Luke Humphrey Running

So, I am cruising the social media and lately, I’ve been seeing a lot about the 80/20 rule in running. As I write this, fall marathon training is “heating” up and so it makes sense that this makes the round again. So, I wanted to break this down, how we got to this point and some practical advice around the issue.  What does 80/20 actually mean?  At its basic of definition, it means that 80% of yo...

I have made the summer of 2022 the summer of reinforcing heat and humidity adjustments with my athletes. It has had some pretty solid success with those who have taken it to heart. They are feeling better, recovering faster, and aren’t feeling completely overwhelmed with where they are at and how long they have left to go before the fall. Now that I have them buying in more, some questions have co...

If you have followed me for any length of time, you know that I am a big proponent of even to negative splits. When we look at world records and world-class performances, they are usually run with even, to negative splits. The truth is though, that to do this is tough. To actually accomplish this is tough feat in itself. How does that translate in to the typical recreational runner? To be honest,...

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6teN9wjIT3MR9NH8jt4gAQ?si=25ZqS0rQSjiKXvicPCj-5w If you have followed my writing for any length, you will know that you won’t find me prescribing workouts by heart rate any time soon. That’s not to say that I don’t think that using heart rate has no value. I just don’t think that heart rate is the best indicator of intensity guide for workouts. I just feel like the...

Consistency is king/queen when it comes to development. What do you think is more important. A) doing two really good workouts over a 30 day period, but having to miss 5 days of running anything of significance after each one. Or B) string 30 days together of moderate training without interruption? You probably said B, but do you know why?  Below is a graph of the typical response to an SOS type w...

There’s the old adage, “easy days easy, hard days hard” and we see that is the case with the majority of the elite to competitive based runners. When you look at their training, this completely makes sense. Their marathon pace is anywhere from 4:45-5:20/mile at that level. So, it’s not a hard leap to assume that anything close to that on a daily basis is sustainable. The question is though, does t...

A few weeks ago, someone in our Facebook group brought up the idea of using an infrared sauna for recovery. I hadn’t thought much about it, and you really see more about things like cryo for recovery and tissue repair. These two things are definitely different ends of the spectrum. Then, as I saw that, I began to notice that a lot of recovery places and gyms were now offering up the sauna as a per...

One of the biggest complaints I get from athletes following the book (link), is that there is no taper. They say that because they are used to going from six days per week down to 4 and their mileage decreasing from 50 miles a week down to 20 miles a week and they don’t do any workouts for two weeks. When they see a taper like that in the HMM books, they panic. Don’t panic! Let’s take a look at th...

I recently made a comment on my Strava log that I was making a conscious effort to make my easy days a little bit faster. This prompted a question from one of my followers who essentially asked what the benefits of running faster on their easy days would be. So… it depends, right? That’s the answer to a lot of these type of questions. Not every run should be your fastest, and as a coach, the probl...

It was 2008 and I was on the starting line of the New York City Marathon. I had just completed the best training segment of my entire life. Yet, here I was petrified, staring at the world’s best runners (Olympic medalists, world record holders, and past champions). Needless to say, I underperformed and left incredibly disappointed. Fast forward to 2011. I was on the starting line of the Rock n Rol...

During this time of uncertainty, it can be tough to have a plan. Many of us have been training a little aimlessly, myself included. It’s been hard to have a plan when there isn’t a definite end point to that plan. So, today, I want to give you the 30,000 foot view of training and work it down to a single day. That way, even despite the uncertainty now, we can ensure that we are still making progre...

How many of you have run a marathon only to find yourself with a head cold or sick within the few days following the race? Yeah, me too! The truth is, we know that hard training and racing makes us more vulnerable to sickness. Right now, training hard with a suppressed immune system could spell disaster. We are told that exercise is good medicine when it comes to immunity, but there is a window of...

