"The Michigan"

do a search on the old board, it's easy just type in "the michigan" and you'll see kevin sullivan's take on it. it could be on the new board, but i don't think it is.

The standard Michigan goes as follows:

Run 1600m

Jog roughly 400m to a loop that goes around UM's athletic campus, including Michigan Stadium and Crisler Arena. The loop is a mile or so long and has a couple of decent inclines on it. You run the loop at 10K pace (or something roughly equivalant) and jog about 400m from the end of the loop back to the track.

Run 1200m

Do the loop again

Run 800m

Do the loop again

Run 400m

Find the nearest trash can.

The Michigan is usually done early in cross country season (around Labor Day) and done again in mid-October. You can compare the two workouts and see how much better shape you are in. It is workout meant to test your fitness level.

That is the standard version, although Ron will usually through in some variation to keep his guys a little bit on the edge. Running a really good Michigan is kind of like running a PR. You feel great when you get done, but the pain comes later. Ron usually gives the top guys certain times to hit in order to make sure that don't push themselves too hard (like run 4:05 for the first mile).

I realized just how crazy runners can be back in 91 or 92 when we ran a Michigan with a few pros that trained with us (Brian Diemer, John Scherer, and Gerard Donakowski were among them). This was the mid-October one and one of our guys (an A-A in XC) decided to go with the big boys on this one. I ran 4:37 for the 1600m and was at least a straightaway behind (I later heard they ran 4:18-4:19). On the loop, they hammered out sub-5:00 pace while us mortals only ran 5:15-5:30 pace (I'm sure I was on the slow end of that pace). As I came around the first corner of the 1200, I see our A-A on the side of the track (he had dropped out to orally fertilize the grass) on the first lap of his 1200. That crazy SOB then jumped back in when his group came around on the second lap (word is they ran about 3:08-3:10 for the 1200). He finished the workout with those guys (running 2:04-2:05 for 800 and 57-58 for 400) and didn't say a word about it afterward. I though I did pretty well running 4:37, 3:23, 2:12, and 62 until I heard what the lead group did later.

Hallucinations are not uncommon and to drop out without Ron dragging you off the track was often more humiliating than failing Geology 101, getting turned down for a date in front of your teammates (by a girl that wasn't even that good looking), and having your mom make a fuss about how dirty your dormroom ...put together. Then having to run a cool down and drag your tired butt back home up the hill felt like being on a death march.

I hope that answers some of your questions.

The workout has changed over the years....

In '83, we started with a mile on the track, then 3 mi hard down to Huron Hills Golf Course where Ron would time a mile on the flatter portion of the course, then 3 mi hard back uphill to the track, and finally close with the hardest mile of your life on the track. This workout destroyed 2-3 of the top 7.

By '85, the workout morphed into a mile on the track, a hard hilly 2.25 mile run around the perimeter of the U of M Golf course, a half mile on the track, another 2.25 mile loop on the course, and finally a mile on the track.

In '86, the workout changed to what is essentially the current format mentioned above.

I vaguely remember Ron creating this workout around '80 or '81 based on Dellinger's workout called the "Oregon", but I can't remember what that consisted of. I was in high school at the time and just remember my coaches coming back from a conference hosted by Ron and mentioning the workout. Maybe some Oregon history buff can provide the details or indicate my memory is not as good as I think.

My old coach had us do something he would refer to as the Oregon Drill, which consisted of a 1200 hard, followed by a tempo or increasing pace run, it varied...then finished up on the track for another fast 1200 simulating a kick. I'd wager the real Oregon Drill was a bit tougher, but anyway...

Essentially the same. Dellinger's workout has a few variations of the same theme. One being the "30 Avenue drill" - a hard 3 mile (usually about 14:00) followed by a ten mile run (sometimes a hard 1200 in the middle), finishing at the track with 6x300 "cut-downs". The other version was a hard 1200, followed immediately with a steady-state run and hill repeats, steady state run to the track, finishing with a another hard 1200.

A few of the Duck old-timers here can fill you in on more versions.

We had a workout at UT Arlington like that too that we called a "prefontaine". We would warm up, then do a mile hard in spikes, then get our flats on and do an 8 mile tempo (5:20-5:30 pace) with a hard 2:00 in the middle, followed by a hard mile on the track. It was a great continuous workout. The best I ever did it was: 4:28, 43:15, 4:22 We did this in cross country season with a modified version in track season.

Thanks guys.

I did 1600-1200-800-400 with 2000m of roadrunning in between each one at just below threshold pace. Track work was done at a little quicker than 5 km race pace.

I allowed 2 minutes between the track and the road in both directions.

Michael Moore,

When are you going to make "Roger and Me II"?

Michael Moore...my coach had us do that same workout, only it was 7 minutes @ threshold pace. The 1600-1200-800-400 went roughly 10k pace, 5k pace, 3k pace, all out. He refered to the workout as "Fraziers". The first time we did it, I had some bad diarrhea, making it the worst workout ever.

Hey Kiwitrack...I also graduated from michigan ..my best friends were all varsity runners (I was a lowly walkon). Anyways, your story reminds me of a rare Saturday AM track workout that attracted many fans. On the track were varsity runners Scherer and Barquist (both numerous time all-americans), along with Diemer, Donakowski, EMU stud (I think M. Smith), Aufdemberger (sp), and a few other elites (I actually think Greg Meyer may have been there)...don't remember the times but it was quite the site.

Not to be picky, but it's Aufdemberge... pronounce like the city of Hamburg, but not like a eating a McDonald's hamburger :-)

You still run, BobinAustin?

Ichabod, could it be your coach was a Wolverine and "Fraziers" is Fraziers Pub, an Ann Arbor watering hole?

Bob-

It sounds like you were there just before me. I knew all of those guys you mentioned. Barquist was the only who was actually a teammate of mine but was on his way out as I was coming in. I'm sure you also remember the hill loops at Huron Hills, the timed runs on the golf course, and of course, the infamous Barton loop. I'm exhausted just thinking about those. As much as they hurt, it was great to know that your body was capable of handling those workouts.

Any time you're in Ann Arbor be sure to have a cold one at Frazier's and check out the photo on the wall of Warhurst running some marathon 30 years ago. Very low 2:20's I believe.

I've sampled both the cold ones and the hot ones (Wolverettes?) at Fraziers.

ahh yes, "The Oregon Ten". i'm pretty sure that's the workout that most of the folks are referring to on this thread. various versions are circulating at programs around the pac-northwest, but i'm pretty confident that the workout was named "The Oregon Ten", originally moderated by William Dellinger. Duck alums please elaborate.

"In a cross-country result, remember the person who finished just ahead of you. That person is a future scalp to collect." - Frank Horwill

Kiwitrack,

Just wondering when you were at Michigan, because I did that very workout. I was known to have decorated the track after and during a few workouts. But a good Michigan or Barton could send your confidence soaring, and boy did you feel strong afterwards... long afterwards.

Kiwitrack,

your not really a kiwi are you? The only kiwi I know who went to Michigan is the one who is there now and used to place bets at the TAB while buying pies from Moera Bakery...

AAAHHHBBBBbbbbuuuuuu

Jacko - know your role and stick a cucumber up that pusssssaaaaaayyyyy. hahahaha - or do a fart whilst biffing down a bowl full of random deserts and spew it up again. Lose the eatoff ehhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Abbbbbbbbhhhhhuuuuuuu

Hey Willis - if you are reading this - have you done the Michigan yet?