(2/18-2/23): ROAD RELAYS THIS SUNDAY!

Top 10 Reasons Why Road Relays

Will Rock in 2014

 

Sign up here.  Last day to do so, online, is Thursday.  Hurry up!!!!  

 

10.  You get a sweet RR ear warmer, or as the website calls them, “ear band poly fleece with ant-pilling.”  Either way, it looks like we’ll be getting snow through Labor Day, so this will come in handy for a while.  

 

9.  Kyle Price requested to wear the gorilla outfit, or as he calls it, the monkey costume.  Who knows what this means.

 

8.  DUDE.  It’s gonna be 50 degrees and partly sunny on race day.  WHOA. 

 

7.  You can meet the GSTC sprinters, who volunteer the race.  Goodness only knows anything that lasts longer than 60 seconds…they aren’t gonna run in it!

 

6.  Tons of GSTC’ers attend, so it’s just a nice opportunity to say, “Hello, good day.”

 

5.  POST-RACE FUN AT MIKE’S COURTSIDE BAR AND GRILL. 

 

4.  When was the last time you ran with a baton?  High school?  It’s fun.  Trust us on this.

 

3.  Have you ever attempted to eat a green banana?  We offered tons of them last year.  Yummy.

 

2.  The Princeton Running Club (PRC) and Rutgers Running Club (RRC) are both bringing about ten relay teams to compete for the “Karnes Cup” in the “Route 1 Rivalry.”  This thing looks a good bit like the Stanley Cup, and it’ll be interesting to see if Rutgers can beat Princeton in anything.  Luckily this isn’t an SAT contest.

 

1.  YOU HAVE NOTHING ELSE TO DO ON SUNDAY.  So get your butt out here.

 

You may pickup your bib number at North Brunswick's Road Runner Sports on Saturday from 12-5.  And if you do...we get a few bucks for every bib picked up!

****There is also a Leadership Team Meeting after the race at Mike's to discuss the adidas partnership.  As always...all are welcome to attend.****

 

RRC Lineups

Co-Ed Teams

Rob Marczydlo & Bri Florovito

Kyle Flyer & Molly Pretznel

Kevin Gruber & Lindsey Williams

 

Women's Teams

Kelly Thow & Kristen Prazenica

Erin LaCosta & Monika Juzwiak

Christina Parry & Katherine Kneisel

 

Men's Teams

David Fett & Dan Teichmann

Jay Wunnava & Mike Soskind

Mohamed El Hedi & Ezra Chefitz

Joe Pellegrino & Zach Bennett

Jonathan Ropke & Mike Mudrak

Ryan DeGregorio & Rob Klink

Joey Lupo & Dan Siegel

 

 

Millrose Games Results

 

Women Finish 3^rd in DMR

The GSTC women Distance Medley Relay highlighted the club’s performances at the Millrose Games, finishing 3^rd overall in 12:08.37. 

 

After a hard opening 800m, Robin Evangelist held on in the final 400m and passed the baton in 3:43.30, putting the Gold in 5th place.  Eva Gay McKenzie split 60.25 on the 400 leg, handing off to Chelsea Callan who then ran 2:21.49 on the 800m leg, pushing the team into 4^th place. 

 

Anchor Cheyenne Ogletree then went to work, grinding out a 5:03.24 anchor to bring the team into third place.  It was really all she could have done, as the 2^nd place Syracuse Chargers were 17 seconds ahead.

 

For the first time in club history, then GSTC women had a B Team in the DMR.  Nicole Salge opened up with a 3:50.84 1200m leg, followed by Erin LaCosta’s 61.8 400m carry.  Erika Meling then ran a season best in the 800m (2:29.40), followed by a 5:39.37 anchor by women’s co-captain Angela Dunn.  The team finished 6^th overall in 13:01.64.  Only the Central Park Track Club fielded a women’s B Team in the Distance Medley.

 

Combined, Men Run Faster in 2014

In 2013, the GSTC men fielded two DMRs that finished in 10:02 and 10:30.  Added up, that’s 20:32 for the two team times.

 

In 2014, despite harsher training conditions thanks to ten snowstorms, the two teams ran 10:11 and 10:13, thus making a combined time of 20:24 –a sizeable eight seconds faster than last year. 

 

Both teams had legitimate chances at breaking 10:00, but the race was mired by a very pedestrian opening leg.  B Team lead-off Kyle Price stormed to the lead from the gun, but then hit the brakes.   A Team lead-off Andrew Golato sat far back in the pack—often times in last place.  Neither made a hard push to make the race an honest, hard one…and both paid the price.  With 400m to go, both weren’t in good position, resulting in both handing off alongside the last place team, Pacers New Balance. 

 

From there, the next three relay members fought desperately to get back into the race.  Unfortunately, it was an endeavor of futility.  Kevin Persson split 49.93, the third fastest 400m leg in the race, but it just wasn’t enough.  Ricky Garcia ran an indoor best of 1:53.84 on the 800m leg, but they still trailed the pack by three seconds.  Dennie Waite finished the relay in 4:19.66, running the majority of the race alone.  For a few moments, the Pacers anchor was nearby, but he ended up splitting 4:11.

