I honestly believe that you should simply enter a flat marathon and hope for decent conditions. I think you have the fitness to even pace yourself to a 3:59 if you managed a 4:12 in Boston this year given the course profile and the conditions. Just keep your training as it is and it should lead you where you want to be. trust yourself!

Good luck!

uli

4:12 in those conditions and the Boston course? Congratulations!
Train through the summer, do some good speed work, follow a good program and given the right day you'll get that BQ real soon.

I agree with several of the above posts...you are very close to sub 4:00...for what it's worth, to get myself into BQ shape, I spent one summer preparing for a 10K as my goal race...the following spring I dropped 30 mins off my marathon and ran a 3:10...I think the previous summer helped me get my legs in the "fast" mind frame...but I think a flat course and a good day would have you at sub 4.

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"Fortitudine vincimus"

It took me 15 marathons to get under 4 - last year and this year at Boston I finally did it. Prior to 2006, my marathons (2 to 3 a year) were all within 30 mins of each other - my first was 4:17 (2000 in Boston); then I did 4:03, 4:04; 4:10, 4:14....with my worst time being 4:38, best time 4:01. You get the drift. Like you twinmomrunner, I had no problems with distance, and my 10k pace was only 30 secs or so different from my marathon pace. I ran alone most of the time, did very sporadic speedwork, by myself, when I felt like it (which was hardly ever).

What I did was find a coach, which was much less expensive than I thought it would be. I did a combination of online schedules, with occasional one on one in person meetings. The schedules fit into my busy work/life. I ended up running less miles, but better training miles. I got much more all-round athletic. I did speedwork and faster long runs on a regular basis. My time this year was 3:57:54 at Boston. It felt great and totally worth it. I definitely could have run faster in different conditions.

I still run alone most of the time, because I prefer to train that way. Not being in charge of my own training schedule, though, was huge. I did every workout, (even when I didn't feel like running fast . So that worked for me. Cost of the coaching service = approx. 20 pizzas . That's my justification. If you can't do coaching, I think a reputable training program that included 1 day speedwork/interval training and faster long runs would work.

The intangible aspects of the coaching were 1. small mental/physical tips that got me through the final 6 miles of the marathon (don't look down...shake out my quads, do a high kick every mile); 2. I pushed myself out of my comfort zone.

When I qualified (finally!) for Boston last year, I took the fall of 06 and trained for a half-marathon, instead. Training for a shorter race helped a lot - I did a pr of 1:52 (my previous 1/2 pr was 1:57). I'm a 49 y/o woman, btw.
Sorry to ramble, but your post kind of told my story. Good luck - you can totally do it, if I did it.

Ellen