Sunday, January 5, 2020

What a Finish to 2019!



THE CLUB EMAIL

"If you are going to be a champion, you must be willing to pay a greater price."

-Coach Bud Wilkinson-


Hello, 2020!
(It's been a while...sorry...it's been a busy year!)
 

Please Pay Your 2020 GSTC Dues Here

 
Top Ten Reasons to Pay Your 2020 Dues

10.  To get your sweet "Decade of Dedication" team tech shirt for 2020, commemorating the club's tenth year of crushing it...and also paying homage to the first uniforms, circa 2010, that were gold with the NJ Parkway sign logo,


9.  To get added to the team's weekly training plan written by Team Coach Josh Izewski,

The OG uniforms at the 2011 5k XC Championships


8.  To get the GSTC discount code for the GS10 and GS 5k,

7.  To help defray club costs such as website maintenance, RRCA & USATF membership, club insurance, etc.



6.  Because Baby Yoda just paid his GSTC dues....so you should, too,

5.  To help support our elites leading up to the USA Olympic Trials in 2020,

4.  To continue receiving endless Facebook notifications in the dozens of FB groups you are in,

3.  To get the GSTC discount code for Running Warehouse,

2. Write it off on your taxes!

1.  The memes.  Good, bad, or ugly...a small price to pay for endless memes.



And if you'd like to donate even more as a tax write off to the club, a 501(c)3 non-profit, you can do that here.





Team Spring Racing Schedule
We will announce soon after our upcoming Leadership Team meeting.

Why no team title in 2016, you wonder?  The club's Leadership Team voted to experience new spring races, and the LT later voted, that summer, to resume attending USATF-NJ races that fall.  
GSTC BRINGS THE HOUSE TO CLUB XC NATIONALS

The USATF Club XC National Championships, the cornerstone of the fall racing season, have come and gone.  After the dust has finally settled, the big question that lingers: how did the GSTC do?

With its seventy-seven runners and thirteen teams, the club set USATF event records in both categories.  But this is an event about performance, not attendance ribbons or participation medals.  So: how did the GSTC stack up against the best clubs in America?

The answer: pretty damn good.

Sifting through the results of the open men, open women, and masters 40s, 50s, and 60s results, there were five clubs that had a scoring team in nearly every category: Greater Philly TC (PA), Club Northwest (WA), Genesee Valley Harriers (NY), Central Park TC (NY), and Garden State TC (NJ).  It was more common to see clubs strong in some areas than in other areas like the HOKA Aggies (CA), Atlanta TC (GA), and Playmakers (MI).  

So who was the strongest club overall?  GPTC had four masters teams in the top 10, but an incomplete women's team and an open team that was wedged between out D and E teams at 75th place counts them out.  GVH was strong in the older categories, but got less competitive with every younger one, including an incomplete women's team and 49th place men's team.  So they're out.  

Which leaves us with GSTC, CPTC, and CNW.  Here's the breakdown of age divisions and male/female team finishes:

Club Northwest: 60s (5, 1), 50s (2, 4), 40s (--, 8), Men (17), Women (12)
GSTC: 60s (16, --), 50s (5, 16), 40s (9, 3), M (23, 40, 52, 69, 77), W (23, 40)
CPTC: 60s (18, 12), 50s (8, 11), 40s (20, 12), M (26), W (9)

So based on these numbers, it looks like Club Northwest (founded 1972) thus had the best showing, followed by Garden State Track Club (founded 2010) and then by Central Park Track Club (founded 1972, as well).  

Scroll down farther for team results and pictures.

ASHENFELTER 8K: 
One of the Club's Best Team Performances in Club History

After nine years of team road racing, it's hard to say, with fidelity, "This was the best overall road performance in club history."  But, one can probably make such a case at this year's Ashenfelter 8k, the all-division final team race of the year. 

First, look at the open men.  Although the club has always dominated the men's race, this year's group (Ryan McGorty, Eric Holt, Ashwin Anantharaman, Stephen Rathbun, Kyle Price) had the fastest five-man team time (24:56) in event history.  The previous event record of 25:48, held by the GSTC, included the mighty Alfredo Santana (23:45) on the team from 2015.  This year, the men's teams finished 1-2-5-6-7-8.  The second place team's average of 26:03, lead by Aditya Singh's 25:22, is the #3 fastest team in event history, ahead of the GSTC's winning teams of 2011 (26:15), 2014 (26:30), and 2017 (26:35).

