Michigan 10/30

Our final Michigan of the season usually posts some great results and this year was no different.  Our Michigan is a workout designed to work on varying paces and active recovery.  It is made up of an 800 on the track (at 5K pace), followed by 1.5 miles on the grass (at 10K) pace.  The set then repeats - with no rest.  To finish, the workout moves right into an all out 400 on the track.  Today we saw records fall for the fastest Michigan in PV history by Taylor Abel (23:21) (Byron Warby may have broke it first had he not had to hit a quick break!), the most PR's on the workout (16) and the most athletes hitting the A Standard by the boys team (9).  Our athletes are looking strong heading into the post season and are continuing to improve!
Congrats to the following who hit the standards for the first time - earning their Michigan Laces:
A Standard:
     girls - Meskerem Stucki
     boys - Andrew Nielsen, Paul Gaona, Reed Burr, Matt Young
B Standard:
     boys - Dave Swapp, Skylar Abel

Michigan 9/18-19

This week we held our first Michigan workout of the season.  The team is really rounding into form and this workout was proof of it.  Congratulations to Mike Finch, Jessica Peterson, Rachel Stone, and Mia Hart for hitting the "A Standard" (Mia for the first time earning her Black/Silver laces!)
The following athletes all hit the "B Standard" (those with an * are hitting the mark for the first time and earned their laces): Casey Kimzey, Jason Lindhardt, Byron Warby, Colton Bowler, *Braden Johnston, *Taylor Abel, *Hunter Kimzey, *Josh Farish, *Nick Hill, *Kyler Prisbrey, *Danny Arellano, *Krenshaw Yazzie, Nicole Heinrich, Liz Lunt, Taylor Boyer, *Chancie Johnson, and *Kaelie Gillespie.
Great job everyone!

Michigan 10/7

Congrats to Ryan Nielsen for hitting the A Standard on the 2 set Michigan and earning his new laces. Trevor and Tyson also hit the standard for each section of the Michigan - a first. Good work guys.

Michigan 9/27

Two new "A Standards"! Good job Corey and Tyson on hitting the A Standard and earning your black/gray laces on the yesterday's 2 set Michigan.

Michigan 9/21

With the busy race season, we have backed off the Michigan for a few weeks. Yesterday we hit our toughest workout again in the heat and wind (still near 100*). More athletes attempted the workout than ever before and got experience that will help them be more successful in the future. Although we didn't have any new "B Standards", Dyllen and Ells were very close. We also saw a new record as Trevor hit the "A Standard" (for 3 sets!) with a 35:36.

Michigan 9/1

Congrats to Tyson, Corey, Trevor, Devin, Ryan, and Casey for hitting the Michigan "B Standard". On the girls side, Kaylee, Megan, and Sierra each hit their "B Standard". The top three guys and Kaylee were all just short of hitting their "A Standard" times. Based upon the improvement from last week to this, the next Michigan workout will yield a few "A's" and a few more "B's". Get those Michigan Laces on those racers!

That being said, here is a little explanation of the workout. A Michigan is a tempo workout created by the head XC coach at Michigan, Ron Warhurst, and introduced to us at the end of the 2009 season by Coach Roberts. We have tweaked the workout to run 1/2 on the track at 5K pace, 1 1/2 miles on the grass (two big loops) at adjusted 10K pace (10K pace plus a few seconds depending on athlete level) - this makes one set. The runners complete two or three of these sets to a specific pace and end with a fast finish 400 - hard as you can go.
Two standards have been set for the Michigan. The first is the "A Standard" which is the goal for our top Varsity; the second is the "B Standard" which is more reachable and a goal for seasoned JV runners, but still difficult to reach. The goal is to make the Michigan a standard workout for PVXC and develop it into a status symbol for the team.
Upon completing the workout under one of the Standards, runners receive a set of laces for their racing shoes - gray and black for the "A" and gray and white for the "B".