My Goals for 2023

2022 had a few highlights, but it was also discouraging.  Injuries prevented me from doing any consistent training, and it’s hard to race well if you can’t train.

Finish My 4th Circuit of 50 States

I’ve run at least three marathons or ultras in every state, and I’ve run at least four marathons or ultras in 45 states.  To complete my 4th circuit of marathons or ultras in every state, I just need to run one more in Maryland, Oklahoma, Utah, Vermont, and West Virginia.

There’s no reason why I can’t finish this in 2023, so I’m making it a priority.  I already know which marathon I plan to do in each of these states, although I need to work out a few details on the travel.

Eventually, I’d like to also finish a 5th circuit.  I plan to make progress this year, but finishing my 5th circuit will be a goal for a future year.

This map shows where I stand now.  The blue states are the states I need for my 4th circuit.  The green states are the additional states I’ll need for my 5th circuit.  Finally, the red states are the ones where I’ve already run at least five marathons or ultras.

Run Marathons in Two New Countries

In 2010, I ran a marathon outside of the United States for the first time.  I ran in two new countries that year.  For the next several years, I continued to run marathons in at least two new countries every year.  That streak came to an end in 2020, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last year, I ran a marathon in Tallinn, Estonia.  Estonia was my first new country in more than two and a half years.  This year, I’d like to get back to running in at least two new countries each year.  I have some candidates in mind, but I haven’t booked anything yet.

Get Back into Shape

In the past, I’ve sometimes listed losing weight, recovering from injuries, and increasing my mileage as goals.  I now consider those things as means to an end, where the end goal is getting into better shape.  That’s my goal for this year.  I need to do whatever it takes to get into better shape.

How do I define being in shape?  There are different degrees.  An intermediate goal is to be able to run a marathon in less than four hours.  The long-term goal is to be able to qualify for the Boston Marathon.  I’ve always considered that to be the standard of excellence.

Last year, I qualified for Boston on a course that descends 3,700 feet.  If my only goal was to keep running the Boston Marathon every year, that would be good enough.  Getting into Boston is certainly one of my goals, but I won’t consider myself to be in good shape until I can run that fast on a course that starts and finishes at the same elevation.

Can I do that by the end of the year?  I can if I do those other things, like losing weight, recovering from injuries, and increasing my mileage.  Do I need to do all three?  Maybe not, but it would certainly help.  The measuring stick for all of those is the same.  I need to do whatever it takes to be able to run a marathon in 3:50 or faster.

Do My Winter Running Outdoors

In 2001, I bought my first treadmill.  I bought it so I could train for the Pike’s Peak Marathon.  I needed to be able to run on a steep uphill grade for mile after mile, and that was the only way I could do it, living in Minnesota.

Once I had a treadmill, I couldn’t resist using it for all of my winter training.  The worst thing about winter running isn’t the cold temperatures.  I’ve run in temperatures as low as -17 F and wind chills as cold as -51 F.  What’s harder is running on streets that are coated with snow or ice.

Training on a treadmill allowed me to train at a faster pace.  I also didn’t have to worry about slipping on ice.  There’s a downside, however.  In recent years, I’ve found it increasingly difficult to run on uneven surfaces without tripping.  I used to chalk it up to years of primarily racing on roads, but doing so much of my training on a treadmill was probably also a contributing factor.  I’ve developed a bad habit of barely picking up my feet.

So far this winter, I’ve done all of my training runs outdoors.  I plan to keep that up for the rest of the winter if I can.

I’m drawing a line between running and race-walking.  I can’t do anything even resembling race-walking on an icy surface, so I’ll continue doing my race-walking workouts on the treadmill.

Place in My Age Group in the National Senior Games

I’ve signed up to compete in three events at the National Senior Games.  I’ll be doing the 1,500 meter race-walk, the 5,000 meter race-walk, and the 5K run.

Last year, I took 4th place in my age group in the 1,500 meter race-walk, with a time of 8:59, and I took 2nd place in my age group in the 5,000 meter race-walk, with a time of 31:31.  I didn’t do any running events.

Ideally, I would set my sights on improving this year, but I haven’t been able to start training until recently.  I’m going to stick with the same goals for 2023 that I had in 2022.  My goal for the 1,500 is to place in the top eight (high enough to earn a ribbon).  My goal for the 5,000 is to place in the top three (high enough to win a medal).

I’m not setting any goals for the 5K run.  I can’t even remember the last time I ran a 5K race.  I qualified for it, so I’ll give it my best shot, but I don’t know if I can reasonably expect to be competitive.

Move Up Among Minnesota Runners

In 2015, I made it onto the Megamarathon List, which lists every runner who has finished at least 300 marathons or ultras.  At the end of 2021, I ranked 398th in the world and 66th in North America, but I ranked 7th among Minnesota runners.

Since then, I’ve moved up two spots in Minnesota.  The end of year rankings haven’t been assembled yet, but I expect to be 5th among Minnesota runners.  One of my goals for this year is to move into 4th place.  Normally, this would be a moving target, but of the four runners ahead of me, I know of only one who is still active.  To pass Sharon Mordorski, I’ll need to run 15 more marathons.  In an average year, I run about 25, so running 15 shouldn’t be too difficult.