Dear Coach: I have been averaging 50 miles per week over the last four years. Recently, I have cut back to ten miles per week because of pain in my knee. I have orthotics and added Spenco pads to prevent shin splints. I am afraid that I am losing the benefit of all my hard training. Can you help me? Bud.

Dear Bud: I strongly urge to make an immediate visit to your podiatrist. It may well be that placing pads under your orthotics has caused a different imbalance and placed stress on your knee. Also, your orthotics are quite old and possibly need replacement. Orthotics wear out over time--I usually get mine replaced every two to three years. If you continue to engage in self-diagnosis, you face the risk of compounding your problem and facing a long layoff.

Dear Coach: I set out to run a 3:20 marathon at Steamtown. I needed to run about 7:35 per mile. I ran the first miles in 7:00, was at 72:30 at the 10-mile mark and thought I was in good shape because I had a three-minute cushion. However, the wheels feel off at mile 23 and I limped in with a 3:25. What went wrong? Andy.

Dear Andy: I think your mistake was going out too hard. A 7:35 pace was a realistic goal for you because of your 41- minute 10K times. The best way to accomplish your goal is to run an even pace. My three fastest marathons occurred when I ran the first half and second half within 45 seconds of each other. Let me tell you in layman's terms the physiology behind why you should run even splits in a marathon. When you go out at a 7:15 pace, you begin to burn fuel (your main energy source is glycogen) at a 7:15 effort. When you slow down to 7:35's, your body does not shift over to burning fuel at 7:35. Instead, it continues to burn at a 7:15 pace. I know you carbo-loaded and took sports drinks during the race so you should have had enough fuel to see you through 26.2 miles at a 7:35 pace. Because you were burning energy at a faster rate, you essentially ran out of fuel around 23 miles and the only source left to use was muscle-- that is why you crashed and burned.

Dear Coach: I recently purchased a heart monitor. I am a 28 year-old female. What should I keep my heart rate under for the first half of the marathon I am about to run? I recently ran a half marathon in 1:49 with my heart rate under 165 and felt like I did not push myself. I want to run my marathon in 3:45. Janet.

Dear Janet: Even though I am a big fan of heart monitor training, I am not a big believer in relying on the monitor in a race. There are things you can do in a race setting that cannot be duplicated in training. There have been times in races that, if I relied on heart rate, I would have slowed down because my heart rate was so high. However, I knew that I could keep up the pace in competition and did so, resulting in some personal best times. You can use the monitor as guidance during the first part of the race, trying to keep your effort between 75 percent and 80 percent (using the Karvonen formula). After that, you should try to rely on perception of effort. This is one of the reasons that I have my runners do up 13 miles at predicted marathon pace during their heavy training because it helps them learn the effort in a fatigued state. They are better able to maintain that effort in a race situation. In your case, you should try to run 10 to 12 miles at 8:30 per mile two to three weeks before your marathon to see whether a 3:45 is a realistic goal.

Coach Kirt West is a private coach for motivated adult runners. Questions for him can be sent by e-mail to Kirt West or c/o of the Washington Running Report.