(11/21-11/27): GSTC's Best Weekend...ALL TIME

No doubt, this was finest weekend in club history.  Where to start?  How to start?  Hmmmmmm....we're gonna start with the biggest highlight of the weekend:

 

 

GSTC Women Win NJ-USATF 8k Team Title

It's been an interesting inaugural season for the GSTC ladies.  At the half marathon, they were one short of scoring a full team.  At the cross country 5k, they had five and finished fourth overall, but were missing some key players.  Against CPTC, they ran well, but were overwhelmed.  But today...

 

Lead by a second-place finish by Cheyenne Ogletree (32:07), the Lady Golds shocked the field, finishing first overall with 26 points.  This was Cheyenne's first-ever 8k and NJ-USATF debut race- wow!  With incredible 4:51 mile speed (yes....you read that right), Cheyenne has some super fast 5ks coming her way over the next year. 

 

Her 8k championship team was comprised on Claire Tafelski (35:26), Lindsey Michaliszyn (38:21), Cathy Stutzman (38:58), and Trudy McGowan (44:42).  Throw Meghan O'Toole, Nicole Corre, and a few other newcomers in there next year, and we might be looking at the 2012 Open Women's NJ-USATF Team Champions.... 

 

All Results: http://www.compuscore.com/cs2011/novdec/xc8k1119.htm 

 

 

GSTC Men "B" Team Wins, Puts 5 in Top 10

Despite racing without their seven top runners, the B Team did what they've watched their A Team counterparts do all season long: dominate.

 

Upstart Tony Harris, a 400m sprinter convert in his first season of distance running, lead the golden charge up front, as his team placed 5 in the top 10, and 11 in the top 25, as they won the NJ-USATF 8k Team Title.  Slowly navigating the field from the start, Harris used his patented kick to power home to second overall, finishing with a PR of 26:56.97.  Closing the door to seal the win and the $500 club national stipend were teammates Mike Anis (3rd/ 26:59), Tim Morgan (5th/27:04), Ashwin Anantharaman (7th/27:22), and Chuck Schneekloth (10th/27:52).  Edsel Flores (29:28) ran a PR as the group's safety valve 6th man.  With the win, they draw just two races away from winning the NJ-USATF Open Men's Team Title. 

 

The B-Team ran brilliantly, running PRs across the board, despite falling just a few points shy of knocking off Sneaker Factory's A-Team. Leading the way was Rutgers sophomore Dan Teichman (13th/ 29:15), who continues to have a breakthrough season for the gold and black.  To put this in perspective, Dan would have beaten three members of the Rutgers cross country team in their 8k race in Fairfield, CT last month!  Mike Obsuth (29:36), Kyle Flyer (29:58), Steve Bonica (30:44), and Zak Martins (30:56) rounded out the scoring for the group that finished fourth overall.      

 

Lastrange Wins 5k... & Turkey

Pat Lestrange, the GSTC-York College captain, ran 16:30 and won the Phi Sigma Pi Turkey Trot yesterday.  His first place prize?  See attached- a sweet 20 pound turkey!   While prepping for this week's Ashenfelter 8k and next year's Boston Marathon, Pat showed the comeback from a bad ankle injury is well under way.  Either way, we aren't sure if he won it for the free Thanksgiving bird, or to ingratiate himself with a campus sorority.  Perhaps the answer is a little of both?

 

 

Fowlie Places 8th at Manasquan

Alex Fowlie finished 8th in Saturday's Manasquan Five Miler, running a solid 28:15.  After months and months of marathon training, it sounded like it was an interesting yet welcomed change to a shorter distance.  Alex is currently gearing up for the NJ-USATF Ten Mile Championship in December, part of the group hoping to clinch the 2011 NJ-USATF Open Series Team Title with a win over the Sneaker Factory in three weeks. 

 

 

Philly Baby! 

Six GSTC'ers finished the full, and one the half, in today's Philadelphia Marathon.  GSTC correspondants Chuck Schneekloth, Tony Haris, and Steve Bonica were on the scene, covering the race that started at a painful 7:00am.  Yikes.

 

In the half-marathon, Jeff Perrella finished 14th overall in a PR and club record 68:12.  Think about how hard it is to run a mile in 5:12.  Okay, now think about doing in 13 times.  In a row.  Yup...that's four x 16:09 5ks.  As teammate Chris Schneider commented on Facebook, "Once again, the Quiet Storm doesn't disappoint."