The masters men also had a banner day.  Along with 1-2-4-6 in the M40s race, their best showing ever, the M50s and the M60s won.  This is the first time the men have swept all three masters team races.  Jonathan Frieder (26:48), John Hogan (28:54), and Gary Leaman (30:18) were the club's top finishers in each age group.

The women were equally as impressive.  The open women swept the top three team spots along with adding a fifth place as well.  Several ladies ran PRs as their average team times were, respectively, 30:37, 31:22, 31:59, and 36:07.  Izzy Gladstone (30:11), Nicole Burlinson (30:32), and Emily Rosario (30:58) were the fastest three open women whereas the club put five in the race's top ten finishers.

The W40s team capped off an undefeated season with just an incredible showing with teams in 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 11th out of twenty-one teams.  Elena Rozhko (30:02), Hortencia Aliaga (30:40), and Caoimhe Kilroy (31:01) were the top three women both from the club and in the race.  In addition, the GSTC W40s put seven in the race's top ten masters finishers.

And finally, the W50s had a team for the first time ever.  Kim Aspholm (34:17) helped the squad finished fourth out of seventeen teams with Barbara Franz, Tracy Marchesi, Behtany Summers, and Stefani Meyers rounding out the team.


M40s Men Upset ATC in the Final Hour
Clutch 15k Team Effort Clinches Come-From-Behind National Grand Prix Title Defense

After dominating the USATF National Masters Grand Prix in 2018, the M40s team was excited to repeat in 2019.  Until injuries reared its ugly head in the spring, putting the squad a distant second behind Atlanta Track Club.  ATC could have iced their team title out in the Flint road mile, but the GSTC pulled out a major upset, edging them by just a few seconds.  And with guys starting to heal up, there was hope for a comeback.

Five GSTC'ers then traveled to San Diego for the masters 5k XC championships, yet finished a disappointing 5th place.  This now meant a final, head-to-head showdown with ATC in the Tulsa 15k, the final championship race of the year.  With the team scores 370-365, the winner would take it all.

For several reasons the Running Prof outlined in his race preview, he was picking ATC to win both Tulsa and thus the team title.  After all, the Frieder twins were racing for the first time since an injury, and ATC had three solid guys entered.  While the Prof has been wrong before (he did, in fact, pick ATC over GSTC at the road mile in August), but the guy knows his stuff, follows masters athletes closely, and has a great track record.  After all, he has been writing about these masters national races now for years.

As expected, the ATC one-two punch of Aaron Totten-Lancester (51:11) and Brian Sydow (52:19) ran brilliantly as they had all year.  The twins, in their first race back, both ran incredibly well in their fall debut to neutralize those two, with Jonathan and Elliott running 52:28 and 53:40, respectively.

The "most highly anticipated race of the day" now came down to the #3 man: Brad Slavens (ATC) and Shawn Williams (GSTC).  But Williams ran perhaps his finest race as a masters runner, finishing well over 3:00 faster than the Prof's projection, which narrowly secured the overall win, 2:40:32-2:41:42.  And with that, the M40s team repeated their Grand Prix team title win!





Goose Qualifies for  Olympic Trials at CIM 
Great GSTC Showing in Sacramento; Goose is Fourth GSTC'er to Qualify

The GSTC crew had a great day out at CIM highlighted by Shelby Goose's 2:43:59 Olympic Trials qualifier.  There were five other PRs this day: Mike Kennedy (2:41:44), Leah Roberts (3:06:15), Maria Metzger (3:07:20), Matt Leingang (3:08:00), and Aya Leitz (3:08:03).  Joyjit Kundu ran just a bit off his PR with a 3:13:31.

13-14 Boys Win XC National Title 

The 13-14 year old boys team headed out to Knoxville, TN with hopes to contend for a national cross country title.  Not only did they contend for it--they won it!

The GSTC ran away with the team title with just 60 points averaging 14:10.   Derby City was second with 88 points (14:18 average), Pacific Coast Shockwaves third (14:33 average), and the Music City Super Squad fourth (14:36 average).

Max Huang and Ethan Fletcher went 13th and 14th, respectively, with the same time of 13:59.  From there, teammates Matt Califano (32nd), Alex Califano (40th), Caleb Brox (47th), Dan Phillips (69th), and Dmitry Cole (85th) rounded out the rest of the national championship team.


