Luke Humphrey Running
Episodes
Unlocking Marathon Success: Insights from Recent Research on Performance Characteristics
04 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Introduction:In the world of marathon running, performance can often feel elusive. However, recent research sheds light on the training habits of high...
Unlocking Your Running Potential: The Importance of Building Volume Wisely
24 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Introduction: In the world of running, it’s easy to assume that increasing mileage is the key to improving performance. However, as Luke Humphrey di...
Mastering Your Training Schedule: A Guide to Effective Planning
17 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the world of running, setting goals is just the beginning. The real challenge lies in crafting a training schedule that aligns with those goals. In...
Podcast: Incremental improvements- goal vs current pace
10 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Summary In this conversation, I discuss the intricacies of marathon pacing and the realistic expectations for runners aiming to improve their times...
Mastering Marathon Training: Key Principles
03 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Summary In this conversation, Luke discusses the essential components of successful marathon training, emphasizing the importance of endurance, sta...
The Ultimate Guide to Boston Marathon Prep
30 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Summary In this conversation, I discuss strategies for training for the Boston Marathon, emphasizing the importance of planning, recovery, and hill...
Podcast: Unlocking Your Marathon Potential: Strategies for Spring Success
27 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Summary In this episode of the Luke Humphrey Running Podcast, Luke discusses the transition from fall marathon training to preparing for spring mar...
LHR Podcast: Approaching the Hansons Marathon Method Beginning Marathon Plan.
20 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Transcript: Hey guys, this is Luke Humphrey. Welcome back to the Luke Humphrey running podcast. I appreciate all the great feedback from the last ...
LHR Podcast: Addressing Hansons Marathon Method Myths
13 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Transcript:Hey everyone, welcome back to the LHR podcast. It's been a while. We've been revamping a lot of stuff behind the scenes on our website and ...
Threshold Volume
29 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As a coach or an athlete, we look for guides as to how much work is an appropriate amount for a given athlete. I have mentioned this before, but again...
Boston Challenges Part 3: Race Day Weather
19 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the third part of this series, I want to discuss the race itself. In particular, the challenge of the potential weather. This comes in two parts. T...
Challenges of Boston: Winter Training
09 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In part one, we talked a little bit about timing, but more specifically how training starts at maybe the worst timing of the year- the holiday season....
Are your fastest races your workouts?
27 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
I read an interesting article from Steve Magness the other day, “How the need to prove yourself in practice can ruin your race day.” In the beginn...
Cooling strategies for the marathon: Hype or Real?
24 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We have talked a lot about adjusting workouts due to heat and humidity for quite some length, but what about strategies to cool ourselves before or du...
Best options for adjusting workouts to heat.
02 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Alright, as summer gets ready to peak, some of you are questioning why you decided to train for a September or October marathon! Many of you are not h...
Does marathon speed work need to be at my actual 5k-10k pace or the equivalent?
24 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
You might find yourself in a situation where you plug in a goal marathon time and the training paces for speed, which represent 5k to 10k race pace, d...
Is it overtraining or is it underfueling?
21 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As I write this, we are in the build up for the fall marathon season. For the early October races, we are into about 6 weeks. More advanced runners ar...
A fresh look at easy runs: regenerative vs moderate
27 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It seems like all easy running is the same, and I was in the camp of indifference for a long time, I grew to realize that as we advance in ability, ho...
Becoming a better pacer
30 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Every coach I had, from high school to professional was a stickler for pace. That’s not to say that we weren’t monitoring other variables, but the...
A thought on what makes the shorter long run work
07 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When we talk about long runs, the long run for the marathon is always the primary debate. For shorter races, even up to the half marathon, the long ru...
Tempo Terrain
25 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In my Boston Marathon training plans, I have a lot of specific hill-based workouts. Some straight uphill repeats, some workouts I call “Tired Hills”...
Ketone Esters? Worth It?
04 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
So I got done a bit of a rabbit hole the other day. I follow the accounts of My Sport Science and the feed is great if you want to learn anything abou...
Treadmill VS Overground Running
07 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
From my experience, you have a deep division in the running world when you mention the word “treadmill.” For some, it’s a necessary part of bein...
Identifying true training weakness
16 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Recently, I had a new athlete sign up for coaching and we have them complete a training profile. One of the questions is “what are some of your trai...
An off-season for Runners?
10 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
I remember in high school everyone had had these team shirts with “motivational” quotes. My favorite was “Runners have no offseason!” Soooo to...
Does the 80/20 rule work for marathon training?
09 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 “...
Individualizing your heat and humidity calculations
22 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 tho...
Bonking and Pacing
09 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Practical usage of HR metrics
29 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6teN9wjIT3MR9NH8jt4gAQ?si=25ZqS0rQSjiKXvicPCj-5w If you have followed my writing for any length, you will know th...
Being Consistent: A personal experience
08 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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, b...
Easy Paces and the 4+ Hour Marathoner
24 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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....