 

In the marathon, it was Mike Dixon bringing the thunder, finishing 14th overall, second Jersey finisher, in a PR and club record 2:26:45.   Wow....that's 5:35 a mile....26 times in a ROW.  Behind him was teammate Taylor Burmeister who, unlike the well-seasoned Dixon, was taking his first stab at the full marathon. He went through in a quick 75 minutes, then fnishing in 2:42:54.  Also making his debut marathon race was Steve Geiger, who negative-split his race, finishing his last half 4:00 faster than his opening 13.1.  Scuba Steve finished at 2:44:26, a fantastic debut race.  Funny enough, he wasn't the only Steven Geiger to finish the marathon; his doppleganger from Brooklyn ran 4:07:08!   Adam Nalven, taking another shot at sub-3:00, finished in 3:11:30, while Meghan O'Toole-DeCarlo ran a huge PR of 3:13:24.    

 

See all Philly race videos far down below.

 

 

Team Runs

Monday and Tuesday, 5:30, at Rutgers Student Center.  Happy Thanksgiving!

 

 

This Week in Training

Distance

Ashenfelter this week!  A fast course plus peak fitness means an opportunity to run some big PRs.  You'll see a big cut in mileage this week – we're going to drop it down to maximize recovery and rest.  Don't be afraid to cut back – the mileage builds your fitness, but the final sharpening doesn't require that much.  Enjoy the extra time.

 

Monday: 2k at 8k pace, mile at 5k pace, 2x800 at 3k pace, 4x400 at mile pace

 

Tuesday: Comfortable run + 8x80m strides.  Go about 60% of your normal distance.

 

Wednesday:  Shakeout – Visualize.

 

Thursday: Ashenfelter 8k – Let it rip!

 

Friday: Comfortable run + 8x80m strides

 

Saturday – 60 min progression run – start out comfortable and drop it down to T pace with 15 minutes to go, then get down to 5k pace for the last 2-3 minutes. Gauge your pace in the first half of the run based on how you're feeling.  With just two days after the race, you may need to go a little slower on this workout – that's ok.

 

Sunday – 75-90 mins long run. 

 

 

Sprints

We're going to capitalize on Saturday's intensive tempo work to come right back with a race simulation session.  We'll hit a special endurance II workout Wednesday, followed by an alactic session on Saturday.  Two weeks ago, we used the alactic session to work on our push mechanics/acceleration phase.  Saturday, we will do flying 50's with a 10m build up; as we did a month ago, this is to help with your maximum velocity mechanics.  Remember- these reps should be no longer than seven seconds!  Like always, do your recovery workouts- these can be just as important as a hard session.

 

Monday: 5:45 @ Metuchen HS    3 x 250m @ 400m race pace (full recovery)  

Tuesday:  10x100 stride; lift

Wednesday:  5:45 @ Metuchen HS  5 x (300m/50m) @ 800m pace/200m pace (50m walk/ 400m walk)

Thursday:   OFF

Friday:  20x50 stride.  gentle, comfortable, fluid.

Saturday:  1:00 @ Metuchen HS  8x50 maximum velocity/alactic workout (w/ 10m build up)

Sunday:  10x150 stride recovery; LIFT

 

 

Philly Videos!

 

 Jeffrey Perrella: GSTC Supa-Star Rocking Saucony Sponsored Gear

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dokkH9ul1H0 - 10k mark (what 5:03/ mile looks like up close)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_ZQ3IXbBFM- 13 miles (the finish...holding off a Stotan) 

 

Mike Dixon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Z_fbcqCbWo - 10k mark (wash & wear your uniform and we'll spot you sooner next time!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEZqEpuWw2M -13m mark (this time, we actualy got you from the front!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVh-HnrkNf8 - finish line (Bonica took this one....don't blame me)

 

Taylor Burmeister:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okEvM-7WYG8 - 10k mark (we spot you sooner next time, we promise)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAvM7GFtS64 - 13m mark (looking real smooth...out in 75 through the half)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoA_mgDyKVI - after finish (gives us the "I'm waaaay too tired for a $%^&^%$ camera right now" look)

 

Meghan O'Toole-Decarlo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJMzAWd-mQY - 13m mark (we saw you at 10k mark....camera didn't turn on fast enough :( )

 

Mark Del Monaco:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0-H0Sr1NLs - 10k mark (having lots of fun pacing women through 2:47 pace)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNwt_eWmumc - 13m mark (much less takers at this point...)

 

Steven Geiger:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMhF2vnjykY - 10k mark (looking "fresh as a daisy")

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPkHaH4zqo0 - 13m mark (enjoying the heckling from his fans)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JD0FtlncuE - after finish (refuses to dance for camera.....)

 

Adam Nalven

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdDPqVhgGSU 13m mile (we missed you the first time...you were hiding behind those 3:00 pace balloons!)

 

(11/14-20): 400+ Participate in GTG; Perrella Wins Elite 8k Title

400+ Attend GTG5k; Perrella Battles Hard for Gold

Buccleuch Park- Over four hundred people attended this Sunday's Get the Gorilla 5k, and wouldn't you know it...Jeff Perrella pulls out another big victory, adding to his always-growing legendary status here in the GSTC.