USATF Creates Task Force To Tackle GSTC's Proposed
"Diversity Bill" 

GSTC's performances extended beyond the track, road, and trails this year as well.  In conjunction with Michael Rolek, an attorney at Connell Foley, LLP (and former 66:** half marathoner/2:23 marathoner), GSTC submitted 10 proposed amendments to the USATF Bylaws and Operating Regulations.  Collectively referred to as the "Diversity Bill," these proposed amendments aimed at increasing engagement and accessibility to USATF Associations across the country.  The Diversity Bill was submitted to the USATF Law and Legislation Committee in September 2019, and thereafter received support from Olympians, coaches, and chairs of various track and field committees and Associations across the country.  In December, Michael presented and defended the Diversity Bill at the USATF National Meeting in Reno, NV.  Our proposed amendments received a very warm reception. The general vibe: this should have happened a long time ago. Given the importance of the issues discussed in our proposed amendments and the impact it will have on the USATF and its local governing bodies, the USATF Law and Legislation Committee elected to table a vote until next year and form a USATF Task Force on Inclusion and Engagement to further investigate issues of diversity/engagement/inclusion at a local level, develop the language in the proposed amendments and ensure that the amendments are passed expeditiously. While this certainly doesn't impact anyone's day-to-day running, it's important our membership knows how much we care about improving the sport in big-picture ways--and how much we care about this sport being about access and equity.  A brief summary of the Diversity Bill is below:
 
One of the stated Purposes of USATF is Diversity; specifically: "promoting diversity of representation at all levels of participation in its activities." (See Article 3(A)(5) of the USATF Bylaws and Regulations). Nevertheless, Associations across the United States maintain homogenous committees that do not reflect its diverse constituencies. The Diversity Bill addresses this issue by requiring Associations to take actionable steps to diversify their governing bodies to ensure that every member has a voice and is being adequately represented. In particular, the Diversity Bill seeks to: (1) ensure that Associations' committees are structured to promote diversity; (2) establish and encourage voting options accessible to all members; and (3) hold Associations accountable for promoting diversity of representation at all levels of participation in its activities.


Teams Crush It at Half Marathon Champs

Aditya Singh had an outstanding club debut, as he finished third overall in 72:55, helping lead the Black and Gold to victory at the HM Team Championships.  The open men's teams finished 1-4-6.  With Allie Niles and Meaghan Driscoll up front, the open women's teams finished 1st and 3rd with the W40s pulling out a 1-2 sweep.

Due to its timing and size (only 317 finishers), it wasn't a focus race for the club, but folks sure look pretty darn good here despite just finishing a half marathon!

Big Day at Northeast Footlocker Champs

The GSTC's youth team had an outstanding day at the Northeast Footlocker Championships at the historic Van Cortland Park.

The 13-14 boys, with Max Huang and Matt Califano up front finishing 3-4, averaged 18:33 (3k course) and dominated the race by scoring just 15 points for the win.  Their top six runners were either 1st, 2nd, or 3rd team Foot Locker All-Northeast.

Two 13-14 girls finished as 2nd Team All-Northeast, Ines Lemee and Dorothy Wong, as did one 11-12 boy, Todd Smith.

In the 10 and under race, Will Van Etten won the race 11:03.0, making him the fastest boy to race the famed 3,000m cross course course at Van Cortland Park.  Even more unbelievable is that he broke it by just .3 seconds!  His teammate Ryan Hirschorn finished second, thirty-three seconds behind him,  with Harry Smith finishing 15th and thus earning 2nd team All-Northeast honors.


Fastest HM Day in Club History at Mohawk

In the fastest day of half marathoning in club history, all athletes PRed and several cracked the club's top 15 list in an outstanding day at the mohawk Half Marathon up in Albany, New York.

Sean Donohue lead the charge with his 67:23 silver medal effort, or 5:09 pace, good for #3 on the all-time GSTC list.  Stephen Rathbun's 67:58, also a big PR, got him third place and #5 on the club's list.  Ashwin Anantharaman's 68:51, good for fourth, puts him 11th on the all-time list, ahead of GSTC legends Chris Croff, Ken Goglas, and Sean Stetler.

Kyle Price (70:38), Will Appman (71:16), Evan Ward (72:57), Brendan Conway (74:31), Wismith Francois (82:18), and Aidan Taylor (85:39) all had great races, too.


Club Travel Hours to Run at "Dream Park"

The course was hours away, was uneven, bumpy, and gave people blisters, and it was hot af out there.  But outside of that, it was great.

The open men and open women did win the USATF travel stipends for their win, so there was that too, along with a solid diner team outing afterward.

