I just ran the Newport Marathon on the 9th of October of 2022, and my time was 3:36. Five months ago in May, I ran the Providence Marathon, and my time there was 4:11. So, what did I do differently?

I ran long distances for three years before entering my first Marathon. I would only run maybe 10-20 miles—progressively increasing over the years—once a week just for relaxation. A marathon was on my bucket list, so in February of 2022, I signed up for the Providence, RI Marathon, and that’s when my training started. 

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3 Lessons Learned

Lesson # 1: Buy The Right Shoe

First, I bought the shoes I was going to train in and run the Marathon, which was my first mistake. My plan for the year was to run the Marathon and compete in trail races throughout the summer. Based on the salesperson’s recommendation, I bought the Saucony Peregrine 12’s, which are trail shoes, but the salesperson said that I could do both—paved roads and trails—not really (see article on finding the right running shoe). 

Find the right shoe specific to the terrain and running style. The shoe I ran in the Newport Marathon was the TOPO ST-4. Everyone is different, so pick the one compatible with your running style. The Topo ST-4s are very low to the ground, ideal for my running style. 

Test and test shoes out! Don’t stop until you’re confident with them. For that reason, most stores have an excellent return policy; I use REI’s 60-day return policy for non-members and a year for members.

Lesson # 2: Weekly Mileage

Mileage is huge! I’ll repeat it, Mileage is Huge. Mileage is one of the critical factors in decreasing fatigue during a marathon. 

I averaged about 30-35 miles a week before my first Marathon. I was okay for about 16 miles, then leg fatigue settled in, and my legs felt like deadweight every mile after that. It was a struggle to move along, and I even had to walk some of the hills. My left foot was killing me at the end of the race, but I was overjoyed by finishing the race and beating Oprah’s time of 4:29. 

I also wanted to run in the ultra-running events, so this marathon training block would not cut it. I steadily increased my weekly mileage to 50 miles/wk, and before the Newport Marathon this month, my weekly mileage was around 60-70 miles/wk, even hitting a 79-mile week.  

I felt solid and confident coming into this race. I felt tired but not at the level as before. My pace was over 1:30 min/mile faster than before. There was more elevation gain in the second Marathon by 424 feet, but I never slowed down to a walk.        

Lesson # 3: Speed Work

At the beginning of the season, I only cared about mileage. I just wanted to be able to reach 26.2 miles, so I didn’t care about working on my pacing speed. 

After the Providence Marathon in May, I started to work on my speed work at least once a week—I hated it. However, I made it into a game using the STRAVA app by trying to beat some of the running route segment leaders. 

My favorite speed workout is to go in an all-out sprint (threshold run) for 4 minutes and then 4 minutes of slow recovery pace and do that four times, it’s only a 32-minute workout, but you’ll feel it. 

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Final Thoughts 

The Newport Marathon wasn’t a planned run that I wanted to do. After the first Marathon, I tried to only focus on trail running and Ultramarathons, but one of my friends decided to do the Newport Marathon as his first, so I decided to keep him company. 

I have a 10 hr ultramarathon coming up in less than two weeks, so this was an excellent opportunity to do a last-long taper run. The previous week, I did a 7 hrs run and felt reasonably confident going into this last Marathon.

If you follow, at a minimum, the three lessons I’ve learned, you’ll be okay running your marathon.  

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