles at 60-70% of Maximum Heart Rate and NO SPEEDWORK!

Questions for Coach West can be sent to him kirtwest@erols.com. Coach West has space in his private coaching program for motivated individuals.