The USATF-NJ also lost about $920 in entry fees this year by having it so early and in deep South Jersey.  In 2018, there were 219 finishers, but in 2019 there was just 165.  

Van Etten Voted USATF-NJ 9-10 Track & XC Athlete of the Year

The USATF-NJ selected three GSTC youth for their track athletes of the year: Will Holman (9-10 sprinter), Will Van Etten (9-10 distance), and Kennan Byers (11-12 distance).

For cross country:
9-10 XC Youth Chair Will Van Etten
Highlights: Region 2 Champion, All-American 9th in National
11-12 XC Youth Chair Kennan Byers
Highlights 3rd in the State, All-American 11th in the National
13-14 XC Youth Chair Max Huang
Highlights: 3rd in State, 2nd at Regions (lost by under 2 seconds)

GSTC's W40s Go Undefeated in 2019


GS10 Donates $21,500 to Cancer Call Out
However, USATF-NJ Rejects Its Grand Prix Bid for the 2020 Team Championship Series

The Garden State 10 continues to be an event that is both fun and fast for runners--along with charitable for a good cause.  In September, the GS10 provided a check to the Nick Magos Cancer Call Out, making the total raised for the charity $21,500.

In 2019, there were 531 finishers for the 10 Miler and 373 finishers for the 5k.  But unfortunately, the USATF-NJ did not select it again as part of the Grand Prix.  Instead, they selected the Spring Classic 15k (a race that doesn't exist yet, doesn't have a website, a registration portal, etc. just three months before) and the 12k (238 finishers).

*    *   *   *

Jang Longs for the Dog Days of Warm Summer Running
"I could then wear my green striped shirt any day I want and ponder the existential crisis of our earth." 
  


LOCAL MAN DOCUMENTS HIS CLUB RECORD 283 STRAIGHT DAYS OF RUNNING WITHOUT A WORKOUT
"Day, Night, Cold, Heat, Tornados, Hurricanes.  Bring it on!  I'll be out there crushing an easy run.  Not a workout, mind you, but I will run 7:25 (maybe 8:00 depending on the dew point) miles even during the Earth's fire-burning apocalypse."  


Hogan Vying for "Most Patriotic Member" for 2019 Club Banquet


 
If Only GSTC Runner Took His Running as Seriously as His Post-Race Flexing


Parisen Eyes 2020 Donut Race After Fall Injury Setback
"Hey cool story bro about your PR.  I'm sure you worked hard for it.  Just wait until I finish 3rd AG next year at the Donut Run."

Young Open Runners Pretend Interested in Masters Teammate's Story About the Grocery Store That Existed About a Mile That Way Before Closing in 1987


GSTC Sprinter Can't Figure Out Why He Hasn't Had a Date Since 2015


Inspired by Older Masters Teammates, Rathbun Begins Running Like Them
 
 

FRIEDER TWINS NOT IMPRESSED WITH YOUR CHRISTMAS TREE PICS
"Dude.  Seriously.  You call that thing a tree?  I don't even celebrate the holiday, but those shitty ornaments look like empty beer cans.  Also, I ran faster at Ashenfelter when I was 46 than you did this year.  But anyway, Happy Holidays to you and your family."





 



To Our Beloved GSTC Members: 
We are happy to announce that we recently entered into a sponsorship agreement with PacificHealth Laboratories. PacificHealth Laboratories has been an innovator in developing science-based products for recovery, fueling and energy. You are probably familiar with their brands - Endurox R4, Accelerade, 2nd Surge and Accel Gel.
 
As part of our sponsorship agreement, Dr. Robert Portman, an eminent sports scientist, author of three books and a pioneer in the development of cutting-edge sport nutrition products, will be writing a Performance Tip of the Week that will be emailed to you. Performance Tips will focus on the latest studies and include valuable suggestions on how nutrition can improve running performance. If you decide to purchase any products, here is a link to runningwarehouse.com which gives all of our members a discount using promo code: GSTCD

 
 

Special Offer for GSTC Members
FREE Endurox R4 Single Serve Packs

PacificHealth Labs is offering all GSTC members FREE single serve packs of Endurox R4 the Gold Standard for Muscle Recovery. Simply Click Here 
provide your address and your samples will be on their way. 
 
 

INSULIN AND LEAN BODY MASS
 
A general misconception is that insulin is only involved in energy and fat metabolism. When energy needs are high, insulin transports sugar from the blood into the muscle where it can be converted into energy. When energy needs are low, insulin facilitates the conversion of excess sugar into fat where it can be stored for future use. 
 
