Breaking Barriers

On March 26, 2011 I came to within two and half minutes of breaking through the four hour marathon barrier. This is important because in the last three years of running I have yet to do so. I now have 9 full marathons under my belt and just haven't been able to cross the finish line under four hours. And with those words I paint a very simple picture of a person who has in his path a barrier that seems impenetrable. However, in further inspection some certain facts come to light that provide a reasonable justification for the apparent failure that is, in fact, not a failure at all, but an extremely significant accomplishment in and of itself.
The most important component of this particular marathon can be found in the past four months of training. For that a bit of history is required. I hired my coach a year ago and my first goal with him was to run a marathon under four hours. The training plan he put me on worked on developing a specific energy system while additionally working on a specific muscle fiber. That being said, in several attempts to run a full my body refused to cooperate and each goal race I set ended up being lost due to illness. At the conclusion of the Las Vegas Marathon in December when I exploited my reserves within the first half resulting in a 4:30 time, I adjusted my goals and set my sights for priority number two: a 50 miler.
This training plan in progress since January has completely changed focus and e3verything has changed. All I do now is focused on the ability to run for an extended period of time. Okay, four hours is a long time too, but think about it. If 26 miles requires 4.5 hours, add another 24, take into consideration bodily degradation and you end up with a time like 10 full hours of running. This is simply not something you do over a course of a couple weeks. I have spent the last four months slowing my pace, working out details of long distance endurance running styles, and this style of running uses a full marathon as a TRAINING RUN.
Add to this a couple of life changing events and you have a race day that is somewhat clouded already that stand in the way of that 4-hour mark. These events include applying for a job in D.C. as well as leaving the current job in a week for full time schoolwork. Decisions decisions. And the irony of it all? The race was run in the rain.
Ultimately I missed my 4 hour mark once again, this time by only 2 and a half minutes. But my gain was so much more. I ran the entire race, something I have never done before. I didn't stop and I didn't quit. I will break my goal one day. Just gimme time. For now, the only time I need is that ten hours.