I wish I had read a post like this in 2002. I AM telling YOU that breaking a 2.20 marathon is possible for anyone with a limited amount of ‘talent’. I started with a marathon 2.43.36 at the 2002 New York City Marathon. I didn’t improve my time until five years later at the 2007 Grandmas Marathon, where I ran a 2.40.02 (after a 1.10 in the first half!). I’m going to list 8 reasons why I ran over 20 minutes faster for the distance later that year. It is vital that you take this seriously because, in most cases, you will be up against opposition that will oppose your well-intentioned goals.
#1 If I can do it, you can too
It’s a tough goal for many runners to achieve, but all too often we give up or lose confidence when we don’t reach our goals soon enough. The key to running faster is your willingness to break out of your normal way of thinking. Who cares if someone thinks you’re not capable of running a dream time. The great billy mills said it best:
The subconscious mind cannot tell the difference between reality or imagination.
Billy has always been a hero to me because he was not only a great athlete, but also a good person who endured hard training and ultimately won a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. He wrote a great book called Lessons of Lakota that is worth reading. I have attached a great video that can add more details for this post. He didn’t have much talent or ability, but he was crazy enough to train and work and trust me, I’m no better than you.
#2 You are motivated
This is the key way you will get a moment like this. I am not going to pretend that a marathon time below the 2.20 barrier is a piece of cake. It is an extremely difficult thing to do. In 2007 I was just one of 63 men to break time across the nation, considering we live in a country of over 360 million the task is no easy one. In college I wouldn’t have even told you that I would have broken 2.20. The marathon was not an event I thought I would ever run, but breaking that time barrier was possible in my mind a long time ago. I had only run the 5000m in 15.19 in college, but I loved the sport too much to give up my dreams of running a highly competitive time. He was willing to make that sacrifice. If you are visiting this site, you are already highly motivated to learn. This is probably the best reason why you can run a fast marathon. Your motivation level has to be through the roof if you’re going to attack time, but it IS possible and it CAN be done and I know you’re capable of it.
#3 It is done constantly every year
You have to put yourself on the level of thinking that others run faster than you. Don’t give me this ‘Well, other runners are more talented than me’. I don’t want to hear it. I didn’t follow the status quo of setting limits and neither should you. The guys who are breaking the 2.20 barrier want it. They do the work and they understand what kind of energy it takes to get a moment like that. They are not different from you. I have met countless runners who were MUCH more ‘talented’ than me and who never broke time. I’m sorry, but I’ll never believe it’s solely a matter of ‘talent’ to run a great marathon time. The heart and attitude are much more lethal. If you take those two features, which you already have, you’re already on your way to achieving that standard. According to USA Track and Field, 50 men broke the 2:20:00 barrier at the 2012 US Olympic Marathon Trials. This is just one race, as it took a time of 2:19:00 to qualify for the 2012 US Olympic Trials. flight/hotel to Trials) or the standard time 2.22.00 “B” (you paid on your own but qualified for the 2008 Trials). If others are doing it, what’s stopping you from doing the same? If you’re slower than a 2.40 marathoner, keep reading, there’s something else below for you too.
#4 Because negativity will make you more determined to do it
If you’re like me and like being told you can’t do something, a little negativity will go a long way to getting you to the finish line with a time under 2.20.00. A leading elite American marathon runner told me that he should quit. This was when he was still a 2.43 marathoner. He respected my work ethic, but he never thought I was capable of running anything remotely close to the 2008 US Olympic Trials “B” standard time, which at the time was 2.22.00. This was 21 minutes faster than he had ever run the distance. I don’t necessarily blame him for his comment that, at the time, I wasn’t anywhere near that time. It’s a tough thing to lose that much time for 26.2 miles, but he encouraged me and I knew in my heart that I was capable of it. You have to accept negative feedback and use it as fuel. Think about what happens to most of those who do the opposite and choose to listen to the ‘experts’ who seem to know us best. They never achieve what they dream of. Spin your thoughts around positivity. Think of all the hardships that great Kenyan athletes have had to endure. They are hungry, they want it. You have to have that same tenacity in your own training. It’s your ticket to a sub time 2.20.00. I can assure of that.
