Dark Horse - did you ever get a definitive diagnosis on what is up with your knees?

Holly, no; thanks for asking. It may be as simple as my being too tall and awkward and the stress on my knees being too great. I am not particularly graceful or well-coordinated. I have always done well at sports by doggedness and trying harder and caring more than other people--by diving to make the catch rather than letting the ball hit the ground--not by being talented. In running, the frustrating thing is that I do have some talent, in the sense that I have much greater endurance than most people, but my joints don't let me train hard enough to rise much above the mid-packers. You saw me run a sub-4:00 marathon on light training, no long run beyond 13 miles, and almost no running the month before the race because of injury. This on a tough hilly course in Kosovo, which one of the experienced participants estimated was 30 minutes slower than Boston. Probably I will never run another marathon, but stick to short races I can manage on light training. Dark Horse