Old School Oregon training week

wow that is a ton of intensity and workouts especially for late january.

what event were you focusing on and what were your pr's?

if you are throwing your logs out, ill buy them from you.

There was no "base" period in the winter, we started up with the intervals right after the first of the year. And we didn't run indoor either.

I can post the follow up week if you guys want to see it so you can see what a typical 14 day cycle looked like.

yes, please post another week! this is cool

this stuff is really interesting post more!

but seriously what's the deal with all the intensity

mon.- threshold w/ some speedwork

tues. - combo of vo2 max and hard aerobic running

wed.- recovery

thurs.-threshold run on dirt track, hill strength session, hard aerobic running then a lil speed

fri.-easy run

saturda- vo2 maz

sunday-longish run

what amazes me is the absence of long distance runs over 10 miles

o.k. here ya go, the follow up week to the one just posted:

Monday a.m. 4 miles

p.m. 45 min fartlek then 8x200 in 29-30 sec/30 sec rest.

Tuesday a.m. 4 miles

p.m. 8 mile tempo where we did a half mile in 2:10-2:20 then a half mile in 3:00, continuous, so 8 hard half miles

Wednesday: a.m. 5 miles

p.m. 5 miles

Thursday: a.m. 5 sets 800/300 on dirt track. I think the rest was a 300 jog after each.

p.m. hill bounding, 6 miles at 5:40 pace then 6x 300 cut down on track

Friday: p.m. 8 miles

Saturday: a.m. 5 x 1 mile

p.m. 5 miles easy.

Sunday: 10 miles

hilotee wrote:

this stuff is really interesting post more!

but seriously what's the deal with all the intensity

mon.- threshold w/ some speedwork

tues. - combo of vo2 max and hard aerobic running

wed.- recovery

thurs.-threshold run on dirt track, hill strength session, hard aerobic running then a lil speed

fri.-easy run

saturda- vo2 maz

sunday-longish run

what amazes me is the absence of long distance runs over 10 miles

Hilotee: some of the guys went longer than 10 on sundays, it was on your own, the team did not meet on sundays, nor did we meet as a group on mondays, wednesdays or fridays.7 of my teammates broke 4 in the mile doing this type of training, I wasn't one of them

This thread sent chills up and down my spine. Most people would say - so. I love to read about the Bowerman/Dellinger training. Thank you_________ for sharing. I am going back through my old stats, trying to figure out who you might be. I will not post my guess.

this stuff is really cool. I wish you could post more. i can't believe this type of training... no wonder I haven't been running that fast

Somehow, by a natural and easy transition, this reminds me of a report from a post-grad runner who was training in Eugene around the same time. He said that only one of the Oregon men was actually running the workouts as assigned, and that one (Dub Myers[sp], I think?) was the only one to make all-American that spring.

Apologies if I've got the facts all wrong, but I'm pretty sure that's what the guy said. Apparently the hard-easy concept had gone out the window (again, except for one guy) and was replaced with hard-harder. Tough to keep that going through a whole season.

dsfdsf wrote:

wow that is a ton of intensity and workouts especially for late january.

No it's not. Which is not to say that many didn't race the workouts. Many of the knuckleheads did, but those weren't the athletes who were successful.

This is typical of Dellinger's training for 1500-5000m in January. Over the years Bill tinkered a bit (note the hill bounding and circuit training of that period), but the overall theme is generally the same: many "little" workouts, one tempo run of 4-5 miles, and one ball-buster per week.

Uncanny. Those weeks could have been taken straight out of my training log from exactly 20 years later, except I was across the country. Of course, my coach was in Eugene at the same time as you, so I guess that's not surprising -- I just didn't realize how faithful the program was to the old-school Oregon program!

Did you go to Wake? or did you go to American U? We ran workouts very, very similar at Wake. The part of the thread describing many short workouts and one really hard workout brought back many memories of the frequency and then the intensity of the hard workouts. Also, the 300m repeats with 100 rest was a great workout Dellinger passed on but none was better than the 400 / 200.

demon deacon wrote:

We ran workouts very, very similar at Wake.

Dellinger was an interim coach at WF for one cross country season during the late 90s.

Over the years Bill tinkered a bit (note the hill bounding and circuit training of that period), but the overall theme is generally the same: many "little" workouts, one tempo run of 4-5 miles, and one ball-buster per week.[/quote]

Malmo: You are right about the tinkering. The "meat and potato" workout would change each year, but once he came up with it he would repeat it every week for the whole winter. I always agreed with that. Pick the workouts that produce the greatest physiological adaptation, then repeat it over and over again.There should not be too much variety within the pre-comp phase.

I disagree with your observation that the "knuckleheads" raced the workouts. One thing I observed watching elite athletes train is that the good ones bring the same intensity to the tough workouts as they do the races.

Exxx-duck wrote:

I disagree with your observation that the "knuckleheads" raced the workouts. One thing I observed watching elite athletes train is that the good ones bring the same intensity to the tough workouts as they do the races.

There's a difference between running a tough workout with "intensity" and racing it.

There's also a difference between running "the tough workouts" with intensity, and bringing that same intensity/competitiveness/establishing-of-pecking-order to the other workouts, which were intended to be easy(er).

Exxx-duck wrote:

I disagree with your observation that the "knuckleheads" raced the workouts. One thing I observed watching elite athletes train is that the good ones bring the same intensity to the tough workouts as they do the races.

