I'm starting up with my conventional marathon training. You know, a long run, a tempo run and maybe a fast General Aerobic, supplemented with three easy GA runs and a rest day (run 4 with Heather at 10:00 pace). But as the Fall sign-ups approach the question I'm pondering is: why beat up my body on full marathons when a half marathon offers more accurate reflections of fitness and talent 90 percent of the time? It's one thing if you have yet to complete a full marathon, or if you know there's a huge margin for improvement. Also if you have no injury history and/or are on the cusp of BQing.

I want to run well, but out of the seven marathons I've run, three were too warm, one caused an IT band injury and three were OK. That means I've had 4 marathons where I ran much slower than I felt, realistically, I could do. But the post-marathon pain is there whether you had a good race or bad.

On the half, I've had some warm days, but they only made a difference of a few minutes. On a full marathon, a warm day will add over ten minutes--sometimes a lot more--to my time, not to mention the dangers implicit to running hard for over three hours in heat. My last three marathons were in 3:12, 3:31, and 3:28. In all three my conditioning was the same and the courses were equally hilly...it was weather that made the difference.

I've never targeted a half as the big race, but I know that if I'm in shape I' run well, barring injury or extreme weather. Plus, I'll still be able to do the limbo the next day.

That said, I'll probably run a marathon this fall. I'll pray for health, good weather and no unforeseen problems. I guess it's still the super bowl of long running, and I feel I can do better than what I've done. But the HM sounds pretty good when you're at mile 22...