#5 Faith
I will never hide my Christian faith and I can safely say that running 2.19 was what I consider to be a blessing from God. Whatever your faith, believing in the power of God, who gave you your body and mind, is much more powerful and knows your true potential and can do much more than you could ever hope or ask for. I have attached a video of the Matthew West song ‘The Motions’. Sometimes we discover our true capabilities only by focusing on our faith and I can tell you from experience, training for years in hail storms and every other imaginable weather condition and failing many more times than I succeeded in marathons, my faith helped me break the 2.20 marathon barrier. I am not different from you. We both have faith in ourselves or a higher power and this is the lethal tool to take your time to places you don’t think are possible.
For man this is impossible, not for God, ALL things are possible with God-Mark 10:27
#6 Because running faster, one step at a time, will eventually take you below the 2.20 barrier
I won’t send sunlight your way and tell you everything is rosy and it will be a walk in the park to earn a time like 2.19.59. Wait for tests and trials. What I will tell you is if you are willing to accept small increments of improvement along the way. See yourself wasting a few seconds or minutes here and there, the most it will be. In my case, it took me years to get below 2.20. It can get to you faster, possibly MUCH faster. My teammate, while in the Army World Class Athlete Program, Kenny Foster, came into the program, as did I, on parole status. We both didn’t belong to an elite unit like that from the beginning. Kenny was a much better marathon runner going into the program than I was. He had a personal best of 2.29.59 that he ran in the Marine Corps marathon (for comparison, I was just a 2.43.36 marathoner with a 10-mile best of 51.51). He was accepted in mid-2009 and most recently broke the 2.20 barrier at the 2011 California International Marathon in December, finishing with a time of 2.19.49 and narrowly missing out on qualifying for the 2012 US Olympic Marathon Trials. We both had a LOT of trials, hits and misses along the way, before we came anywhere near a time like that. The training, the racing along the way, slowly but surely, got us in good shape to do it. Same goes for you. You have to take your upgrades and use them to fuel your goal setting engine. It is an extremely difficult time to run, but his willingness to focus shows me that he is already capable of running as fast, or even faster, time than we have run.
#7 2.43 to 2.19 motivates you? How about 3:30 to 2:29?
I am stating this as a reason why it can also run under 2.20. Because? If someone can go from running in 3.30 for the marathon to running in 2.29, so can you. My friend, Justin Mock, did exactly that. Boulderrunning.com did an excellent article on him, as he finished as the best American in the 2010 London Marathon with a personal best time of 14 minutes of 2.29.59. You can read his interview here. Justin continues to inspire me to this day because I know his background and how much he has improved. Many of you are currently at the same skill level that he was or is. You could possibly be much faster. All the more reason to believe that breaking the 2.20 barrier is within reach.
For the rest, brothers, all that is true, all that is honest, all that is just, all that is pure, all that is lovely, all that is of good name; If there is any virtue, and if there is any praise, think about this – Philippians 4:8
#8 The time you spend thinking about it can help you do it
I have been fascinated by how our thoughts affect athletic performance. I have purchased countless books over the years on sports psychology and mind training related books that helped me on the path to breaking 2.20. One of those books was The Power of Your Subconscious Mind by Joseph Murray. This is really a great reference book. Think Roger Bannister, the first man to break the 4-minute mile. How many people thought it was impossible before he did it.
How many men broke that time after running that beautiful final time of 3.59? It was no longer an impossible barrier. IT WAS a psychological barrier that needed to be overcome. I’ll close with a story Murry talked about in The Power of Your Subconscious Mind, and as you read it, think about how it relates to your own thinking. What I have tried to do with this post is simply to make you think. Breaking 2.20 for the marathon doesn’t have to be a time only ‘talented’ runners do. Who prevents you from running that time? Nobody can. That’s a beautiful thing. You are in control. Your goal may not be to break 2.20 for the classic 26.2-mile distance and that’s totally fine. You can still take something from this post and use it for other races. What is your goal for the 5K? 20:00? 18:00? 15:00? I can tell you that most likely, whatever goal you have set for yourself, you are capable of performing even at a higher level than you can imagine.
This is the story of Joseph Murray. Think about it.
Philippus Paracelsus, a famous Swiss alchemist and physician, who lived between 1493 and 1541, affirmed what is now an obvious scientific fact when he said: ‘Whether the object of your faith is real or false, you will obtain the same effects. Thus, if I believed in the statue of St. Peter as I should have believed in St. Peter himself, I will get the same effects that I should have gotten from St. Peter. But that is superstition. Faith, however, produces miracles; and whether true or false faith, it will always produce the same wonders.