Coach Jay -

I just ran my third marathon in Chicago and I PR'd bigtime. I ran 3:16, down from 3:34 at New York in 2008. I really want to run Boston and I'm signed up for PF Chang's. I've taken three weeks easy like my coach told me to, but now that I'm back at it I'm lacking desire. I live in Nebraska and it's tough to train. Any advice?

-Jason

Jason-

First, congratulations on the big PR at Chicago this year. I'm sure it's hard to have run that well and miss the Boston qualifying mark, yet an 16 minute jump in one year is fantastic.

I'm going to break my answer into to two parts. First part is simple—Boston qualifying for this year is over; the race filled in the past few days and they don't seem to be adding any more spaces. Many are surprised (shocked?) that it filled/closed so early, but that's the fact.

That leads to the second part. You may not be ready for another big marathon build-up, especially considering that in the part of the world you live in you're about to enter the least hospitable four months to be a runner. The worst, coldest most unforgiving long run I've ever done was in Lincoln, NE in February. I ran two hours and ran the last 80 minutes running 250m back and forth, in front of a warehouse as that was the only shelter from the constant 30 mph north wind...and temperatures in the single digits. Cold and nasty weather. My guess is that you subconsciously know that building up from 10 mile long runs to 20 mile long runs is going to be challenging in the coming months.

So why not just make a commitment to stay fit, to run 4-5 days a week, to add some cross training or some other activity—anything from yoga to weight lifting—that will keep you fit. You won't lose your overall fitness and then when March rolls around you build up and get that Boston qualifier sometime in the spring or summer.

I know this probably isn't what you want to hear, but your definitely a runner and sometimes as a runner you need to enjoy running most days, without a formal goal to train towards.

Stay warm Jason!

Coach Jay-

I've enjoyed reading your blog and as the father of a 15-year-old daughter, who runs cross country on her varsity team here in Arizona, I appreciate your tips and advice for HS athletes. I want to get my daughter a running book for christmas and I'm wondering if you have any recommendations.

-Matt

Hi Matt-

Interesting question, so thanks for asking. I don't think I've ever been asked this and to be honest, the answer for a young woman is much different than for a young man. First book NOT to buy is Running with the Buffaloes; it's a good book for a young man about to run in college, but not a good book for a young woman several years from entering college. The Perfect Mile is a great read and well-written, yet might be a bit long/dry for a HS girl. There is a book called Running with the Legends that is great because it's short 10-20 page bios of various runners and 1/3 of the profiles are on female runners. The profile on Lorraine Moller is great. Finally, Best Efforts would be a great read because the author's just a wonderful writer and he's such a gentle soul, which comes through in his pieces on the famous runners he's trained with and/or written about.

I'm sure I'm missing several obvious books, but that's a start. And if a young writer is reading this then it's obvious that there's a void that can be filled. Go chronicle a HS girls XC team and I'd bet you'd find a story.

Thanks Matt and it's great to hear that a father is sharing running with his daughter.

Coach Jay coaches athletes at RunnersCoach.com and blogs at CoachJayJohnson.com. And don't forget, if you have training question for Coach Jay, email him here: coachjay@nike.com.

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