What you aren't seeing is that the sub 13:30 runners WERE training at their proper level. The hangers-on weren't. That's not intensity, that's punching in the time-clock, day to day training.

What were the 45 min fartleks that you did on Mondays like?

RedFred wrote:

What were the 45 min fartleks that you did on Mondays like?

The word is fartlek, not fartleks.

This log is from 1989 when I trained will Bill's kids. Take out the heavy mileage and you have another snapshot of the program.

Jan 7 100 miles

S rest

M PM 8 slow

T PM 13 easy

W AM 2.5 easy PM 13 easy

T AM Amazon 1.5 easy, 4 mile tempo (21:37), 5.5 easy

F AM 5 easy PM 10.5 easy

S AM 5 easy PM 10.5 easy

Jan 14 130 miles

S PM 12 easy

M AM 2.5 easy PM 14.5 easy

T AM 2.5 easy, 10x200 (32), 5 easy

W AM 6.5 easy PM 12.5 moderate

T AM Amazon 2.5 easy, 4 mile tempo (21:55), 5 easy PM 2.5 easy, 8 x 32/30, 4.5 easy

F AM 5 easy PM 13.5 moderate

S AM Amazon 2 easy, 6x800 in-out (2:27, 2:25, 2:24, 2:27, 2:24, 2:19), 2 easy

Jan 21 138 miles

S PM 20 slow

M AM 5 easy PM 13.5 moderate

T AM 2.5 easy, 9x300 cutdowns, 5 easy PM Amazon 2 easy, 5x 1000 (3:05-2:56) w/200 jog, 4.5 easy

W AM 5 easy PM 10 easy

T AM Amazon, 2 easy, 4 mile tempo (21:00), 5 easy PM 5 easy, 8 x 32/30, 5 easy

F AM 5 easy PM 13.5 moderate

S AM 11.5 moderate PM 12.5 moderate

Jan 28 137 miles

S PM 18 slow

M AM 5 moderate PM 13.5 moderate

T AM 5 moderate PM 13.5 fartlek (6x3:00 hard)

W AM 8 moderate PM 10.5 moderate

T AM Amazon 2 easy, 4 mile tempo (20:47), 4 easy

F AM 5 moderate PM 11 moderate

S AM 3 easy, 3x300 (46.5) w/100 jog, 11 moderate

Feb 4 135 miles 18”of snow and sub 20 temperatures from Feb 1 through Feb 12

S PM 20 moderate

M AM 5 moderate PM 11 moderate

T AM 2.5 easy, 4 x 400 (62), 5 easy PM 13.5 miles (6 x 3:00 hard)

W AM 5 easy PM 14 easy

T AM 9 easy PM 10 easy

F AM 9 easy PM 10 easy

S AM 9 easy PM 10 easy

Feb 11 138 miles

S PM 17.5 easy

M AM 9 moderate PM 11.5 moderate

T AM 6.5 moderate PM 13.5 moderate

W AM 5.5 moderate PM 13.5 easy

T AM 5 easy PM 13.5 moderate

F AM 5.5 easy PM 13.5 moderate

S AM 11 easy PM 14 moderate

Feb 18 150 miles (snow finally melts)

S PM 21.5 moderate

M AM 7 moderate PM 11 moderate

T AM 3 easy, 4 x 800/300 (2:30, 48, 2:25, 48, 2:16, 48, 2:11, 45) 3 easy

W AM 6.5 easy PM 6.5 easy

T AM Amazon 1.5 easy, 4 mile tempo (20:47) 4.5 easy PM 14 moderate

F AM 10 moderate PM 11 easy

S AM 3.5 easy, 1.5 miles 30/40, 5 easy, 5x300 cutdown PM 11 easy

Feb 25 143 miles

S PM 21 moderate

M AM 6 moderate PM 11 moderate

T AM 5.5 moderate PM 13.5 fartlek (3:00 hard/easy)

W AM 5.5 easy PM 12 moderate

T AM 9.5 moderate PM 13.5 easy

F AM 7.5 moderate PM 13.5 moderate

S AM 3 easy, 3 x 1 mile (4:40, 4:38, 4:36)w/ 800 jog, 5 easy, 5x300 cutdown (54,52,79,48,47), 2 easy PM 10 easy

March 4 155 miles

S AM 21 moderate

M AM 5 moderate PM 11 moderate

T AM Amazon 2 easy, 4 x1000 (3:11, 3:09, 2:56, 2:49), 6 easy PM 13 miles (6 x 3:00 hard/easy)

W AM 10 moderate PM 11 moderate

T AM Amazon 2 easy, 4 mile tempo (20:15), 4.5 easy PM 13.5 moderate

F AM 10 moderate PM 14.5 easy

S AM Amazon 2 easy, 5 x 800 (2:29, 2:25, 2:19, 2:15, 2:10) w/800 jog, 1.5 easy, 5 x 300 (55,52,50,48,45) 2.5 easy

March 11 167 miles

S PM 22.5 slow

M AM 10.5 moderate PM 14 easy

T AM Amazon 2.5 easy, 4 mile tempo (19:42), 5.5 easy PM 13 miles (6 x 3:00 hard easy)

W AM 9.5 easy PM 13.5 easy

T AM Amazon 2 easy, 4 mile tempo (20:36), 5.5 easy PM 3 easy, 8 x 30/30, 9.5 easy

F AM 10 easy PM 11 easy

S AM Amazon 2.5 easy, 5 x 1 mile (4:58,4:54,4:48,4:43,4:37) w200 rest, 5.5 easy PM 12 easy