Page Six

THE FIRST AIDER

Gardner, Kansas

Published by the Cramer Chemical Co.

 

Cross Country at Michigan State

By Lauren P. Brown, Distance Coach. Michigan State College

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Lauren P. Brown

 

Editor’s Note

L. P. Brown, Distance Coach at
Michigan State College, East Lans-
ing, when he graduated from State
in 1931, took over the distance cozch-
ing job upon the recommendation of
his former coach, Morton F. Mason
who was leaving to take graduate
work at Duke University.

Michigan State teams under Coach
Brown’s supervision have won the
ICAAAA Cross Country champion-
ships, both team and individual, in
1933, 1934, 1935 and 1936. In 1936 en-
tering a runner in the Freshman
Championship event for the _ first
time, State brought back the Fresh-
man individual title also.

 

When the cross country season op-
ens at Michigan State College, the
first thing to be done is put each
candidate for the squad in the
hands of the health service for a
thorcugh medical examination. Suc-
cessfully through this, candidates are
assigned equipment and report for
practice.

The cross country practice schedule
at Michigan State College, but for a
few alterations, is essentially the
same system as introduced and used
here successfully for six years by
Morton F. Mason former’ distance
coach and, as an undergraduate, a
member of Dad Butler’s famous four
mile relay teams at Oregon State in
the middle twenties. It is a combin-
ation of over and _ under-distance
work in which the use of the stop
watch is of major importance.

First Week:

Starting on Monday with an. easy
440 jog; 440 walk; 440 jog; 440 walk;

 

440 jog; 440 walk, the work outs are
gradually increased until on Satur-
day the workout is an easy two mile
jog followed by a half mile walk. All
work this week is on the track to a-
void pulled muscles due to rough
footing. There is no fast work whatso-
ever. In addition to the track work,
there is a lot of exercise work; calis-
thenics for body development ard
limbering. For the first five or six
weeks much medicine ball exercise
is taken. Medicine ball work is grad-
ually replaced by snappy calisthenics
exercises after the season is well
along.

Second week:

Work this week is confined to jog-
ging, same as the preceeding week,
the distance being increased and
workouts taken over roads about the
campus. Distances range from 2 mi'es
on Monday to 3% miles on Saturday.
On our campus, this Saturday run
is held over the main part, through
the woods. There is no fast work yet.

Third week:
Monday: Four miles over
easy.

Tuesday: About 3 miles with the
middle mile about 3|4 speed. Rest of
distance, going and coming easy.

Wednesday: 3% miles at 3/4 speed
with the middle mile at 7|8 speed.

Thursday: Tuesday’s workout with-
out the fast middle mile.

Friday: Easy jogging over 2 mile
route.

Saturday: Same as Wednesday.
Fourth Week:

Monday: Doing easy workout over
hills; about five miles on the average,
depending upon the length of the
next meet.

hills—

Tuesday: 3 miles easy except for
fast middle mile.

Wednesday: 3%4 miles
wide open middle mile.

Thursday: 2 miles easy, just here
and there.

Friday: No work.

Saturday: Meet. Distances from 3
to 6 miles.

fast with

Fifth week and subsequent weeks:

Same as fourth week
work on Thursday.

except no

That there are no specific times
given in the schedule, because no two
cross country courses are the same;
time is an individual problem. In
this connection there is one thing I
think is too often ignored or over-

 

 

 

 

 

Ralph H. Young, Director of Athlet-
ics, Michigan State College. A wen-
derful personality, who has surround-
ed himself with such an_ efficient
staff of coaches that their teams are
always a threat in all branches of
athletics.

 

looked and that is that all the dis-
tances should be as exact as possible.
Otherwise the runners never know
a thing about what they are doing.
Since our regular course is surveyed
by a competent engineer, we are
reasonably certain that when a man
runs three miles in 17:30, it is three
miles and not 2 3|4 or some other odd
distance. This gives the runner con-
fidence because he knows how he is
running and yet doesn’t tend to over-
rate him, as would be the case should
he run 17:30 over a course which he
thinks is the full distance but actual-
ly is short.

As a general rule, all our boys take
just about the same work in cross
country. Certain fellows are worked
only three times a week—those who
my experience have shown rourd in-
to shape in a hurry. Conversely, those
who are slow to come around usually
work hard at exercises on Friday in-
stead of resting. As a specific exam-
ple let me compare Frey, our IC4A
Freshman Cross Country Champion,
and Harold Sparks, Michigan State
Inter-cellegiate 2-mile champion. I
am firmly of the belief that I had
Frey too fine for the Olympic trials.
Since he didn’t start here until Spring
quarter, I had found nothing to guide
me as to the rapidity with which he
came into condition. After that ex-
perience, I know that Frey rounds in-
to shape a lot faster than my average
boy, so in cross country he was work-
ed only on Monday, Tuesday and Wed-
nesday—and there is a_ possibility
that when he becomes a Varsity cand-
idate, his running days will be limit-
ed to Monday and Wednesday. Sparks,
a junior and winner of the State In-
tercollegiate 2-mile title as a sopho-
more, on the other hand, inclines to
be a bit “fatty” so he is worked hard
at exercises on Friday. Likewise, with
strong boys and weak boys the work