It is interesting how our experiences shape our philosophy over time. My earliest example was when I started running cross country in high school. I ran track in junior high but wasn’t bothered with cross country. My coach, Mike Noll, was very pace-oriented with an emphasis on negative splits and since it was really my first experience, though that’s how it was supposed to be. The kids that ran in...

The definition of commitment is “the state or quality of being dedicated to a cause, activity, etc.” Whether it is running your first marathon with the goal of just making it to the finish line or a world-class racer in the Olympic Games, having a commitment level that matches required. Taking on something that’s outside our comfort zone is hard. If we are going to venture into that area of uncert...

Last week we discussed recovery repeats for speed workouts. If you missed that post, you can see HERE. This week I want to discuss the next group of repeats in the marathon training- the strength repeats. Traditionally, these are done at 10 seconds faster marathon pace per mile. You will see this written as MP-10. If you are familiar with HMM, you’ll recognize that the workouts are 6x1 mile, 4x1.5...

Last week I wrote about big data and what it told us about training for the mid-packer. I also chimed in about how I felt the HMM style of marathon training fit in. The reality is the vast majority of people under train for the marathon. When I say under train, I am referring to training volume. If you are a mid packer running 30-40 miles per week, then my guess is that it involves a lot of weeken...

Ok, so I have to admit that I was awfully intrigued with Amby Burfoot’s new article for Podium Runner. I was very curious to see what insights there’d be into the world of marathon training for recreational runners, or as they were called mid packers. And then someone asked if I’d share my thoughts on this and compare it to my own thoughts on training, so it was a win-win. Now, before I jump into...

How many times have you set your time goal, thought it looked kinda scary, but still doable? Yeah, me too. Now, how about when you started the training plan and that first workout at your new race pace was staring back at you? Knees shake, sweat build, and a “Oh crap, that’s fast” blurts out. Yep, been there too. There’s a number of reasons we might be in this situation. Maybe we are looking at th...

Is having a coach worth it? The answer is, drumroll please, it depends! Believe it or not, ability is not a prerequisite for myself, or any of my other coaches to work with you. In fact, I’d say ability isn’t ever something I particularly look at when taking an athlete on. When I do, it’s not to determine if the person is “fast enough” to be with us, but rather to determine what coach will be able...

More specifically, the question was, “Once well into the plan do your easy runs truly feel easy?” This was asked by one of our Facebook group members and I believe that he was hinting that his workouts were ok, but the easy runs were now an issue of being stiff, sore, and sluggish. As others noted in their response, they felt like it took miles to warm up and shake these feelings, at least to an e...

A little while ago, I posted a quick podcast on the role of carbohydrate and overtraining. When training hard by volume, intensity, or both, the lack of carbohydrates has a direct relationship with performance (and mood). The reason I discussed that idea was to try to show people how the idea of overtraining is confused with the idea of cumulative fatigue in marathon training. The problem is, it’s...

Today I discuss an article from mysportscience.com and how even two weeks of hard training with low carbohydrate intake can be detrimental to performance and feelings of well being. A common scenario that I see as a coach is that people train hard for a couple of weeks and since it's harder than they have trained before (or a big jump back into it), they become fatigued, performance lags, and thei...

I recently finished reading the book “Good to Great” by Jim Collins. It’s not a running book, it’s actually a book on business. However, as I read the chapters, it became clear that the ideas embodied some great principles that should be applied in many areas of life. The very basic premise of the book looks at different companies that were on the Fortune 500 lists throughout the 20th century. The...

Being in the right plan can make all the difference in the world. If you are familiar with the plans in the books, then you know that there can be a big difference between what others use as a beginner plan and what the HMM beginner plan looks like. These differences has led to the creation of a number of different plans based on the original Beginner and Advanced plans. These plans have helped fi...

Today's question comes from Phil, from our LHR Community on Facebook. Right now, he's not really following a plan and is curious to how fast he should be running since he doesn't have the structure guiding him right now. Here are my thoughts regarding that and a couple of options for you.   If interested in base plans, please visit HERE It's not too late to sign up for our fall 5k group