Japan Day 4mile - June 3rd, 8am

The Japan Day 4mile race will take place in Central Park on June 3rd at 8am. According to the course map the race begins on the east drive near 68th St. and runs counter-clockwise with a finish on the 72nd St. transverse.

You can find all race day information online at NYRR. Remember, if you have not already declared your affiliation with GKTC you can do so when you pick up your number at NYRR.

Several club members are hoping to join up after the race. Plan on meeting at the bandshell after the race. I'll have my cell (502.876.5127) with me if you are having trouble finding us. As of today I know that John, Joe, Marc and Katie Z. will be there for sure.

Did someone say LSD?

The benefits of a weekly dose of LSD are well documented in the running community. In fact, weekly LSD sessions are critical to success in races of all distances and are the backbone of all training programs. No, I'm not talking about an artificial runner's high prescribed by Timothy Leary. I'm talking about a weekly Long Slow Distance run. This is the most important workout in any marathon buildup program but it's not just for marathons. A regular dose of LSD can mean the difference from finishing your next 5k strong or praying for that finish line.

Let's say you're just starting out and you want to train for your first 5k. On your first day out you many only be able to run 1-2miles. You might think that if I just add some distance to each run I'll be up to 5 miles in no time. Rather than slowly adding incremental distance to each run, a weekly longer than usual run will have you endurance fast! You can add an endurance boost once a week and your regular mileage will help you maintain the endurance gained without having to always run long.

In all types of training it's very important to understand the reason behind a given workout before you actually set out to do it. The main reason behind a weekly long run is clear, building endurance. In response to running long your body undergoes 3 major physiological adaptations that allow you to run farther and faster than before. (1) You will develop more capilaries in the muscles that increase the amount of blood flow and oxygen flowing to the muscles. (2) Your body gets better at conserving carbohydrates in favor of burning higher energy fat for fuel. And (3), your muscles will become more resistant to fatigue by recruiting more muscle fibers that aren't normally used on shorter runs.

So, how long should your weekly LSD be? There are two considerations to take into account when setting up your weekly long run. First, how many miles do you run per week? Your long run should be no more than about 30-40% of your weekly mileage and this percentage will be lower if you run more than 5 days/week. For example, let's say you're running about 25miles/week over 5 days. That's an average of 5miles/day. If you go out and run 5mi everyday you will get very good at running 5miles but your body won't respond to running longer than that. It's much more beneficial to shorten your weekly runs and increase the length of your LSD. In this case a better approach might be: 5mi,4mi,5mi,3mi, 8mi. The 8mi LSD is about 30% of the total weekly distance.

The second thing to consider when setting up your long run distance is the race you are training for. Most runners will set a seasonal goal race to shoot for. If that race is a 5k how long should your LSD be? What about the marathon? For 5ks I recommend at least a 7mile LSD for peak performance and 20miles for the marathon. Much more goes into these numbers but you generally want your LSD to be longer than race distance exept for the marathon. This will build confidence that you can finish strong and resistance to fatigue at a faster race pace.

So, how often do I need to go long you ask? It's best to have a weekly LSD built into your training regimen for optimal performance. When you long runs get up to 15mi or more you can choose to run them every 2-3 weeks. At the longer distances it becomes harder to recover for quality training the next week. It usualy takes the body 3 weeks to fully recover from a run of 17+miles. Before a goal race you should cut out the LSD about 2-3 weeks ahead of time.

Long Slow Distance can be a misnomer. These runs can and will generally be a little slower than your weekly runs, but not as much as you think. It's generally advised that your long run should be at a pace anywhere from 1-2 minutes slower than your 10k race pace. So, if you race the 10k at 9min/mile run your long runs at anywhere from 10mi-11mi/mile. It's been said that running long and slow will make you a long slow runner. This isn't necessarily the case, especially when the LSD is just part of a well planned training schedule.

When adding distance to you long runs try and add no more than 10-15min to each succesive long run. Aim lower if your weekly mileage is less than 30miles. In the past I have utilized a run-walk strategy to add distance to my long run. To add mileage fast try alternating running for 5min and walking for 1min. You will recover much faster than if you ran the entire way and you'll be able to run much farther. Once you've built to a distance you are comfortable with you can increase the ratio of running to walking and eventually eliminate walking all together.

Membership FAQ

First off, welcome to the Gotham Knights!

Q. How do I join?
A. Joining is very simple. The next time you register for a New York Road Runners sanctioned race enter "GKTC" on the entry form under club affiliation. Your results will automatically be credited to the Gotham Knights team score. Make sure to send e-mail to gothamknightstrack@gmail.com so we can add you to the roster. We will soon have a web form where new members can submit their information.