 

Despite nursing a behind-the-knee injury resulting in him taking several days off, followed by several easy days of light running, he dropped the hammer on the CPTC top man, Gregg Cantwell, with 800m to go.  Pulling away decisively, Perrella added yet another gold medal to his post-Yale collection of accolades with the GSTC.  In fact, and this is a true story, you'll notice there are no pictures of him in the below galleries.  When I asked our professional photographer to locate and post some of him, he responded, "Sorry, every picture I have of runner #12 is blurry.  I just can't add such pictures to such a gallery." 

 

The results, done by Westfield Running Company's Tim Styler, can be found here: http://njraces.com/results/2011-results/538-get-the-gorilla.

 

After much deliberation from the judging panel, the top three costumes that won the contest prize money were the UPS Delivery Women (third), Darth Vadar (second), and the Lasso-Swinging Cowboy (first).  The prize-winning centipede were the four gorillas in bridal gowns, barely edging out the bananas, the GU packets, and the Where's Waldo group.  Custom medals were also awarded to the top-three runners in all five-year age categories.

 

So many GSTC'ers came out to run and/or volunteer.  Consequently, the reviews were raving about the organization of the event.  THANK YOU TO EVERYONE who helped out...

 

Start of the race here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEdpenahCGE

Find all other GTG race videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/chuckschneekloth

Picture galleries:
https://www.dropbox.com/gallery/36572093/1/Get%20the%20Gorilla%205k%20-%2011-13-2011?h=75eb5a
https://www.dropbox.com/gallery/36572093/1/Get%20the%20Gorilla%205k%20-%2011-13-2011%202?h=8a90bd

 

 

Big Chill Team!

Running the Big Chill?  Sign up under the GSTC team.  Contact our team's favorite engineering student, Mike Obsuth, at obsmike@eden.rutgers.edu.  He is the team's captain and would also be happy to do your calc homework as well. 

 

Yes, Everything is Okay

Thanks to the many who emailed and texted, wondering if I was still alive.  "Where's the email?  Are you alive?" one text wrote.  Indeed, first time in club history there was no team Sunday night email.  Hope you all survived and found something else to read Monday morning while going to the bathroom.

 

Team Runs

5:30 every day at Rutgers Student Center except Friday's 4:30pm run.

 

Rutgers students: we are having a RU-GSTC meeting Thursday night @ 7:30 at the new and beautiful Livingston Dining Hall.  Three major, timely issues we need to discuss.

 

 

This Week in Training

Distance

 

Monday: Recovery run + strides (as many as you feel comfortable doing – this number may even be zero!)

 

Tuesday: Comfortable run + 8x80m strides.  This one should be a good deal faster than Monday's run, but still keep it comfortable.

 

Wednesday:  The hard work for the week. 4x1000m at 5k pace minus 10 seconds.  So if you run 16:40, that's 3:20 per 1k, so go 3:10.  Full recovery in between.  You can use heart rate as a guide – once you get down to 130, you're good to go again.  Thorough warmup and cooldown are key.

 

Thursday: medium run equal to 75% of your long run mileage. Run comfortably but by no means slow.

 

Friday: Comfortable run + 8x80m strides

 

Saturday – USATF-NJ 8k XC.  Run your 8k pace pace + 1 minute.  It's OK to lift at the end of the race, but at no point should it feel all-out.  Don't get roped into hammering to catch those last few people that might be within reach.  Save it for Thursday.

Sunday – Comfortable run + 8x80m strides.

Sprints 

Monday: 5:45 @ MHS.  3 x (3x150m @ 40m walk rest) @ 400m pace (current, not goal); then 3x100 stride + 1x100 quick.  NO circuits.  This was race simulation, so every 150m was slower than the last on each set. 

Tuesday: recovery day!  gentle warm up, 10x100 stride, warm down (lift)

Wednesday: 5:45 @ MHS.  3x200 quick @ goal 400m pace for 12/10's opener.  Circuit work (hurdle flexbility emphasis)

Thursday: recovery day!  gentle warm up, 7x150 stride, warm down.  (lift)

Friday: OFF

Saturday: 2:30 @ MHS.  Extensive tempo: 3 x (8x100) @ 800m pace w/ 50m walk rest.  3:00 between sets.

Sunday: recovery day!  gentle run for 10 minutes; stretch 4x50 gentle stride; 5 minute run warm down.  (lift) 

(November 7-November 13): Goglas Places 36th in NYC; Harris Wins in South Brunswick

Goglas Runs 2:29:40 in NYC; 8th American Finisher

NYC- Ken Goglas, in his debut race wearing GSTC gold, had a breakthrough race this morning at the NYC marathon.  Averaging 5:42.5 a mile, he clocked in at 2:29:40, finishing 36th overall.  To give you an idea of this pace, he ran a 17:44 5k...eight times, in a row.  Wow.  He ran 73:55 for his opening half, and finished in 75:45.  

