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Saturday, September 22, 2012
Miller Woods Workout

MCMINNVILLE, Ore. - With no race on the schedule, the Wildcats headed to Miller Woods for the now infamous “Hill 1981” workout followed by a brutal final climb to “The Bench.” A brief ten minute drive from Linfield, Miller Woods is a 130 acre property with 94 forested acres and 36 acres in pasture and hay land. You can find old growth trees, ponds and streams, great views of the Yamhill Valley, and of course, many miles of running trails. 

Miller Woods: The top of Hill 1981.

“I don’t think there is any other location in the county with trails and scenery that rival Miller Woods,” stated Associate Head Coach Greg Mitchell. “It’s great to be hammering your way up the hills through a tunnel of branches with the morning sun just breaking through the trees and the only sound is the gasping breathing of you and your teammates. It’s a quintessential cross country training ground.”

Revealing the incredibly creative origins of the name "Hill 1981."

The workout involves running a hill circuit on a double-track access road that loops through a heavily forested area of the park. The athletes complete four to nine circuits – depending on gender and fitness – and then finish the workout off with a climb out of the wooded area and up to The Bench, which sits at the apex of a hill at the center of the park. The workout builds physical strength, but perhaps more importantly, tests the mental toughness of the athletes.

Hannah Greider, Katie Skinner, Audrey Lichten and Claire Hann attack The Bench.

“It’s a soul-searching kind of workout,” continued Mitchell. “Only you know what kind of effort you’re putting in. I hope at the end of the day, the athletes will be able to answer the question: ‘What am I made of?’”

“At the Sundodger Invitational, I was thinking of the Bench hill,” stated junior Claire Hann. “I told myself that if I could do that super tough hill in practice, the little uphill in the race should be nothing. It really helped me mentally.”

Linfield Cross Country