 

The B Team had Josh Chavanne, making his first Millrose appearance, run 51.52 for the 400m leg, followed by an impressive—and alone—Mike Saparito 1:54.63 carry.  Eric DuBois had the fastest GSTC anchor of the evening, running 4:18.40.  Out of six teams, the club finished 5^th and 6^th overall.

 

4x200 Finishes 6 of 12

Despite a few setbacks, the GSTC men finished 6^th in the 4x200 relay at Millrose Games with a 1:31.17 finish.  Darnell Mickle, the club record holder in the 200m, put the Gold in the lead with a 22.2 leg.  Ryan Gonzelez struggled in the second leg, splitting 23.4 as the club faded to 2^nd.  Garcia, making an unusual appearance in the short relay, rolled a 22.5, followed by Persson’s 22.7 carry to finish 2^nd in their heat. 

 

 

Team Runs

Monday: (Central Enclave) 5:30 track workout at Highland Park HS

Tuesday: (Central Enclave) 5:30 group run @ Rutgers Student Center (RSC)

Wednesday: (Central Enclave) 5:30 group run @ RSC

Wednesday: (Central Enclave) 5:30 track workout at HPHS

Wednesday: (Morristown Enclave) 6:15 group run @ Morristown Running Company

Thursday: (Central Enclave) 5:30 group run @ RSC

Friday: (Central Enclave) UNIFORM RUN.  4:15 AT RUNNER’S HIGH IN METUCHEN.  QUICK FOOD, THEN WE DECIDE ON 2014-2015 ADIDAS UNIFORMS.  ALL ARE WELCOME.

Saturday: (Morristown) 9:00 group run @ Morristown Running Company

Saturday: (Central Enclave) 10:00am track workout at HPHS

Sunday:  ROAD RELAYS, 11AM AT BUCCLEUCH PARK @ NEW BRUNSWICK!  Post Race Party, and Leadership Team Meeting, afterward!

 

Quotes of the Week

“Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.”  -Nicole Salge, FB

“Sooo anybody want to run with me late tonight whenever the hell I get back from Toms River (NJ State Meet)?”  -Kyle Price, via FB

“I just wanna run for a living and call it a day.”  -Robyn Evangelist, via FB

“Happy birthday Frab.  One more year til a new age group.”  -Peter Auteri, writing on Fran Beideman’s wall.  If you aren’t a runner, you just wouldn’t understand.

“Today was amazing!  Great job to all you girls and guys, as well!”  -Erika Meling, via FB, celebrating after Millrose

“So race walking is hellla interesting to witness…kinda embarrassing to say that some of the girls walked faster than I raced so far this season.”  -Aysha Mirza, FB.  Hmmm….time to run faster!

“Can’t let go of the dream.  Millrose Games.”  -Mike Saparito, via FB

“Managed to get flipped off while running…it has been a while.”  -Tim Murphy, via FB.

“So excited for today!  Been wanting to go here for so long and now I get to compete with my awesome team here-MILLROSE GAMES.”  -Robin Evangelist, via FB

“Good luck to all the GSTC’ers at the Millrose Games today!!!!!  I’ll be watching and cheering from Ohio!”  -Zak Martins, via FB

“Fellas, still don’t have anything for your lady?  Get her a rose and take her for a nice run on your favorite loop.  No better date.”  -Josh Neyhart, via GSTC Twitter account

“My valentine: the gym.  My gift to my valentine: sweat.  My valentine’s gift to me:  pain.”  -Lenny Joseph, GSTC record holder in the hammer throw, via FB.  (EN: we loved this guy, even though he almost made the car tip over when we picked him up from the train station.  He ain’t small.)

“Getting my ears lowered today.”  -Timmy Terrific, via FB.  A very important update, indeed.

“’I am so excited for this snow day’ said no track coach ever.”  -Chris Tafelski, via FB

“Out there grinding before the storm hits; GSTC does not rest on its laurels.”  -Josh Neyhart, via GSTC Twitter

“Nooooo!  Keep fighting!  The end is in sight!  You will be so thankful for training in the elements once it actually is nice out.”  -Diana Stavrou, to Jonathan Campanaro, urging him to not locate and run in an indoor track where there’s like five thousand laps to a mile.

“secret: I get inspired by reading the weekly email.”  -4:10 miler Iuri Pinto, a man working on his long-awaited comeback after missing a few years due to injury and work

“Glad to see the team doing so well.  Keep working hard.  Miss you guys.”  -Allyson Guieb, via FB

 

TMA

While the GSTC loves competing at the Millrose Games, we hope the club registration process evolves for 2015.  This year, we were told our C Team DMR couldn’t race because it was a full field of nine teams.  Race day, three teams scratched, leaving only six teams on the starting line.  Womp womp.

In the 4x200, the GSTC ran 1:30 and 1:31 last year with their A and B teams, but this year—the B Team was denied a lane.  However, with a little research, several participating clubs weren’t USATF clubs (it was mandatory to be so, along with USATF members)—and one team ran 1:42.08….a time so slow it would have barely gotten third in the women’s race. 

We hope some changes are made to ensure good teams, with good athletes, are allowed the opportunity they deserve to compete.

Sidenote, when researching Pennsylvania USATF clubs, there is a registered team called Ghetto Fabulous Track Club.

This Week in Club History

This week in club history, absolutely nothing interesting happened.

 

 

Gold Star

By Ashwin Anantharaman

Micah Leonard

Micah has been looking for a club team to join for most of the fall after her graduation from Moravian college. She loves running track and was looking for the right organization that could help take her skills to the next level. She heard about GSTC through one of our members and decided to check out the website and liked what she saw. She is a long and triple jumper with PRs of 18'7 for the LJ and 40'11 for the TJ. Her goal is to continue on in the triple jump and take her jumping to the next level of competitive competition. She has 3 things she must do before she jumps. First she always buys a back of temporary butterfly tattoos and wears one during competition because butterflies have a special meaning to her. The second thing is she listens to her favorite instrumental music to calm her down and let her focus. The third thing she does it so remind herself that she is only there to jump and not impress people with her talents or beat a rival; just jump because she loves it. Her hobbies outside of running include spoken word poetry, spending a day watching her favorite movies or rereading her favorite books. She also loves to sing and hangs out with her family.

 

 

Nick Olson

Nick worked with the GSTC in the past through a support role with his restaurant, Jimmy John's, in New Brunswick.  He has  been a lifelong runner, but this will be his first time running with the GSTC.He is racing in a 7 mile trail race in PA (The Humdinger) on March 1st.  After that he

 would like to complete his first  marathon sometime this year.  He would also like to crack the 5 minute mark during the College Avenue Mile this Summer.He has no real pre race routines yet as he is working on converting to full-time Vibram running especially when most of the running he has done the past 6 months have been on trails. He loves 6 mile run and the Sourland Mountains to do his training runs. Outside of running he owns Jimmy John's in New Brunswick and it takes up most of his life. He loves to plan/organize/help new businesses, garden, homebrew (he grows hops), organize social events, meet new people and play sports any chance he gets

Steady Striders

By Amy Denholtz

Thanks to the steady striders who came out on Saturday to brave the cold (and ice) for a Road Relays Preview.  This upcoming week, instead of a weekend run we encourage all members to find a partner, grab a baton, and get your road relays on!  It's a fun day that has been a welcoming race for many new members, no matter the pace, and we plan to keep it that way.  So invite a friend to take their first step, with the club as a member or just through the enjoyable race we host as a team.  Please remember to sign up online soon!

TEAM STUFF

Sunday Morning, 2/23: Road Relays  www.roadrelays.org

Yearly dues----à https://runsignup.com/Club/NJ/NewBrunswick/GardenStateTrackClub

 

Team website--------------->  www.gardenstatetc.org

Team Facebook Fan Page---->   https://www.facebook.com/groups/159501487397707/

Team Blog---------------> http://gardenstatetc.blogspot.com/

Team YouTube Channel---> http://www.youtube.com/user/GardenStateTC 

 

This Week in Training

By Chris Tafelski (cjtafelski@yahoo.com)

Monday - comfortable run + 7x8-10s hill sprints

 

Tuesday - progression run.  Start out very easy, and progress down to threshold pace, then get down to 5k pace for the last 2-3 mins.  For an idea of what something like this looks like, if I had a 60-minute progression run, I would start out very easy, and progress to Daniels M pace by the 20 minute mark.  By the 45 minute mark I would be at T pace, and with 5 to go I would really be rolling.  You should finish feeling like you could have gone another mile in the middle if you had to.  You don't want to be all-out at the end.

 

Wednesday - medium run of 15-20% of weekly mileage

 

Thursday - super easy 40-60 mins or OFF.

 

Friday - 7-10x1k @T pace with 1:00-1:30 recoveries.  If your 1k reps are longer than 4:00, run 800s instead.  Finish with 4x200 at mile pace

 

Saturday - same as Monday

 

Sunday - long run!

 

What is this email?

The GSTC Weekly Email is a collaborative effort to bring club membership an accurate and entertaining update on all team events, runs, results, workouts, quotes, and even mishaps every Sunday night.  It is also often referred to as “The Email” or, by more prominent members of the running community, “error-fraught spam.”  If you’d like to submit anything that would contribute to any of these sections, please email us! 

Fwd: (2/10-2/16): Road Relays; Eight Wins at Monmouth

Intro

The GSTC Weekly Email is a collaborative effort to bring club membership an accurate and entertaining update on all team events, runs, results, workouts, quotes, and even mishaps every Sunday night.  It is also often referred to as “The Email” or, by more prominent members of the running community, “error-fraught spam.”  If you’d like to submit anything that would contribute to any of these sections, please email us! 

 

2014 Yearly Club Dues

 

https://runsignup.com/Club/NJ/NewBrunswick/GardenStateTrackClub

 

ROAD RELAYS: TWO WEEKS

Sign up HERE. GSTC’s longest-running tradition, doubling as a fund-raiser and a chance to run in funny clothes.

 

This week, we would like to spend a few minutes talking about the art of the event.  Most races are fairly simple:  run race, finish race, get a free bagel, go to awards ceremony, go home, done.

 

The Road Relays is a little more…elegant, or shall we say…complicated.

 

The Art of the Team Name

Should you be funny?  Ironic?  Inappropriate?  Witty?  Traditional?  Deciding on the team name really solidifies your team’s identity.  For example, in 2013 names ranged from gems like “Bearded Cat Ninjas” to “Vicious and Delicious.”  A sibling duo called “Unfortunately Related” signed up, along with the Roig Father-Daughter combination of “Roig Rage.”  We aren’t sure if the “Awesome Bros” lived up to their name last year, coming in at 53^rd place and all, but “Pink Dynamite” sure did, as did  “Kenya Catch Us.”  One appropriately named team was “Yo Mamma Runs So Slow…” (finishing in at 124^th), along with a masters team titled, “Over the Hill Gang”  And, to be quite honest, we haven’t a clue what the team named “Beasts of the NJ Wild” looked like, and…we think we wanna keep it like that.  Likewise goes for “We Got the Runs.”  Hey, keep it classy, right?

 

The Art of the Team Outfit

Okay, so you have a name.  Fantastic.  But now what?  What do you wear?  It’ll most likely be cold, but not THAT cold…it’ll almost be March, and it’ll be 11:00am.  That said, you wanna distinguish yourself from the other teams.  Maybe the same shirt?  Funny hats?  Face paint?  Hey, whatever you wanna do.  It’s your team, your team picture, your day…you look however you wanna look.  However, the more unique you look, the more fun you will have.  That is written somewhere in some book.  Or on the Internet.  Everything is in the Internet.  Yeah, there.

 

The Art of the Handoff

This all starts with selecting what color baton you want.  Green for good luck?  Red for Rutgers?  Purple for your toenail color?  Please, discuss this with your teammate prior to the event, as bickering moments before the race is just weird.  Actually, come to think of it…that might be fun to watch.  Bicker away. 

 

Next comes the art of the handoff.  Once you’ve decided on the color, you’ll need to practice the baton exchange.  After all, there will be three handoffs.  Do you do an open or blind handoff?  Research the Internet on that one.  Also, spotting your teammate is important, as well.  You wanna be ready to go, with your sweats off, as your partner comes barreling down the final stretch.  This is when wearing a bright purple outfit, or a funny bow on your head, may come in handy.  It’s almost like trying to spot your luggage on the carousal.  Maybe you can tie a bright red ribbon on the top of your partner’s hair.

 

The Art of the Team Picture

Everyone likes the team picture at the end.  It’s tradition.  The question remains: how do you look?  Do you wanna sport the “I just ran for 1000 miles” look?  Or, “Hello, I just ran a race and look even cuter now than I did before” look?  Or, you can simply just try to make it look good for the Facebook profile picture.  It’s your call. 

 

This finally segues into the “Post Race Party” at Mike’s Courtside.  How do you wanna roll up to it?  Still in costume?  Sporty, yet clean?  Or heck, iron and throw on your finest tuxedo tshirt?  Decisions, decisions.

 

 

RESULTS:  GSTC WINS 8 EVENTS AT MU

 

Riddick Launches 7^th Farthest Throw in USA

West Long Branch-  Monique Riddick continues to have a breakthrough season this winter, and after Saturday’s competition…she is ranked 7^th in America.

 

The Indiana University grad and Edison resident put the shot 16.64m, or 54 feet and 7.25 inches, to win the event by over fourteen feet.  Not only did she break the meet record and her own facility record, she set a new PR, climbing up the national ranks now to #7 in the land.

 

The USATF Indoor National Championships are the weekend of February 22-23 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Although she is the fourth GSTC member to make the national championships “Status of Entries” list, she will become the first club member to actually compete at the national meet in two weeks.

 

Ross Sets Facility Record…Twice

Saturday’s Monmouth meet seemed, more or less, like a rerun of Princeton’s meet.  The main character prevailed the same way; the only change was the supporting, background roles.  Oh, two facility records tumbled this time around.

 

In the men’s 500m, Tyrone Ross sat on Kelly Fisher for two circuits, finally using the final 100m to push by the veteran from North Carolina with a 64.64-64.81 victory.  While far from his best time, it was good enough to break Bayaan Oluyadi’s facility record of 65.79 set in January of 2013.

 

The “Ageless Wonder” once again found himself trailing the 4x400 relay by about four strides on the anchor leg.  The 34 year old former Big East Champ from Seton Hall, who also anchored the 1997 Metuchen HS 4x400 that won the national title in 3:12, got quickly to work, using a fast opening 200m to catch the Rider University anchor.  From there he sat patiently for the next 150m, uncorking a monster kick in the final straightaway to pull away from RU.  His 49.4 split, very fast for the slower, non-banked surface, helped the GSTC win 3:22.33 to 3:22.83.  It also broke the facility record of 3:23.92, set by a very good Essex County team a year ago.  He teamed up with Ricky Garcia, Mike Saparito, and Kevin Persson for the win.

 

The GSTC men finished 1^st and 2^nd in the 4x800 relay.  Eder and Waite teamed up with Jaris Rousseau and Norbert Kuter for the dubya.

 

Garcia, Waite, Goglas, Ogletree Win Events

Garcia used a sizzling 54 second opening 400 to run away with the men’s 800m in1:54.55, the club’s #2 fastest time ever run indoors.  In a bizarre twist, he was sitting on two Rider 800m athletes when they both, with one 200m lap to go, dropped out.  It was clearly done by design, which is an unusual occurrence on the collegiate level.  Teammate Saparito was second in 1:55.57 and Matt Eder fifth in 1:58.77.

 

Dennie Waite continued his impressive indoor season, winning the 1000m leading wire towire in 2:30.90.  While teammates Kyle Price (2:32) and Atilla Sabahoglu (2:40) finished 2-3, Waite was in control the entire race, splitting 29-59-1:29-2:00.  Had there been someone to chase, there’s good reason to think he may have taken down the club record of 2:28.

 

Ken Goglas coasted to an easy win in the 3,000m, finishing 1^st in the thirteen man field in a time of 8:51.58.After sitting on Rider’s Jon Knipper for a few circuits, he took control of the race, opening up a larger lead with every lap.  He eventually won the event by 23 seconds over Knipper.

 

In the women’s mile, the lead pack of Cheyenne Ogletree, Molly McKeon, and Danielle Branco were together until 400m to go, when Ogletree opened up a large gap, winning the race in 5:10.71.  Teammates Nicole Salge (5:27) and Brittany McCann (5:41) finished 6^th and 10^th, respectively, in the event.  

 

Other Top Performances

The women’s 4x800 were barely edged out for the win, as Salge, McCann, Erika Meling (who won her heat of the 800m), and Chelsea Callan battled Monmouth the entire race, finally losing contact by two seconds in the very last lap, 10:01-10:03.  The women’s 4x400 ran their best time of the year, finishing second in 4:17.14 with Eva Gaye McKenzie, Erin LaCosta, Grace Chong, and Alexis Mbakwe teaming up for the SB.  Finally, Add Victor snagged bronze in the 60HH.

 

Full results can be found here.  

 

Duran Wins in Boston

Alina Duran continued her hot hand this weekend, both literally and metaphorically.  The GSTC’er threw the weight 17.91 meters, winning the very large and competitive field at the Valentine Meet at Boston University.  She is just short of the 19.50m standard to qualify for the national championships.

 

Robyn Evangelist added a 2:17.30 800m earlier that day, equaling her PR.

 

Millrose Games

For better or for worse, the GSTC had some last minute injuries, family obligations, and news that our DMR "C Team" was no longer an accepted entry.  Regardless of these many last minute changes, the club is excited to announce the Distance Medley Relays for Millrose Games:

GOLD TEAM, Women's A:  Robyn Evangelist (1200), Tiana Davis (400), Chelsea Callan (800), Cheyenne Ogletree (1600)

GOLD TEAM, Men's A:  Andrew Golato (1200), Kevin Persson (400), Ricky Garcia (800), Dennie Waite (1600)

BLACK TEAM, Women's B:  Nicole Salge (1200), Erin LaCosta (400), Erika Meling (800), Angela Dunn (1600)

BLACK TEAM, Men's B:  Kyle Price (1200), Josh Chavanne (400), Mike Saparito (800), Eric DuBois (1600)

 

Team Runs

Monday: (Central Enclave) 5:30 track workout at Highland Park HS

Tuesday: (Central Enclave) 5:30 group run @ Rutgers Student Center (RSC)

Wednesday: (Central Enclave) 5:30 group run @ RSC

Wednesday: (Central Enclave) 5:30 track workout at HPHS

Wednesday: (Morristown Enclave) 6:15 group run @ Morristown Running Company

Thursday: (Central Enclave) 5:30 group run @ RSC

Friday: (Central Enclave) 4:15 group run @ RSC

Saturday: (Morristown) 9:00 group run @ Morristown Running Company

Saturday: (Central Enclave) 10:00am track workout at HPHS

Sunday:  TEAM RUN:  9am MANASQUAN RESERVOIR

 

Quotes of the Week

“It occurred to me that my neighbor directly ‘stage left’ is a cat.  Humans do not live there.  Multiple creatures do not live in there.  Just one, single catr.”  -Paul Matuszak, via FB

“Running the morning after a storm has become a game for me…dodging ice and snow piles and ducking branches…extra points if I don’t fall.”  -Jennifer Lucas, via FB

“Sometimes, finishing a race can be the happiest thing in life ever!”  -Atilla Sabahoglu, via FB

“I think mother nature makes snow days so I have more free time to work on the GSTC roster.”  -women’s captain Angela Dunn, via FB

“You can’t win races in the spring and summer without putting in the miles during the winter.  It’s going to be a long, cold run tonight.”  -Keith Grunchacz, via FB

“They have arrived.”  -Alina Duran, via FB: the captain beside a picture of her new throwing shoes

“I totally want to volunteer for the Grand Prix.  Free stuff and elite track are like my favorite things.”  -Dennie Waite, via email

“I told my mom I can’t leave yet….I want to watch my team run the relays.”  -Mo Riddick, GSTC thrower, excited about the remaining part of the GSTC track meet.

"Track is clear (from all snow)...where's the weekly email?"  -Ricky Garcia, via text

 

TMA

Our poor women’s 4x400 b team checked in, received a hip number for their anchor, and continued with their hour-long warm up.  They were told they’d be in heat two, but when heat one finished….they were the only ones assigned in heat two, and were thus asked, by meet management, to step off the track. 

 

This Week in Club History

In 2012, we celebrated Timmy Morgan’s birthday with a cake after a group long run at Six Mile Reservation.  However, in true Tim style, he….went to the wrong trail head at 9am.  So we waited for another thirty minutes, only to learn that…he has gotten lost navigating from one trail head to the other.  Sigh. 

Gold Star

By Ashwin Anantharaman

Anna Cook

 Anna has been emailing with Erin Lacosta since last week to nail down logistics and hopes to get to a practice this week or early next week.  She has been researching different track clubs in the area and was very impressed with the range of locations, coaches, and community service GSTC offers.  After seeing that and realizing that how much better everyone in GSTC gets she decided that we were the best club for her. Her goal is to get back in shape for competing in the jumps by late spring or next indoor season. Her PR’s are 5’8 in the high jump, 16’9 in the long jump, and 35’ in triple jump.  Her pre-workout routines include listening to music while stretching/warming up.   Outside of track she has become interested in yoga and also enjoys reading, learning to cook, and occasionally watching trashy reality tv.

 

Joshua Gonzalez

Josh joined GSTC 2/1/2014 because he wants to step up my running. This means he wishes to run faster and efficiently. His goals are maintaining an 8 min mile pace, complete his second full marathon in under 4 hours and his half marathon in 1 hour 45 minutes!. He warms up with a light jog but after that he is focused, smiles and drinks coffee to give him some energy. He also wants to learn more about how to prepare himself before a run/race as he feels it will make him a better overall runner. Outside of running he enjoys biking, playing with his Apple or Android electronic, watching a good movie, and most importantly being a great dad and husband.

Steady Striders

By Amy Denholtz

This weekend the steady striders group will do a Road Relays route preview, in Buccleuch Park in New Brunswick, on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014 at 9am.  Please park next to the pavilion (in the area on the right immediately before the Gazebo and circle).  Please email Amy, at adenholtz@gmail.com, with any questions or to RSVP!

TEAM STUFF

Sunday Morning, 2/23: Road Relays  www.roadrelays.org

Team website--------------->  www.gardenstatetc.org

Team Facebook Fan Page---->   https://www.facebook.com/groups/159501487397707/

Team Blog---------------> http://gardenstatetc.blogspot.com/

Team YouTube Channel---> http://www.youtube.com/user/GardenStateTC 

 

This Week in Training

By Chris Tafelski (cjtafelski@yahoo.com)

Monday - comfortable run + 5x8-10s hill sprints on 2:30-3:00 rest.

 

Tuesday - fartlek run of 2:30/2:30 cycles.  Pickups should be at T pace, recoveries should be about T pace + 30-40 sec.  Finish the run with 2x200 at mile pace, 2x200 at 800 pace on full recovery.

 

Wednesday - medium run of 15-20% of weekly mileage

 

Thursday - super easy 40-60 mins or OFF.

 

Friday - mile reps.  Start at T pace + 30s, then cut off 10 secs each time.  Do 4-5 reps, so you'll either be ending at T pace or T pace -10s.  Take 1:00 recovery.  If your miles are 7:00 in duration or longer, you can either do one rep less, or run 1200m reps instead.   We did this workout about a month ago.  Try to proress the workout by going for one more rep, or going 5s faster per rep than last time.

 

Saturday - same as Monday.

 

Sunday - long run!

--
Garden State Track Club

2013 USATF Track and Field National Champions

2013 USATF East Region Track and Field Champions

www.gardenstatetc.org

(2/3-2/9): GSTC, adidas Come to Three Year Deal

Intro

The GSTC Weekly Email is a collaborative effort to bring club membership an accurate and entertaining update on all team events, runs, results, workouts, quotes, and even mishaps every Sunday night.  It is also often referred to as “The Email” or, by more prominent members of the running community, “error-fraught spam.”  If you’d like to submit anything that would contribute to any of these sections, please email us! 

 

2014 Yearly Club Dues

 

Here is the link.  Make it official!

 

ROAD RELAYS: Sign Up!!!

Road Relays IV is just three weeks away!  Sign up here before the price goes up!

 

Who:  You and a partner.  You’ve got tons of categories to select from, so select wisely.  There are awards to the top three teams in all categories in the male, female, and co-ed divisions.

 

Where:  Ye olde Buccleuch Park (New Brunswick, NJ), site of Buccleuch Mansion, built by Anthony White in 1739.

 

When:  11:00am on Sunday, February 23^rd.

 

What:  The Road Relays is the longest standing GSTC tradition in the well-documented annals of club folklore.   Here is how it works: you and a partner take turns running a 5k.  Every 2.5k, or 1.55 miles, you hand off the baton to your teammate.  Each leg is two loops around the park, meaning each runner must do four laps, and each team must complete eight.

 

Why: Since its inception in 2011, the goal of the event has been to bring together the running community in a fun, team-oriented way as a final tune-up for the spring racing season.  It’s also a huge fund-raiser for the club, and an opportunity to bring everyone together for the first time in the new year.

 

How:  Easy.  Sign up right here!

 

Route 1 Rivalry:  In its first year, the Princeton Running Club (PRC) will be competing against the Rutgers Running Club (RRC) to win the prestigious Karnes Cup.  

Charity:  Essays 4 Equipment.  The GSTC will provide $2 back on registration, the day of the race, for every participant who donates a gently used piece of running equipment.

 

 

adidas, GSTC Agree on Three Year Deal

Thanks to three years of growth and success, the GSTC has come to a three-year agreement with adidas.  The deal provides very generous support for select GSTC leaders, GSTC "national elites," and GSTC "local elites." In addition, financial incentives for team championships, along with yearly lump cash sums, are involved in the deal.  Finally, it incorporates a "Brand Ambassador Program" component to it, whereas individual GSTC members will have the opportunity to earn adidas gift cards offering 20% cards to their friends and family.

adidas also added an adidas Olympic or world championship medalist or national champion athlete as a guest speaker to the GSTC yearly banquet, along with free shoes, polo shirt, and hat to 35 selected GSTC members to volunteer at the adidas Grand Prix Diamond League Track and Field Championship Meet.

The entire deal will be rolled out in next week's email.

RESULTS: PRE-GAME FOUR MILER

 

Croff, Dublinski Lead GSTC with Gold Medals

Morristown- While deep into his marathon training, Chris Croff won the Pre-Game 4 Mile Run with a 19:56 effort over the rolling hills course.  Not bad during his final day of a 107 mile week!  On the women’s side, Allie Dublinski was equally impressive, running splits of 5:39-6:20-6:32-6:26 to get the win in 25:12.  First out of 550 women, she finished with a solid 6:18 average.

 

The Pre-Game Four Miler is put on by Superhero Events, co-owned by GSTC member and Morristown Running Company store manager Heather McDermott.  The GSTC tries to support their events often, which also include the Superhero Half Marathon, Oktoberfest 10k, and the SuperSanta 5k.

 

Just five seconds behind Dublinksi was her teammate Erika Meling, who finished in second with a 25:17 finish.  Other GSTC ladies finishing included  Ayanna Kellar (33:35), Diana Angi (34:16), Prudence Jones (41:18), Amy Denholtz (43:01)

 

On the men’s side, Steve Mennitt (20:33) and Atilla Sabahoglu (20:39) helped a clean sweep of the podium, as the two finished behind teammate Croff in the top three.   Three other GSTC men slipped inside the top 12:  men’s co-captain Dan Teichmann (23:29/9^th ), masters Andy Latincscics (23:36, 11^th), and team mascot James Lothian (23:40/12^th).  Mark Minirvini also ran well, finishing 20^th in 24:36, while Josh Rockland, listed as 99 years old, finished in 27:24.

 

Results can be found here.

 

Ambrosio Qualifies for State Championships

Highland Park- To the carefully trained eye, one result from Friday’s Central Jersey, Group 1 winter track results would have been a bit surprisingly: Highland Park scored one point.

 

What’s the big deal?  Well, Highland Park doesn’t have a winter track team, cut years ago by a cash-strapped school district.  So, how did a Joe Ambrosio finish 6^th overall, score a point, and move on to the state meet?

 

He trains, religiously three times a week, with the GSTC track team, much like many of his Highland Park teammates who love track, but…don’t have a team.  Props to Joe for all his hard work this winter and making the GSTC family proud!

 

GSTC May Break Millrose Record

NYC- The Millrose Games, slated for February 15 at the NYC Armory, started in 1908.  Moving from a smaller, local armory to Madison Square Garden and now to the NYC Armory on 168^th Street, the event has an incredible history that includes its famed event, the Wanamaker Mile. 

 

In 2012, Central Park TC qualified—and competed—the most relay teams at the meet by a single club:  six.  This year, however, the GSTC has qualified and entered eight: three men’s DMRs, two women’s DMRs, two men’s 4x200s, and one women’s 4x200.

Lineups will be officially announced in next weekend's email, as athletes are still fighting for positions among these coveted relay spots.

 

There are still tickets for sale for those interested in watching the mostly-professional track meet in two weeks.  The event web site is here.

 

Monmouth Next for Tracksters

This coming Saturday, the GSTC will bring a hefty contingent to the Monmouth University Collegiate Winter Open.  The running events go from 1-5, with the field events starting in the late morning.  If you wanna come root for your teammates, c'mon down to West Long Branch.  It'll certainly ber a great beach day, as well.

Team Runs

Monday: (Central Enclave) 5:30 track workout at Highland Park HS

Tuesday: (Central Enclave) 5:30 group run @ Rutgers Student Center (RSC)

Wednesday: (Central Enclave) 5:30 group run @ RSC

Wednesday: (Central Enclave) 5:30 track workout at HPHS

Wednesday: (Morristown Enclave) 6:15 group run @ Morristown Running Company

Thursday: (Central Enclave) 5:30 group run @ RSC

Friday: (Central Enclave) 4:15 group run @ RSC

Saturday: (Morristown Enclave) 9:00 group run @ Morristown Running Company

Saturday: TRACK MEET AT MONMOUTH UNIVERSITY

Sunday:  TEAM RUN TBA

 

Spring Coaching Position Open

A competitive, large central Jersey high school is looking for an assistant coach with background in sprints, horizontal jumps, and/or hurdles.  The head coach is a good friend of the GSTC, so if you are interested in learning more about the opening…please send us an email, and we will introduce you accordingly. 

GOLD STAR

by Ashwin Anantharaman

Lauren Rome

Lauren joined GSTC officially this January, although she was on the mailing list since this past summer. She joined the team because she hasn't been on one since she graduated High School in 2008 and really missed it! GSTC seems like an awesome team and a good fit for her work/school schedule. Her pre race/run routine consists of drinking coffee and listening to music. Her PRs: 1600: 5:11 3200: 11:21 5k: 19:24 5miles: 34:09 Half Marathon: 1:34. Her goals are to race my first 10k, break 1:30 in the half and race my first full marathon. It'd be awesome if she could improve enough to race at club nationals! Outside of running she loves to play and watch hockey! She also likes taking her dogs, Biscuit and Stasha to the park. 

Daquan Bashir

Daquan joined GSTC last month. He joined because the itch to run and compete is still there. After running at Trenton High School and Rutgers Newark he knows he isn't done just yet. His goals right now are to just get back 

in running shape then we can take it from there.PRs: 400 - 50.9 500 - 67.3 600 - 1:23800 - 1:56 1500 - 4:03 Mile - 4:23 He has really weird pre race routines. Aside from trying to relax and stay focused, he wets his hands because dry hands are a distraction to him while racing. Hobbies outside of running include trading stocks (not an expert though). 

Steady Striders

By Amy Denholtz

Great job to Prudence and Amy, the steady striders who ran the Pre-game 4 miler!  This week the steady striders will meet to run at 9:00am Saturday, Feb. 8th, at Colonial Park, in Franklin Township (Somerset County) and we will assemble in parking lot D off of Colonial Drive.  The park has a running trail, a nature path, and also hugs the D&R Canal Tow Path.  For a park map, see http://www.somersetcountyparks.org/maps/ColonialParkMap.pdf.  Email Amy, at adenholtz@gmail.com, with questions or to RSVP!  

TEAM STUFF

Sunday Morning, 2/23: Road Relays  www.roadrelays.org

Buy team gear here------->  http://phenetix.com/lab2/#top

Team website--------------->  www.gardenstatetc.org

Team Facebook Fan Page---->   https://www.facebook.com/groups/159501487397707/

Team Blog---------------> http://gardenstatetc.blogspot.com/

Team YouTube Channel---> http://www.youtube.com/user/GardenStateTC 

 

This Week in Training

By Chris Tafelski (cjtafelski@yahoo.com)

Not much to add this week, except to note that you should be close to finished with your progression.  A quick word about "down weeks:" if you're feeling like you need to step it back a bit, go for it.  Before you decide to roll back the volume for the entire week, see how 2-3 days feels.

 

Monday -  comfortable run + 8x8-10s hill sprints on 2:30-3:00 rest

 

Tuesday - fartlek run of 2:00/3:00 cycles.  Pickups should be at T pace, recoveries should be about T pace + 30-40 sec

 

Wednesday - medium run of 15-20% of weekly mileage.  Progress the last 30 minutes or so - you want to be down to T pace+20 by the end.

 

Thursday - super easy 40-60 mins + 6-8x80m strides or OFF.

 

Friday - 4x2k@T pace with 2-minute recoveries.  You want the reps to be 9 minutes max, so run repeat miles if your time will be longer than that.

 

Saturday - same as Monday.

 

Sunday - long run!