New Balance Twin Cities’ very own Joe Matack will be among the many athletes running the Stillwater Marathon in May. Joe’s love for running goes beyond his free time. Joe also spends his work days surrounded by people looking for the perfect running shoe. Joe is the New Balance Footwear Buyer and Sales Associate for New Balance Twin Cities.

Read on to hear Joe’s running story and make sure to check out his personalized marathon training schedule for both novice and experienced runners.

How many races have you run?

Most of my training is geared toward the 13.1 mile half marathon distance as continual marathon training is a huge time commitment. I usually run 5-6 races per year ranging from 10K to the marathon with a number of triathlons mixed in as well. Coming from Duluth MN I have participated in multiple half marathons during Grandma’s marathon weekend. Most of my other races take place somewhere in the metro area including a few Twin Cities 10 Milers during marathon weekend. All told I have probably run more than 25 races in the last 5 years.

What did you do before coming to Schuler Shoes/New Balance Twin Cities? I worked as a Technical Field Representative for New Balance from 2005-2007. During this time, I educated retailers of New Balance products and local runners on the technical features of New Balance running shoes, so they could best match up what type of shoe a runner needs based on multiple criteria.

What else should we know about you, Joe?

Before starting work at New Balance Athletic Footwear and then Schuler Shoes, I worked for 3 years at local running stores. It was here that I really began to enjoy running not only as a sport, but as a lifestyle. I taught multiple classes that took people with no running background to finishing 5k fun runs, 10K’s and half marathons. I also helped people get to the next step by either running faster times or going from half marathon distances to the full 26.2 mile marathon. The runners that are new to the sport are the most fun for me to work with, as they make steps to achieving goals that they did not think possible.

What advice would you give to 1st time marathon runners?

The most important thing to do is get to the starting line healthy and happy. Unfortunately, this may be the tip that is forgotten the most. Too often runners push through aches and pains to get in their scheduled mileage only to end up with injuries that keep them from participating in their race. It is much better for a runner to be slightly under trained due to missing a run or two and feeling 100% healthy than to have run every training mile and show up to the start line with an injury.

The second half of my tip is being happy. I know that for me, recovering from injury and not being able to run is extremely disappointing. As a beginning runner it is sometimes difficult to know when you need to back off your training and how much is too much. My best advice, stick with the plan. An extra mile at the end of a run probably won't impact your training positively, but could lead to injury simply due to over stressing your body. "When in doubt leave it out," I'm not sure where this saying came from, but it is the best rule to live by when training for a marathon and staying healthy. In short this just means if you are not sure if your body can handle the scheduled run, skip it and live to run another day. If you can get yourself to follow these simple tips you should be on your way to successful training.