Just before dawn on Sunday, September 17th, 2023, a hundred or so runners ventured out the south roll-up door of the Seaboard Triumph Foods Expo Hall for the start of the Mighty Mo Run, a combined half- and full-marathon event in Sioux City, Iowa. I was one of them. The Mighty Mo marked my fourth marathon for 2023, and I planned for it to be my last one of the year, assuming I could hit my goals.
I learned two major lessons this year. First was to try and just enjoy each race. Sure I might be trying for a PR, but not always. Especially if it’s a race and location that I may never come back to again, I’d rather lose a few minutes and savor the experience than try and channel my inner Galen Rupp. Second, I need to trust my pre-race plan. I strayed from that on my last race of the year, and it almost cost me. But more on that later.
As a quick review, my main running goal for this year was to break the 4:30:00 mark on my marathon times. At the end of 2022, I had finished the Rock ‘n Roll San Antonio Marathon in a 4:36:18. I know I still have a lot more speed left in me, I just have to put in the effort to unlock it. My second goal was to add two more states to my (eventual) 50 state list. Coming into 2023 I had run a marathon in five states: California, North Dakota (2x), South Dakota (3x), Oklahoma, and Texas.
I had added Washington to the list at the end of April thanks to the Tacoma Marathon (which was a special experience for me since I got to run the first half with my mom). Two weeks after that I ran the Brookings Marathon in South Dakota. Originally I had aspirations of breaking my PR there, but the combination of wind, drizzle and insufficient rest after Tacoma did me in. I don’t know how these Marathon Maniac folks doing marathons on consecutive days manage it. On the other hand, I still managed to turn in a time under five hours. That would have made me ecstatic a couple years ago.
Training progressed pretty well through the summer. I had to make some adjustments to my run schedule since I now have a job requiring me to be regularly in the office at a predictable morning hour, but that seemed to work out fine. The timing was perfect for my last long training run to coincide with the Sioux Falls Marathon. I didn’t go out too hard for that one, it being the long run capping off a 50+ mile week, but I stayed right on my training pace target for twenty-one miles before I backed off the pace a bit. I still finished the race with my second best time ever.
All of this led into the Mighty Mo Run in Sioux City. I felt good, was well rested, the weather forecast was great, and the course was flat and fast. The one downside was that Mighty Mo turned out to be a very small race. Well supported by the event organizers, but not big enough for pacers. I’ve always found it more challenging to run a race without a pacer, and races that size also tend to get lonely near the end when all the runners are strung far apart. On the plus side, unlike the Swan Lake Marathon, the course design for Mighty Mo was a series of out and back loops that allowed back of the pack folks like me to at least feel in touch with the leaders until the final few miles.
I nailed it. My official finish was 4:21:32, which beat my previous best by just about fifteen minutes! As always, there were still a few major points where I can improve that I’ll take into next year, but overall, I’m quite happy with my performance.
This was also the race where not following my own plan almost cost me though. For every race this year, I’ve run with a handheld bottle with a blend of 6am Run’s BCAA & Marathon formulas, plus three or four extra gels. For Mighty Mo, the course description said twenty-one aid stations, all with water and Powerade, plus five stations with Honey Stinger gels. I decided I could get away without my bottle, and just carry two extra gels.
Most of the aid stations didn’t have Powerade by the time I got to them. The Honey Stinger station was one (centrally located) station, which was mostly great, but nowhere close when I crashing and burning twenty-two miles in. Fortunately, that central station still had Powerade on my last pass, because that and swishing some water at Mile 25 was all that pushed me through. I feel like there’s an outside shot I could have cracked 4:15 if I’d hydrated and fueled according to my normal race plan. Again, I’m happy with my results, I just know that I could have done even better if I’d stayed on plan.
What’s next then? Even though I hit my objectives for the year, I still have a long way to go to hit my long-term goal of running the Boston Marathon. I’m going to take a few months off from hard-core training, and spend some time focusing on building speed, muscle, and flexibility. Hopefully I’ll also get the chance to work out more with Future Jedi Son. His first year of high school football has him suddenly spending a lot of time in the gym, and he’d like to continue that after the season ends.
Next year I hope to break the four-hour mark and add at least one more state to my state total. Or maybe I could add three more and bring my total to ten! That time may not happen on the first race I’ve got in mind, but again by the end of the year I want to be looking at a marathon finish under four hours. Who knows. Maybe I’ll come back to Sioux City again. It’s certainly a closer option than Fargo, and I’ve been finding that I’m usually faster in the fall than in the spring.