Nov 17, 1999

I have run four marathons, finishing from 4:14 to 5:30 (hot and hilly). My first-half splits have always been within five minutes of two hours. As you can see, the second half of each race has been miserable.

I do three long runs of 18 to 20 miles before each marathon and run 25 to 40 miles for the preceding 12 to 16 weeks. I am getting discouraged because I want to break four hours. What can I do to reach my goal? (Randy Belstad, Spokane, Washington)

REPLY: You seem to train right, but the opening pace (meaning the miles well before halfway) might be too fast. That's the only way I can explain your fairly dramatic slowdown.

Also, do you eat anything along the way -- such as bars or gels? My pace has held up much better since starting to down those products. My recent marathons are admittedly slow, but times for the halves rarely vary by more than a few minutes and often are "negative" (second faster than first).

You might profit from walking breaks too. I think of them as leg-savers that pay off in the latter half.

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