Luke's Blog

  As we are nearing the end of the genius hour project. I used this week as a time to reflect and work on some of the final projects.  I began to think about my genius hour product and how I wanted to showcase my learning. This was the first challenge I ran into, as I didn't have the typical genius hour project. My learning couldnt conclude with one final tangible item. Rather my race was taking place after this project ended, so I had to find an alternative way to show all that I have done. I decided to create a powerpoint that would demonstrate a variety of learning that I have done over the past 12 weeks. This was formatted in a way to inform the reader of all the basics of half marathon training. Beginning with the various training methods I curated a list that would scribe to a variety of different runners. Additionally I also included a couple slides that described some of the race day nutrition. Finally, I concluded this powerpoint by providing a look into what my exper...

My genius hour started and ended this week by attempting to set a realistic goal. After discussing with past friends who are real seasoned marathon runners they agreed that often people set very lofty goals. This then leads to them coming out of the gates at a very fast pace that is simply not attainable to hold for the length of the race. This ends up with people usually dropping out of the race as they completely burn themselves out. Therefore, I really wanted to set a strong but attainable goal.  Furthermore, this week I found that the trouble I had was considering the variety of perspectives that were available. Over the past few years I have involved myself in the running community and have had the opportunity to meet some very knowledgeable people. I began to contact them with a variety of questions around how they set their goals for different races. I received a variety of recommendations and conflicting views around these questions as they have all had different experience...

  Let's get right back into it!  This was a fantastic week for running, the weather was great and it provided me the opportunity to get out there and put some miles on the pavement. I was able to set a 5K PR that I have been working towards for quite a few weeks. This was after a few failed attempts where I couldn’t find my legs at the end of a run. I have really been working towards improving my endurance and it was very nice to see it finally pay off.  Although I did run into some trouble this week as I find that I have less and less time to complete these long runs. I am hoping to reach 18 to 20 Km’s on these long runs but they do require a large block of time to complete. Finding that 2 hours in my day to complete these runs was something I couldn’t do this week and I think I will only become busier as the semester comes to a close and placement begins.  Going forward I only hope to continue to reach these PR’s and set new goals. My goal for the near future is to...

In this week's genius hour, I will be diving into the recent advancements within my training block and discussing diet factors during training and race day. As we near the end of the genius hour I am really happy to see the progress made. I have altered my training schedule and I have completed all the various training methods that I set out to do at the beginning of this year. After completing multiple runs with each training method, I found that the most effective method was the Hanson Marathon Method. This was a method that consisted of 6 days of running with very high mileage. I really enjoyed this method due to the fact that I was able to engage in 3 various types of runs throughout the week. This included speed work, tempo run, and a long run. This gave variety in a training schedule that can easily get dry. Each run always felt fresh which definitely assisted in being able to stay consistent with my running. Prior to this when I did engage in training schedules they followed...

  Hello Everyone.  I will be taking a break from the genius hour process this week. This will allow me to realign my running schedule and stay on track. I am very excited to continue this process and figure out which training method is most effective for me. I look forward to checking in next week with some new-found knowledge

In this week's genius hour, I really wanted to dedicate myself to an hour of research surrounding a topic within running. This was the question of how to keep your muscular strength whilst training for a race. In the past when I began to train for races I would only focus on the cardio aspect, although at this point in time, I really want to keep the muscle mass I have acquired whilst training in the gym for the past few months.  After doing a vast amount of research I was able to land on two common themes, consistency in workouts and diet. Although it may be a difficult task to complete I do believe it is a very achievable goal. I will have to find time in my schedule to complete 4-5 strength-based workouts as well as 3-4 runs a week. Due to the fact that I will be expending so much energy during both my runs and training sessions, I will have to ensure that my caloric intake and overall diet is going to be up to par.  During my genius hour, I also had the ability to reach ...