Q. What are the membership dues?
A. Unlike most NYC area clubs, it is completely free to join the Gotham Knights! It is possible that in the future we will add membership dues to help pay for club activities but all new members before that point will be grandfathered in.

Q. What are the membership benefits?
A. These are just a few of the many benefits that joining a running club offers.
(1) The chance to be a scoring member on a competetive team. Most of the larger NY running clubs have super elite racers that always score for their teams so the less competetive members never get a chance to have their results count. Our membership is small allowing you to almost always score for us when you race.
(2) Free coaching! Our resident coach, John Hammergren, will offer a multitude of training advice and racing tips to all members. He will also be happy to set up a personalized training plan for your next big race. John can design plans for all ability levels and race distances.
(3) Group Runs - As our membership grows we will have more regularly scheduled group runs. We have members from all over the city so most group runs will take place in Central Park on the weekends. We will also be making use of the Astoria Park Track located just off the Astoria Blvd. stop on the N/W. We are also planning on setting up some time trials of various distances and we will track your results over time.
(4) Team Newsletter - our bi-monthly newletter will keep members up to date on what's new with the club, upcoming NYRR races, new members, and training tips.
(5) Team Singlet - our resident graphic designer Marc Bovino is designing our new logo as you read this. Singlets will be sold at cost ($20-25) to all team members to wear during club points and other NYRR races. It is not a requirement to wear the team singlet during races but highly encouraged. We want the other teams to know who is passing them on the course.

GKTC Newsletter: Issue 2, Vol.1

GOTHAM KNIGHTS TRACK CLUB NEWSLETTER
ISSUE 2, VOL. I

"I believe that runners are marked by an attitude that has at its core the belief that we can get better and that getting better is a worthwhile quest." - Running Times, June '07

NOTE: We are planning to meet up after the Health Kidney 10k on Saturday for a short group run in the park. We'll plan on meeting up at the Columbus Circle Fountain at 10am. If you're interested make sure to reply to this so we know to wait for you.

Ok, so issue 2 has been a long time coming, but as you well know, life happens. Many of us have been pretty busy lately and haven't had much time to update team information. Since our last letter we have picked up a few new interested members so slowly but surely it looks like we'll be able to field a scoring team soon.

GKTC Website
Still in the R&D phase but you can view it here: http://hammerrunning.com/gothamknights . You can kind of get an idea of where we are trying to go with it but in the future we'll have a one-stop shop for all things GKTC related.

Group Runs
Many of you are expressing interest in regular group runs which we would love to get started. It's looking like saturday mornings will be the best for most everyone's busy schedules. Most likely, group runs will take place in Central Park but from time to time we may meet up at the track for some non-traditional races.

Upcoming NYRR Club Points Races
We strongly encourage everyone to race in club points races. In order to score as a team we need 5 runners in the Men's and Women's divisions. We automatically get 1 point if we have 5 runners so don't worry if you are not in it to "race." These events are always a great way to get in a good training run.

(1) Healthy Kidney 10k - Saturday, May 19th (TOMORROW!) http://www.nyrr.org/races/2007/kidney/index.asp
If you haven't already signed up for this but are still interested make sure you get to NYRR before 7pm as the entry fee goes up on the day of the race.

(2) NYRR Mini 10k (Women only) - Saturday, June 9th http://www.nyrr.org/races/2007/mini/index.asp
36 Years of Celebrating Women
In 1972, the Mini was the world's only women-only road race. To understand how extraordinary this achievement was and to appreciate how far the Mini has come since then you must travel back to a time when distance running was a very different pastime than it is today.

(2) Father's Day Prostate Cancer 5mi (Men's scored only) - Sunday, June 17th http://www.nyrr.org/races/2007/r0617x00.asp
Join WABC-TV and 77 WABC in Central Park to honor all dads at this truly special annual event featuring a co-ed 5-mile race and fun kids races. Participants can help raise money and awareness in the fight against prostate cancer by forming a fund-raising team. Awards and special recognition will be given to prostate cancer survivors.

FetchEveryone.com
If you don't already keep a log of your running this is a great online site where you can track your running, racing, and cross-training workouts. Joe, Mark, Kirstin and I keep our running logs there and we encourage all other GKTC members to do so as well. There you can view eachother's workouts and get training tips. You can check my log out here: http://www.fetcheveryone.com/userprofile.php?id=3765

Training Programs
If any of our members would like me to put together a structured training plan for an upcoming race please let me know. I can tailor it to your current fitness level, race distance and goals. Just shoot me an e-mail or talk to me at the next race and we'll talk. Joe C. can attest to the fact that the training plan I put together for him leading up to the Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon got him to the finish on only running 3 days/week!

