Faris Radieddine (12) is a Senior at Aliso Niguel who is the star runner for the Cross Country Team paving the way for an amazing season.
Radieddine started running his summer before high school for cross-country training. He never thought he would enjoy running and only joined as a means to prepare for tennis the following season.
Before he started running, he was passionate about tennis, often practicing three to four times a day for hours at a time with tournaments on the weekends. He started playing tennis when he was only six, and now he is devoted to running.
He ended up making Varsity tennis his freshman year, then left to focus on track and field.
Radieddine says, “I love running, I love training, and I love competing.”
His confidence and ambitious attitude makes him a great runner, and his nerves turn into excitement.
However, he believes that it could be a double-edged sword as he takes many risks throughout the race.
He states, “Sometimes I will go all out, too hard, make moves too early, or stick with runners out of my league. However, this ultimately pushes me to be the best runner I can be.”
During the season Radieddine and his team train six days, typically running 45 miles a week with Sundays being their rest. During these workouts, they have two hard workouts a week, one for speed and the other for endurance.
They often run 400 meters or mile repeats during the hard workouts to build strength. After the workouts, they usually have a recovery run of six to eight miles at an easy pace.
On Mondays, he does a tempo run, running for 20 minutes challenging himself at a manageable pace right below his lactate threshold. His goal is to increase the threshold at which his body clears lactic acid from his bloodstream resulting in being less tired and running for longer.
Lastly, with his team, he does a long run. This can usually be between 10 to 13 miles and typically at a 7:30 minute/mile pace.
Radieddine believes that it’s his team that pushes him to keep running stating, “Anytime I’m dying in a race, I think about my teammates and our goals to be the first team in Aliso’s history to make it to state.”
In addition, he puts his faith into training and the work he is putting into the grind.
He believes, “Running is an extremely tough sport and without mental toughness, you will not survive.”
During his off-season Radieddine still runs six times a week but with a different purpose. He works on slowly increasing his mileage in preparation for the season through stride work and sprints often running seven miles a day.
Unfortunately, he does not plan on running in college but will continue to run casually. However, he is currently talking with the Coaches at Caltech and MIT.
In college his focus is entirely on academics and his career, he is very passionate about engineering and plans to pursue a degree in electrical engineering.