What is often overlooked is the powerful effect of insulin on stimulating muscle protein growth and repair. An essential action of insulin is to increase the transport into muscle of amino acids, the building blocks of protein, where they can be used for rebuilding and repair. Insulin's anabolic effects do not end there. Insulin also plays an important role in turning on one of the metabolic switches that control protein synthesis.
 
This action explains why combinations of carbohydrate and protein are far more effective in stimulating protein synthesis than protein alone. Two switches are responsible for turning on protein synthesis. One is activated by protein, specifically amino acid levels in the blood, and the second by insulin. Consuming carbohydrate (which raises insulin levels) and protein in your recovery drink gives you a dual benefit. In fact, research has shown that a carbohydrate protein drink is 38% more effective than a protein drink in stimulating muscle protein synthesis post exercise.
 
Another important effect of insulin is inhibition of protein breakdown. At any given time, muscle protein is in a state of flux - it is being synthesized and broken down. When more protein is synthesized than broken down, you have a net gain in lean body mass. After exercise, protein degradation is higher, primarily because during extended endurance activity up to 20% of the working muscle's energy is derived from protein.
 That's why consuming protein in your sports drink offers significant advantages. It reduces the amount of muscle protein used for energy. Higher breakdown rates of protein after exercise increases muscle soreness and slows the overall recovery process. By inhibiting protein breakdown, insulin mediates a faster recovery.  
 
The bottom line - by taking advantage of how and when insulin works and how nutrition can affect insulin activity, endurance athletes can optimize muscle recovery and achieve significant improvements in endurance performance.

 
Dr. Robert Portman, a prominent sports science researcher, is coauthor of Nutrient Timing and the Performance ZoneHis latest book is Hardwired for Fitness.





Around the Clubhouse

CLUB NATIONALS SUMMARY

Open Men: 
23rd, 40th, 52nd, 69th, and 78th (out of 79 teams)


Open Women:
20th & 42nd (out of 48 teams)


Men's 40s:
9th out of 42 teams


Women's 40s:
3rd out of 25 teams


Men's 50s:
5th out of 24 teams


Women's 50s:
16th out of 25 teams


Men's 60s:
16th out of 41teams 



M40s Receive 2019 USATF National M40s Grand Prix Team Title at Lehigh



 
Join Strava.  Follow Your Teammates. 
Two big reasons why you should join Strava.
 
Exhibit A- on the left.  You can engage in provocative, thoughtful dialogue with your teammates about training.
 
Exhibit B- on right.  You can see what your teammates are doing every day and every week.   Trust us on this one.
 
 
BE HAPPY.
ATTEND TEAM WORKOUTS.

Go on social media.  Go on email.  Find the next team run or workout and GO ATTEND IT AND HAVE FUN!  They are regularly posted on Facebook group pages.  Look how excited Kevin Jang is to have friends to run with.  Actually, maybe stay away from Kevin Jang.  You get our point.  Get involved!  


This Picture is So Bad Ass


 
Support Our 
Club's Sponsors

Jarrett Dewelde is a Financial Advisor based in Somerville. His firm, R.I.C.H. Planning Group, was established in 2001, is completely independent, and also has offices in Woodbridge and Morristown. Areas of specialty include financial planning, investments, IRAs, college planning, and life insurance. If you have a question in one of these areas, be sure and give him a call. Jarrett has been a member of the Garden State Track Club since 2017.


(Editor's Note: If it wasn't for a financial planner a decade ago, I would never have been able to buy my first house.  No one wants to financially plan for the future, but it's such a good move.  Find Jarrett on FB and ask him anything!  -Chuck)

Don't Be Bored 
This Week.


We have team runs every day somewhere in New Jersey.  Or, post your run on a team FB page.  Always easier with a friend!


Team Track Sessions

Monday and Wednesday evenings (5:30pm) at Highland Park HS; Saturday mornings at 10:30am.  Come join the fun!

Get Your GSTC Gear
 
Contact Joe Jacobs, owner of Sneaker Factory-Florham Park, to order all team gear or to get discounts on any running apparel.  Team gear can also be purchased on the club website.
gstcuniform@gmail.com



YOUTH PRACTICE

We train 2-3 times a week at Highland Park High School.  Email gardenstatetrackclub@gmail.com for more information!



 


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social media!






(every weekly email since 2011)


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