Marathon (SCMM) timings over the years

My first full marathon in January 2003 took 4:32:55. My 25th official FM  at SCMM 2013 was completed in 3:37:20. I have also done 6 ultra marathons and 6 'unofficial' FMs at RFL runs in 2008-09 as part of my 12 marathons in 12 months. All my runs are listed here. I have  had the good fortune of bettering my performance at Mumbai every year since 2006 and this progression  at Mumbai is generally in line with my improving fitness and endurance levels.

1. 2006                   4:42:28
2. 2007                   4:37:16
3. 2008                   4:31:09
4. 2009                   4:13:16
5. 2010                   4:00:56
6. 2011                   3:52:46
7. 2012                   3:48:57
8. 2013                   3:37:20

I did my first sub 4 hour marathon at the Suntrust Richmond  marathon in March 2009. In 2010 I missed sub 4  at the SCMM and Hartford marathon by a whisker. In 2007, 2008 and 2009 I ran a lot of marathons. In 2010 I did a 75Km at the Bangalore Ultra. During these years my focus was quantity rather than timing.  I clocked my slowest marathon time of 4:47:56 at the London marathon in April 2007. From 2011 onwards the focus shifted to  improving my marathon pace after I read 'Run Less,Run Faster'.  I have done 6 Full marathons since January 2011 most of them using the training program from this book - each has  been Sub 4 and better than the previous except for Auroville 2011. I had pretty much given up the thought of qualifying for Boston after the changes in the qualifying timings were announced in 2011. However, at the FIRST running retreat in July 2011 coach Bill Pierce surmised that with serious training I had a great chance to go below the 3:40 timing required to qualify. And  with the help of the focused and rigorous FIRST training program and the luck of all going as per plan on race day I have been able to achieve this at Mohawk Hudson River Marathon in October 2012 and the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon in January 2013. I don't see myself ever looking at another training program as this one has worked great for me.  I do not intend to push myself to improve my FM timing any further. My goal is to try and stay around 3:40 for the next couple of years - at least till I run Boston. After that I plan to focus on longer distances rather than marathon finish times!