Infrared Saunas
03 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
5 Keys to a quality taper
30 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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 f...
My easy days were too easy
22 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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 fro...
Self Confidence
15 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Big Picture Goals for Motivation Now
08 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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 t...
Probiotics and Post Marathon Health
01 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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,...
Training by Feel
24 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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 r...
Commitment
17 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The definition of commitment is “the state or quality of being dedicated to a cause, activity, etc.” Whether it is running your first marathon...
Workout Variables: Strength Recovery Jogs
10 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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 r...
Workout Variables: Recovery Jogs
03 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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 tr...
A look at the “Big Data”
27 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Adjusting Early Season Paces
20 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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 trainin...
Hiring a coach: Pros and Cons
13 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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 oth...
Why aren’t my easy days feeling easy?
06 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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 gr...
Iron levels and runners
30 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
High carbohydrate intake and overtraining
22 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Today I discuss an article from mysportscience.com and how even two weeks of hard training with low carbohydrate intake can be detrimental to performa...
The Fox and the Hedgehog
14 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Hanson Marathon Method: Choosing the right plan.
07 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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 b...
Question: How fast should I be running if I am not following a plan?
31 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Runners and Supplements
12 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Yes, it is an age-old argument and the two sides will debate until they are hoarse. This argument is of course, do runners need supplements? If they d...
Special: Boston Plans and Group Training
23 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
With Boston 2.0 on the horizon, it's time to start thinking about what life might look like in phase 2 and 3 of our exit from quarantine. I recognize ...
How fast do we lose fitness?
17 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The topic of detraining has come up a lot, lately. At the time of writing this, we are under a stay at home shelter and our spring marathons have been...
Mental Toughness: Putting our attention on where we focus
06 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It’s no doubt that being “mentally tough” is something that can improve your performance, but the way I hear runners discuss, it feels like it i...
Kids need to burn some energy? Two follow along workouts!
21 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
If you are like the Humphrey family, you have now entered the world of homeschooling! In Michigan, schools are shut down until April 12th. However, my...
20 Minute Endurance Athlete Workout
21 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Working remotely? Gym closed? That fitness ain't gonna gain itself! Coach Nikki offers you a 20 minute workout you can do anywhere with little to know...
Virtual Race Updates
21 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Just wanted to thank everyone has registered for our virtual race. Since my original post, we have had some updates to post! We have added 5k and 1...
Spring Race Cancellation: Preparing for the fall
17 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
With all the questions regarding maintenance plans to reduce the impact of having races cancelled and then filling the void until you need to start tr...
Was your race cancelled? We might be able to help.
14 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What's interesting is they I coach people in China and in Italy, so they are really feeling the pressure. Luckily they are ok and my athlete in China ...
Coronavirus: Resources, thoughts, action plans
12 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Coach Mike Morgan laid out a very grounded, reasonable response to his athletes regarding corona virus and I thought it would be great to post here. A...
RED-S: What it is and why it’s important
13 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
RED-S or relative energy deficiency syndrome is an evolution from the female athlete triad syndrome. This is good because energy deficiency isn't just...
Product Spotlight: Isalean Shake
12 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Runners are now recognizing that protein plays a big role in endurance performance. However, what we are seeing is that a lot of our athletes, they si...
Last Month of Indy
18 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
October 7-13 Another solid week. Took a few days extra, but mileage was still high. Thursday was a big long run with the guys, where we got rol...
Late Marathon Fade (but not hitting the wall)
24 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This past weekend’s marathon mayhem (The first sub 2 hour marathoner and a new world record in the women’s marathon) provided a perfect opportunit...
Nitric Oxide and Running Performance
12 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Nitric Oxide? It makes me think of pushing a button on my car dashboard for a little boost! However, NO is an important neurotransmitter important fo...
Road to Indy: Training up to 10/6/19
08 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Monday 9/16 and 9/17 Two days of 12 in the morning and 4 in the afternoon. Did get strides in on Monday! Wednesday 9/18 Long 24 miles in 2:22:4...
Indy Monumental Marathon 9 and 10 weeks out!
18 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
9/2/2019 AM: 10 miles easy. Last run from the cottage. See ya next summer, Hubbard Lake! (Hopefully, for most of the summer) No afternoon run. Af...
12 Weeks Out from Indy Monumental
09 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
8/19/19 through 8/25/19 Monday 8/19/19 Today was the day following a pretty solid 22 miler I put in. One of the biggest lessons I have learned recen...
My last attempt at a 4th Olympic Marathon Trials
27 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It always surprises me when people are interested in my training as I feel like it is pretty mundane. Even more so, I am now a middle aged man with a ...
More Nutrition: Eating to Body Type
23 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We have talked about body type before at LHR, mainly as a determinant of what type of runner you are. However, as we have expanded our conversation ...
Nutrition: Diet Definitions
27 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Last time, we talked about macronutrients and the importance for balance in general health as well as performance. I hope that’s what everyone took ...
