One-Hour Workout: “The Michigan” Track Session
Get used to pace changes in a race with this interval workout.
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This week’s track workout comes from running coach Mario Fraioli, who adapted this workout from a former teammate. (Note: The standard version of this entire session as detailed below would amount to more than an hour, but you can alter it based on your current training level and how much time you have.)
Interval running workout: The Michigan
In my first practice as a member of the Boston Athletic Association racing team in 2004, the group workout was led by John Mortimer, a former seven-time All-American at the University of Michigan and one of the most competitive steeplechasers in the country at the time. The session he had on tap for us that night was “The Michigan”—one of the staple workouts he did as a Wolverine training under the watchful eye of legendary coach Ron Warhurst.
While there are a few different variations of The Michigan, the gist of the workout is to blend off-track tempo running with faster repetitions on the oval. You can manipulate the pace and the length of the intervals to your liking, but at the end of the day, this session is meant to simulate the pace changes that often occur during a race. For Warhurst’s charges, this was one of their key workouts to prepare for 8K–10K cross country racing. But with a little tweaking to suit your own needs, competitive age-groupers can make an iteration of this session work as they prepare for the run leg of their triathlon, a weekend 5K or 10K, or an off-season half marathon or marathon.
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Here’s how to do a standard version of The Michigan:
– Warm up with 2-3 miles of easy jogging followed by 4-6 x 20-second strides.
– Run 1 mile (4 laps) on the track at your current 10K race pace.
– After the mile on the track, jog 2-3 minutes off the track to the start of where you’ll run a mile at your tempo run pace. An out-and-back stretch of road or dirt loop work well for this part of the workout.
– Run 1 mile off the track at your tempo pace, or roughly 20 seconds per mile slower than the mile you just ran on the track.
– After completing the mile off the track, jog 2-3 minutes back to the track for the next interval.
– Back on the track, run 1,200m (3 laps) at your current 10K pace, aiming to hit the same lap splits you ran for the first mile of the workout.
– After the 1,200 on the track, jog 2-3 minutes off the track back to the start of where you’ll run your second tempo mile.
– Run 1 mile off the track at your tempo pace.
– After completing the mile off the track, jog 2-3 minutes back to the track for the third interval.
– Back on the track, run 800m (2 laps) at your current 5K race pace, or roughly 4-5 seconds per lap faster than you ran your first two track intervals.
– After the 800 on the track, jog 2-3 minutes off the track back to the start of where you’ll run your third (and last) tempo mile.
– Run 1 mile off the track at your tempo pace.
– After completing the mile off the track, jog 2-3 minutes back to the track for the last interval.
– Back on the track, run 400m (1 lap) faster than your current 5K race pace, or as if you were finishing the last quarter mile of a race. Focus on running fast but relaxed—hold your form!
– Cool down with 2-3 miles of easy jogging, stretch, refuel.