 

Along with being the 8th American to cross the finish line, he was the top New Jersey finisher, breaking the GSTC marathon club record.  Way to go, Ken!   

 

Two GSTC ladies also ran exceptional races in today's NYC Marathon.  Janine Brown, a former police offer from Great Britain, ran a very steady race, finishing in 3:13:13.

 

Mel Bandler, the GSTC-Rutgers women's captain, also ran an outstanding race, finishing her debut marathon at 4:07:23.  She finished 16th in her age group!

http://www.ingnycmarathon.org/Results.htm

 

 

Harris Wins Race for Vikings 5k

South Brunswick- Tony Harris, who last spring had never raced farther than an 800m (just once, nonetheless), won his third 5k road race this fall, hitting the tape in a PR 15:53.0 (see attached).  He ran in a three-man pack with teammate Chuck Schneekloth and Fairfield University's Matt Boley through the mile (4:56) and two mile (10:04).  He made his move with 800m to go, clinching his third gold of the year.  Schneekloth finished second (16:07.8), Edsel Flores 8th (17:01.8 PR), and Zak Martins 11th (17:40.5).

http://www.bestrace.com/results/11/111106SB5.HTM

 

GTG 5k: Final Instructions Coming Soon

Hard to believe it's this Sunday.

 

Please look for an email this week with final, specific instructions for all club members.  We thank you all, in advance, for the work you've done promoting and supporting our club's biggest event (and fund raiser!) of the year.

 

For now, just make sure you've registered (https://raceforum.com/gorilla/secure.html); club members register as Rutgers students and feel young again.  We want members to pre-register to make the day-of-race logistics easier for our timer and our entire team!

 

 

This Week in Training

 

Distance

This week's work is race specific work for the GTG race.  5k pace is well faster than threshold pace.  If run properly, the Thursday workout should leave you feeling fresh, light, and fit, with two days to recover for max performance on Sunday. 
 
A word about training paces.  The paces you run these workouts should be paces based on race times you have already run.  They should not be a goal pace that you hope to run someday.  This is often called "date pace."  Don't fall into the trap of telling yourself that you should have run faster in this race or that, therefore you should be training faster than you've performed.  The only adjustments for you to make are conservative ones, based on differences in footwear, weather conditions, or running surface/terrain.  If anything, these adjustments will have you running slower than race pace, but with the same effort.  It's effort that stimulates your body to produce training adaptations.  We still have XC races ahead of us, so try to get these workouts done on XC style surfaces.
 
Some of you raced today (Sunday) - if you did, take an additional recovery day on Tuesday and run Tuesday's workout on Wednesday.  Run the Thursday workout on Friday, but only do 8x400 - this will get you some pace work but keep you fresh for Sunday's GTG.  The 3xmile is the key work for the week.  The secondary workout is just that.  Don't sacrifice freshness for a few extra 400s.

Monday: Comfortable run + 8x80m strides.
 
Tuesday: Tuesday: 3xmile.  Hard.  Full recovery.  This should be faster than 5k race pace, but each should be faster than the previous, so don't run too fast too early.  They shouldn't be all out.  Aim for 3-5sec faster on each - Run fast but under control on the last one.  Get at least 20 minutes of cooldown plus some strides.
 
Wednesday: Comfortable run + 8x80m strides.
 
Thursday: 12x400 on 2:30 at 5k race pace.  Each 400 begins after 2:30 – so if you run 75, you get 75 recovery.  Don't run these too fast!  This workout shouldn't deplete you too much – the goal is to groove on race pace.  Pay attention to exactly how it feels to run at this pace.
 
Friday: Comfortable run + 8x80m strides
 
Saturday – Shakeout!  3-6 miles easy + strides.  Visualize Victory!
 
Sunday – GTG.

 

 

Sprinters

We are coming off a very, very solid week of training.  Wednesday's session of 3 x (6x100) w/ 30secs rest was a strong extensive tempo session; Saturdays broken 150's down/up hill gave us a chance to simulate a race effort and race environment.  Monday's we'll return to our bread and butter special endurance 1 session, and Wednesday we'll come back with an alactic, acceleration session.  Saturday morning, after two days of recovery, we will work on changing gears over 300m reps. 

 

Note: Monday and Wednesday are at Metuchen HS track @ 5:45.  Saturday is at Roosevelt Park.

 

Monday:  4 x (300/100) @800m pace/@400m pace (50m walk rest); circuits.

Tuesday: 12x100 stride (knee lift final 20m); LIFT

Wednesday: 8 x 50 start @ 200m pace; circuits

Thursday: 12x50m stride; LIFT

Friday: OFF

Saturday: 6x300 (100/100/100); circuits

Sunday: 10min recovery run; stretch; 10min recovery run