What a fun evening it was on Thursday! So nice to see everyone out and not in hats and ponytails! And well done to jumping right back into the routine for Thursdays run.
We had lots of questions from you guys on the run and since I know some of you work better in bullet points, here are the key things to know:
- You should be running 3 times per week now
- The Tuesday run should be about 45 minutes and the weekend run should be about 30 minutes
- It is OK to break up into smaller pace groups on your weekend and Tuesday runs but it is normal for pace groups to ebb and flow from week to week
- Bring water for the Thursday runs
- Eat something before the Thursday runs
Training
We cannot emphasize enough that the way to build up to the half is to just put in the time and miles. Also, it is important to understand that the pace groups will continue to morph throughout our training and that is completely normal. Some days you feel like you be towards the front, sometimes you feel like it’s just not your day and you’re slower. This happens in the M/W/F group, too. We have lots of time and as you know, it’s about finishing and feeling good about it, not about how fast you can go. Save that for next year 🙂
Water and Nutrition
As our runs get longer, you will want water along to hydrate. It will make you feel better on the run and will help your body recover faster. Also, please please eat something, just a little something, before our Thursday runs. We don’t want you feeling faint from lack of energy. Maybe some yogurt or a banana – just a little something for your body to use to fuel you. In February, as our runs get longer, we will talk to you about fueling for much longer runs and during the race, but we’re not ready for that yet.
Routes
We will try to send you the route beforehand each week. You can use some of them, especially ones we’ve sent up to now, as examples for your Tuesday runs. Also, if there are places you would like us to go, please tell us! We had a Borough Market suggestion on Thursday and we are happy to do that route when we are ready for that mileage (in just another week or two!).
This Week
Big day on Thursday – 60 minutes, no walk breaks. But there will be plenty of little stops for lights and such so no worries! Plus after last week’s run, we are more than confident this will be a walk (run?) in the park for you. Regent’s Park, that is. Here is the route for Thursday:
Start down St John’s Wood Terrace to Townsend, go left on Townsend, right on Acacia, and left on Avenue. Cross Avenue and head down Ellsworthy, turning right to enter Primrose Hill. Run diagonally across Primrose, exiting at Regent’s Park Road. Follow Regent’s Park Rd, crossing the bridge and veering right, until it ends at Chalk Farm. Take a right and run down Chalk Farm past the Camden tube station, then go right on Parkway to the Outer Circle. Go left on the Outer Circle then right on Chester Road to the Inner Circle. Go counterclockwise about 2/3rds of the way around and exit at York Bridge. Take the Outer Circle to the right, exit at Charlbert, and head down Prince Albert Road to the churchyard for stretching.
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And since we didn’t manage to get the route out before the run last Thursday, I thought I’d add it in here so you have it if you want it:
Run down Circus/Hall Rd, right on Hamilton Terrace, left on Abercorn which becomes Elgin. We take Elgin all the way to the end, cross at the big intersection and go over the over pass, run past the Westbourne Park tube, and take a right on Westbourne Park Road. We go left on Ledbury, left on Westbourne Grove, and take the canal home.
See you on Thursday!