Nutrition Basics: Macronutrients
18 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
I have gotten into my fair share of “discussions” regarding nutrition. As a coach and a simple observer, I could see that certain fads were just n...
Glass City Recap
21 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
I ran CIM in the beginning of December and then took some time off. I was going through a lot of life changes so for the first time in a long time, ru...
Marathon Tempos: 2019 Update
30 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In 2018, I did a podcast on tempo runs, and it really discusses how Marathon pace should feel. That post is still relevant and will be unless our phys...
Marathon Long Run Part 2
11 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Last time, we talked about long runs that were more simple, but not any less easy. This week, we will expand on those foundational types of long runs ...
Marathon Long Runs: Part 1
02 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The marathon long run should seemingly be simple, right? Just go out and run a long way because our race is going to be over 26 miles! In its simplest...
Increasing mileage: the 10% rule?
12 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
I recently received an email from a runner who just bought my book Hansons First Marathon and was very concerned that the book didn’t follow the 10%...
First Marathon Series Part 7: Race Day
05 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It’s finally here! It’s race day! Much like with the taper, now is a time to be rewarded, but is often a time for anxiety. You had a training plan...
First Marathon Series Part 6: The Taper
26 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Ahh, you’ve made it through the training and now it is time to cash out the fitness account that you’ve been depositing into nearly every day for ...
First Marathon Series Part 5: Understanding Marathon Fatigue
19 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
When you run a race like a 5k, or even just doing speedwork, the discomfort is very acute. The lungs are burning and the level of discomfort is viscer...
First Marathon Series: Part 4
12 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Now you have a philosophy in place and a plan to follow. Let the fun begin! As you get started, it can seem daunting, especially if you are a newer ru...
Running your first marathon: Part 3
05 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Currently, LHR has a Facebook group north of 10,000 members. The vast majority of these folks are using, have used, or thinking about using one the HM...
Running your first marathon: Part 2
29 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In Part One, we talked about setting your baseline, or starting point. It wasn’t to determine if you can run a marathon, but to really make sure you...
First time marathon series: Part 1
22 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
“Am I crazy for wanting to run a marathon?” This was a question recently raised in our Facebook group, LHR Running Community, which currently has ...
Analyzing Workouts. Hint: One bad workout isn’t the end of fitness.
19 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The most common posts I see in our Facebook group and the HCS online Run Club are workout posts. We’ve all done them- snapped a screenshot of ...
Hansons First Marathon: Stepping up to 26.2 the Hansons Way
10 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Kevin and Keith Hanson are coaching fixtures in the running world. Since 1999, they’ve coached countless Olympic Trials qualifiers, 3 Olympians, and...
Strength Workouts
05 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Faude, et al. Sports Med 2009 This is a typical graph of an blood lactate vs work intensity chart looks like, but I recognize that their is a lot...
How strict is your plan?
26 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
If you aren’t aware, we have a very active Facebook group. There are lots of posts or sharing of workouts- usually of when they are crushed. On one ...
Why is there marathon work in my speed segment?
30 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Recently, I received an interesting question from one our coached athletes in the Online Run Club. Essentially, they were following one of our plans f...
Winter Running: Performance
17 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
For my friends who don't really train through a long stretch of snow, wind, cold, and poor footing for more than a few days, then you may not find muc...
Dressing for winter running
05 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Winter running can have a wide range of effects on people. For some it might mean actually having to wear a shirt on those chilly 65 degree mornings. ...
Speed Work: Do I use my actual paces or equivalent?
07 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
A number of loyal HMM followers have posted an interesting question that is not entirely addressed in the book. When approaching speed work, should I ...
Hansons Marathon Method: should I reduce my mileage at the beginning?
02 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Many times a runner is already running the weekly volume that the training plans start out at. This prompts the question, “do I need to lower my mil...
4-6 Weeks out from marathon? Your top 5 things you need to know.
13 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The last 4-6 weeks of your marathon training means a lot is going on. You are tired, you are hungry, and the training is at its most grueling. So many...
Elite Level Workouts: should you attempt?
09 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
I recently received an inquiry from someone using a plan of ours. His question was in regards to when he should do the infamous “Simulator” workou...
Thoughts on warming up for Boston
06 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
While I write this specific for the Boston Marathon, what I write here is really applicable to any marathon where you have a starting line that is not...
2017 Summer Camp!
28 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
At the time I’m writing this, we are less than three weeks from the Boston Marathon. Where has the first quarter of 2017 gone? Before we know it, ou...
Having a coach without the full time coaching price tag.
27 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
If you have read HMM and thought about the idea of coaching, but aren't sure you are ready for that kind of investment, then the Facebook Training Roo...
When do I know I’m ready?
02 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Recently, an athlete in one of our groups asked a great question, “When do I know that I'm ready to reach my race goal?” I got to thinking about i...
Updated thoughts on heart rate
09 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Heart Rate Training - Hansons Coaching If you've read much of anything that I have put out into the internet universe, you'll know that my position o...