Hi Everyone,
We’re off to Greenford this week for our long run. The photo above is from a previous run to Greenford and I hope it gives you a bit of inspiration. We head west out the canal for almost 10 miles and the stretch past Wembley is very rural in parts. You can leave the hustle and bustle of London behind you. This is an excellent training run with no traffic lights. Watch your pace – don’t be tempted to go too fast. Remember long slow runs are the best way to build fuel. This is also a good route to test your gels. The photos of the exit in the route section are from last year, so hopefully they aren’t building a new apartment building or something crazy at the site. We’re going to assume the Black Horse pub is still there! The important thing is to look for the numbers on the bridges, we’re exiting at bridge number 15 – NOT 15a, don’t be fooled. Wednesday is our last official tempo run before the race! We’re going to Hyde Park for the Tempo triangle. Friday we’re back up the Hill. The ASL Middle and High Schools are off for parent conferences on Friday so it might be a smaller group, but we’ll still meet at 8:15 as usual.

DEADLINE – Photo Book Friday 3 March
If you are going to Warsaw, please send in your photo book info before this Friday. You can email Amy Grace at [email protected]. Thanks so much!

WRW PHOTOS!
Over the next few weeks as we lead up to the race, please take pictures of your pace groups and send them to [email protected]. The more, the better! (Send them in “actual size.”) We want to be able to remember and celebrate all our running this year to get ready for Warsaw!

Are you interested in running the Richmond Half Marathon on 17 September for charity?
Would you be interested in running the Richmond Half for charity? The Winch, which is a community support organisation in Swiss Cottage that does a lot of work for children in the area, is considering securing charity spots for the race, but they would like to know if there is some interest before they do that. If you would like to run the Richmond Half on 17 September for The Winch, minimum donation would be around £500, or if you have any questions please email Paige Victor directly.

Keep running,
Jane

ROUTES

Monday 27 February Greenford 9.75 miles

We start out the regular way to get on the canal path at Maida Vale heading west. We’ll then run along the canal for about 8 more miles until we exit the canal at Oldfield Lane which is the next exit after Greenford Road. We’re looking for the following bridge which is pretty plain but does have a small black “15” in the center.

Just underneath the bridge there are steps leading up to The Black Horse Pub.

At the top of the steps turn right and run along Oldfield Lane which is fairly industrial area until you reach the Greenford Station on the right just under the railway bridge. Tube home via the Central Line. If you want to stop for coffee, food or the bathroom, there is a little place with the great name of the Friendly Cafe just past the station on the left. (If you want fancy coffee, turn left at the railway bridge (instead of going under) and following the road until the next intersection where there is a mall with a Costa Coffee.) Note, there is no guarantee these coffee places are still there!

Wednesday 1 March – Hyde Park Tempo Triangles
Head down to Hyde Park the usual way at a very gentle pace. Once you reach the park pick up the pace a bit around Speaker’s Corner, and then run very fast down to the SE corner of the park. Jog slowly around the corner while you try to bring your heart rate back down to a recovered rate. Once you reach the straightaway, run hard again to Carriage Road. Slow down to a recover rate again as you cross over the bridge and up to the path, where you will turn right and run hard along the diagonal back to Speaker’s Corner. Jog very slowly back to SJW or, even better, hop on the bus or tube from Marble Arch. If you are not doing tempo work, you can do this run at a regular pace and if you go back to SJW it is about 6.5 miles.

 
Friday 3 March – The Heath
It’s Friday [again!], so everyone up the hill! You can pick your distance and whatever you choose, there will certainly be someone else interested in running that distance. All of these routes are on the website. If you are not up for a hill run, ask around at Barclays; every week there is a group who prefer to do a flat run and you can decide together which flat route to tackle.

4 miles: A great way to ease into running the hill. Run up to the Hampstead tube station and back. If you have trouble running up, think about how easy it will be running down!
5 miles: The Betsy Route
6+ miles: The Partial Heath route OR the Reverse Heath route
7.5 miles: The Highgate route
8 miles: The Full Heath route

Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes.