Sunday, July 8, 2012

(July 9-July 15): The Official 2012 GSTC Fall Race Preview

2012 GSTC Racing Schedule
All GSTC members, slow or fast, big or small, and everyone in the middle, are encouraged to hop in the following race: 
9/8        USATF-NJ 5k Cross Country Championships (Saturday)
9/23      Liberty Waterfront Half Marathon: USATF-NJ Half Marathon Championships (Sunday)
10/7      *Get the Gorilla 5k (Sunday)
10/28    **USATF-NJ 8k Cross Country Championships (Sunday)
12/8       USATF Club Cross Country 10k National Championships (Saturday)
 
*see nearly completed website of our club's fall event here: www.gorilla5k.org
**winning team gets $500 for club nationals
 
Women's Fall XC Preview
GSTC Ladies Eye CPTC, a USATF-NJ Title, and the National XC Championships

During last year's dual meet with Central Park Track Club, the NYC orange and blue ran the table, sweeping the top six spots and blanking the Gold, 15-45. 
 
Oh, what a difference one year makes.
 
Former Rutgers standout Cheyenne Ogletree continues to be the ace, and finally, she has an incredibly talented group of teammates to fly along with her.  Taking a quick look at how the GSTC's top four stack up against Central Park TC, the WIG fall just short, 14-22.  Here is the dope sheet (results from 2011 GTG 5k; 2012 Rachel 5k):
 
1. 17:33  CPTC   Cat Beck
2. 18:29  CPTC   Christina Argueta
3. 18:30  GSTC   Cheyenne Ogletree
4. 18:37  GSTC   Alyssa Douma
5. 18:41  CPTC   Stephanie Herrick
6. 18:43  CPTC   Bevin Peters
7. 18:48  GSTC   Jamie Liberti
8. 19:34  GSTC   Kristin Cupido
 
However, enter new addition Lindsey Lambert.  A close friend and former teammate at LHU with Douma, her 5k best of 17:18 is a total game changer, swinging the score to an even tie, 18-18.  That said, the CPTC race is a classic dual meet that scores the top five, not the top four like USATF-NJ races.  Luckily, there are a few others who will help out Ogletree, Douma, Liberti, Lambert, and Cupido on October 7th.  These include Nicole Corre, Meghan Decarlo, Courtney Stanton, Danielle Stanton, Erin Higgins, Karen Auteri--to name a few.
 
Locking horns with the cross-river rival isn't the only entry on the menu, as the ladies are just two points ahead in the USATF-NJ Grand Prix Open Women's Team Championship.  This will be a tight team race, as defending champion RVRR is just two points behind; RVRR has won the open women's race four times over the past five years: 2011, 2010, 2009, and 2007.
 
For the first time in club history, the ladies will also bring a complete team of seven to the club cross country national championsips on December 8th in Lexington, Kentucky, which isa 6k race for women.
 
 
 
Can GSTC Men Beat CPTC and Crack Top 5 at Nationals?     
 Perrella, Poland, & Heibell Lead One of America's Deepest Club Teams This Fall
 
Three men will lead the Men in Gold this fall: Jeff Perrella (14:22), Tom Poland (14:27), and Chris Heibell (14:42).  All three are coming off outstanding spring seasons, and all three will play a huge role in the MIG's push to crack the elite top 5 at club nationals this fall.  From there, the team's depth makes it impossible to predict who else might be taking the trip to Kentucky.  And, if it's too hard to figure out, the GSTC may even bring field TWO teams to club nationals.
 
One would assume UCONN steepler and 2:29 marathoner Ken Goglas is deeply in the mix, especially after a vey solid spring.  Adin Mickle and Mike Anis, the returning #3 and #5 men, respectively, from the 2011 team that placed 15th in Seattle, return with good fitness.  Team hero, mascot, and professional Facebook poster Tim Morgan, owning a swift 14:40 PR, should be in the hunt, along with 2:32 marathoner Shawn Deandrea.      
 
But wait- there is more- much more.  A major question mark is half miler Tony Harris, who ran both 1:52.69 for 800m and 69:08 (5:33 pace) for 20k in the spring season.  How fast can he run a 10k?  Andrew Capizzi, a steeplechase standout from Ramapo, is also very fit and ready fot fall racing.  Brandon Smith, who ran 71:59 and 15:32 in a two week span, will be a major contender, as will miler Chris Behre (4:09), California transfer John Welsh (sub-15), and Rowan standout Stephen Mennitt (15:07).  The man with the hottest hand last fall, Ashwin Anantharaman, will be back, along with TCNJ star Rob Nihen (14:47) and 2:44 marathoner Steven Geiger
 
Current Princeton graduate student Peter Bolgert, who has run 3:49 and 24:41 over an 8k xc course, is so good he gets his own paragraph!
 
If healthy and available, James Grimes, Nicolai Naranjo, Robert Dennis, Brian Kopnicki, Taylor Burmeister, Ross Baldwin, and Colby Pines will all be major players.
 
We wish there was enough room to mention everyone else, including Rutgers students like Wilfredo Benitiz, old man runners like Alex Fowlie, half milers like Tyler Foss, and young pups like Edsel Flores, but alas- we are running out of room!  There are, however, there are several plots.
 
 
Fall Subplot #1: GSTC Masters' Team
The GSTC men will, most certainly, finally field a men's masters team this fall.  They need five, and currently they have three very solid guys: Jeremy Stratton, Ken Huryk, and William Herring.  There are several on the verge of joining, and once they do...and, the women are just two runners away, as well.  Let's make this happen!
 
 
Fall Subplot #2: Mid-Pack Smack Talk
Tensions are respectfully yet visibly rising on Facebook between three GSTC gentlemen: Steve Bonica, Ken Huryk, and Rob Decarlo.  At first it was just a two-man war between Bonica snd Decarlo, but after Huryk's fine race on July 4, he has entered into the fray.  Season-best 5ks this year are Decarlo's 18:32, Bonica's 18:43, and Huryk's 18:54.  We fully expect an all-out cage-match by year's end, although FB rumor has it they may be entering as a centipede in the GTG 5k. 
 
Fall Subplot #3: CPTC vs GSTC
Central Park Track Club just won their second consecutive club national championship in track and field this weekend.  Last year, they swept the men's and women's competition in the elite dual meet versus the GSTC at the Get the Gorilla 5k.  However, both men's and women's teams have muscled up greatly, which should lead to an exciting race on October 7. 
 
Fall Subplot #4: Can the GSTC Ladies Hold On?
As discussed last week, the WIG are just two points- or one win- in the lead in the open women's USATF-NJ Grand Prix Championships.  They have never won this title before, and they got three races to hold on: the xc 5k, half marathon, and xc 8k.  With defending champions RVRR close on their heels, it should be an exciting team race to follow.
 

July 4 Racing Results: Capizzi Sets CR, Huryk PRs
GSTC stud Andrew Capizzi had fun on July 1, setting a course record at the Fighting Fires 5k, winning by over a minute in 16:32.  Pretty sweet article (and you can make out his gold un in the far left of the picture), but we sure hope you can topple guys from towns like "Sugarload" and "Smallwood." 
 
Props to 46 year old Ken Huryk for an all-time PR of 18:54, finishing as the top master at the Milltown Firecracker 5k.  Nick Waclawski finished 10th in his age group, hitting the tape at 21:10.  REsults: http://www.bestrace.com/results/12/120704FC5.HTM
 
 
Team Runs: LR @ Holmdel + Great Adventure!
Tuesday  6:15 @ Buccleuch Park (parking lot near bathrooms)
Wednesday  6:15 @ Morristown Running Company
Wednesday  Womens pm workout @ Franklin Middle School/Ridgewood (email robbob13@hotmail.com for details)
Thursday 6:15 @ Buccleuch Park (parking lot near bathrooms)
Thursday 6:00 @ Holmdel Park's gazebo/main building (email Kenneth.m.walsh@gmail.com)
Friday Women's workout @ Mahwah (robbob13@hotmail.com)
Sunday:  LONG RUN AT HOLMDEL @ 9:00 AT MAIN BUILDING.  Van leaves NB @ 8:15.
    For those interested, a group is going to Great Adventure afterward!!! (email atharris@live.com for details)
 
 
This Week in Training: Time to Get Back at 'Em
Sprinters/Half Milers
Central Park TC just finished their spring season this weekend, and we are well rested and starting our 2012-2013 season this week.  By now, you should be boiling up inside, anxious to train, run, lift- anything!  Just remember- it is a looooooong season, so keep the big picture in mind.  The half milers will follow Tafelski's plan below at 35 miles per week. Sprinters, this week you should do six workouts: three in the weight room and three on the roads.  The lifting is just general fitness work: three sets, 12-15 reps per set of most olympic lifts.  Running-wise, let's get out for three easy ten minutes runs with 2-4 easy strides afterward.  Keep everything fun and low-intensity.
 
Distance
It's time to build again.  We're going to build base mileage for a number of weeks.  What follows is the basic format that our training weeks will follow during this basebuilding phase.  The big questions: How much to run?  At what pace?  So here goes...
 
How much to run?  Only you can say.  In order to figure this out, you need to sit down and think over the exact volume of running you were doing at your highest point in the last training cycle or two.  Whatever that is, add 8-10 miles, and that should be your goal peak mileage.  So if the most you ran in the last year was 50mpw, then it is reasonable to aim for 60.  Whatever it is, this is a soft goal.  By that, I mean that you may or may not reach it, depending on how your basebuilding progresses.  You may exceed your goal if you find that you're tolerating your goal mileage really well.  So it's important to not be too prescriptive here and map out every single day of the next two months of training. 
 

The most important thing is that you be consistent in your running and build intelligently toward your goal over the next 3-4 weeks.  I would say don't add more than 10 miles from one week to the next.  So if your goal is 60, you can aim to progress by running 35, 44, 52, 60.  If your goal is higher than that, you can build over 5-6 weeks rather than 4 weeks, or you can start at a higher mileage during week 1.  All of these variables are up to you to control based on how you feel while training.  The most important information to consider when building is how you feel during and after your runs.  If you start at 30 mpw and it's cake, then jump to 40 the next week.  If 30 is tough, then you can repeat the 30 mile week and increase later, or jump up to 35.  If you go from 30 miles one week to 35 the next and it feels easy, then go to 45 the following week. 
 

How fast to run?  Again, pay attention to how you're feeling.  It's hot right now, so you have to consider that.  I would use a Daniels table (or use the VDOT calculator at McMillan's website or runbayou.com) - enter your best race performance from the spring, then reduce the VDOT by 3 or 4 because you're detrained a bit during your break.  You want to train between the E and M paces on most of your runs (stay away from T pace for now).  For most of you that is a 50-60 second range per mile.  That is a huge window in which to train.  I prefer that you start out each run slowly and work into it naturally as you get loose.  How slow is slow?  Again, only you can say.  It may vary significantly based on running surface, terrain, diet, sleep, and temperature/humidity.  That's why it's important to just go on feel. 
 

Beware basing your training off of data rather than information.  I see this a lot with Garmin owners, or with folks who know every half mile mark on every run.  They're constantly checking their watch to see if their running the arbitrary pace they selected prior to the run.  So if someone sets out to run their mileage at 7:00 pace, they're slavishly checking their watches all the time to see if they're meeting it.  The fallacy of this is that the conditions of a run can vary tremendously from day to day, so not all 7:00 miles are created equal.  You're not going to see Kenyans in Iten checking their Garmins.  Sometimes their runs are very very easy, and sometimes they run extremely hard.  It should always be about running a quality aerobic effort. 
 

So here's the basic plan - I'll give you a few sample training weeks.  All of these runs are quality aerobic efforts - that doesn't necessarily mean hard.  Faster is not always better.  Your job before you begin running is to sit down with pen and paper, choose a goal mileage to hit in the next 4-6 weeks, and map out your next week or two of running and what your ideal mileage progression toward your goal might look like.  If you have any questions or you'd like some input, e-mail me at cjtafelski@yahoo.com.  Several of you have done this already.  Let's get building!  Get excited!
 

25mpw:
M - 4
T - 3
W - 4
Th - 4
F - off
Sat - 4
Sun - 5
 

35 mpw:
M -5
T -4
W - 7
Th -5
F - off
Sat - 6
Sun -8
 

40 mpw:
M - 6
T - 5
W - 7
Th - 6
F - off
Sat -  6
Sun - 10
 

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