Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Riad Agel serves Lahlouh, Inc., operations as an account executive. A sports enthusiast who has coached softball, Riad Agel had the opportunity to run in the Rock and Roll San Diego Marathon and was able to complete the 26.2 mile course in just over five hours, despite it being his first endurance race ever.
For marathon runners, one of the keys to success is maintaining a steady pace. A good way to train for this is by determining the top running speed that can be sustained over an extended period. This can be accomplished through approaching top speed and paying careful attention to the signals the body sends. Once a threshold pace is reached, even small upward ticks can impact air intake rhythm and cause ragged and stressed breathing.
Once the maximum pace that allows steady breathing is attained, pay careful attention to what causes sheer exhaustion to set in. Set a goal that is just outside what you are comfortable with and work toward it through interval training, in which the usual pace is mixed in with a higher pace for short intervals. At the same time, integrate cutdown sessions that involve altering mile times by as little as 10 seconds to monitor the body’s response. Extend these sessions to five miles and then to 10 miles as endurance grows.
The end result should be the ability to sustain faster paces over a full marathon distance, as well as increased awareness of personal limits over extended runs.
Riad Agel 