"The plan provided the perfect synergy between running and cross-training that I needed to reach my goals" - Joe "The Caped Crusader" Curnutte

Other News
Hopefully we'll have more to add on the team singlet front by the next newsletter. If anyone has the free time feel free to play around with some website ideas. I've been thinking a blog-type format might be easier to update regularly.

Please forward this letter to anyone who may be interested in the team, or who to those for who I don't yet have an e-mail address.

Until next time keep putting one foot in front of the other,
John

GKTC Newsletter: Issue 1, Vol.1

GOTHAM KNIGHTS TRACK CLUB NEWSLETTER
ISSUE 1, VOL. I

"This is the part of my life I call Running" - Will Smith, The Pursuit of Happyness

So, first off, I just wanted to welcome everyone to the team!! We started out as a just a small group of friends who wanted to run as a team and our ranks have grown by leaps and...oh wait! Of course, we are still in our infancy and we have a lot of work to do but I wanted to update everyone on our progress so far. If you know of anyone who would wish to join the team please encourage them to signup by simply indicating " GKTC" as their team affiliation on their next NYRR race entry form. Membership is completely FREE!!

GKTC Website
Still in the R&D phase but you can view it here: http://hammerrunning.com/gothamknights . You can kind of get an idea of where we are trying to go with it but in the future we'll have a one-stop shop for all things GKTC related.

Nicknames
As the brainchild of Joe "The Caped Crusader" Curnutte, we are asking that all new members declare a nickname for themselves that is preferably Batman related. Nicknames that are currently taken are as follows:

Joe "The Caped Crusader" Curnutte
John "The Dark Knight" Hammergren
Mark "The Detective" Bovino
Eliasbeth "Batgirl" Lepine
Kirstin "Catwoman" Franklin

If you're looking for some good names simply google batman or visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman .

Team Uniforms
We are in the process of designing and aquiring team singlets for all NYRR races, especially the Club points races. If you have any leads as to a good screen printing place please let us know. In the meantime, please try and wear all black clothing in club points races. If you have any design ideas please feel free to send them our way and we'll probably stage a vote on what design gets printed. Hopefully the uniforms will be ready to go for the next club points race in March. Please let me know if you would like a size other than Medium as soon as possible.

Group Runs
We currently have no group run plans layed out. Most likely it will be a weekday run as most races happen on the weekends and would disrupt a group running schedule. As a group we are kind of spread out all over the city so Central Park will probably be a good central location. Instead of group training runs we may organize a bi-monthly time trial event with measured courses or other fun runs like scavenger hunts, etc.

Upcoming NYRR Club Points Races
We strongly encourage everyone to race in club points races. In order to score as a team we need 5 runners in the Men's and Women's divisions. We automatically get 1 point if we have 5 runners so don't worry if you are not in it to "race." These events are always a great way to get in a good training run.

(1) Al Gordon Snowflake 4 mile - Saturday, Feb. 24th http://www.nyrr.org/races/2007/r0224x00.asp
As you may or may not know, this is the first club points race of the year. Hopefully you have already signed up but if not you can sign up in advance at NYRR headquarters on 89th St. between 5th/Madison Avenues today and Friday until 7pm at a discounted rate or on race day.

(2) NYRR 8000m - Saturday, March 17th http://www.nyrr.org/races/2007/r0317x00.asp
This will be a really fun event as it's held as a part of the USA Men's 8k Championships. Runners get to race on the official course before the big event and then we'll all get to watch our new PRs look like a jog compared to these national elites!

Club Movie "Knights"
Joe has suggested that we get together as a team to watch a running or other inspirational movie and drink copies amounts of high carb beverages of the malted variety. Stay tuned...

FetchEveryone.com
If you don't already keep a log of your running this is a great online site where you can track your running, racing, and cross-training workouts. Joe, Mark, Kirstin and I keep our running logs there and we encourage all other GKTC members to do so as well. There you can view eachother's workouts and get training tips. You can check my log out here: http://www.fetcheveryone.com/userprofile.php?id=3765

Please forward this letter to anyone who may be interested in the team, or who to those who I don't yet have an e-mail address for.

Until next time, keep putting one foot in front of the other,
John

Welcome!

Welcome to the home of The Gotham Knights Track Club. We are an NYC area road running club established in 2006. Our main focus is on forming a fun and competetive road racing team for both Men and Women.

GKTC is now an official member of the NYRR club council. We are now focused on increasing membership and scoring in club points races.

We will soon be adding a webform to apply for membership. In the meantime please e-mail the club here. mailto:mgothamknightstrack@gmail.com.