Hello everyone,

We had so much fun last week!  The run to Hummingbird Bakery was a big hit – several of our runners had never run that far, some runners from the beginner group successfully transitioned into the regular MWF group and we celebrated with cupcakes!

We are still seeing an influx of new runners to the group (which is great!!!) and people are trying to figure out how to make the group work for them. Before we discuss routes, let’s try to explain how things work.

What do I do????

I hear this question a lot and it’s a good one!  “What do I do?  How far should I run?  How fast am I running?  Should I be going faster/slower?”  Here’s the deal… I don’t want to categorize people because I don’t know anyone’s full story, ie  running experience, current level of fitness, short term goals, longer term goals/dreams, how important running is to you at the moment, etc.  What I can do is give you some options:

General Fitness – if you want to run 2-3 times a week to build or maintain fitness, then consider doing a 45-60 minute run each time (that’s running time – it doesn’t include time standing and waiting to cross the street).  The mileage is less important than the time spent developing cardio fitness.  If you’re fast, then you’ll get in a lot of mileage.  If you’re not so fast, you’ll still get in the recommended time with a raised heart-rate.  It would be a good idea to do the Friday run up the hill to mix up your training.

Spring half-marathon (more “relaxed” training program) – if you are recovering from an injury, or haven’t run much recently, or are completely new to long distance running, or do a lot of other fitness-related activities and don’t want to overtax your body, then you might consider following the program labeled “Gradual Progression”.  This is also a great program for runners who want to do the half-marathon but really don’t care about how long it takes them.  They care more about the “experience” than a specific finishing time.  By the way, this approach is absolutely fine.  There’s no reason we all have to push, push, push.  Some ladies just want to run, meet some people, get fit, go on a fun trip and the half-marathon is the vehicle to make all of that happen.  This program will have you ready for our group half-marathon in the spring and may be less daunting than the more aggressive program some of our ladies are following.  The complete program is on the website, but the next few weeks of that program look like this (yellow boxes are ASL holiday periods):

Marathon training – some of our runners are targeting a marathon in the spring.  We are constantly tweaking their program, but the general training plan is on the website.

Other races – we usually have women who are training for a range of races.  Those programs are specific to each event.

To put it in real terms, this is next week’s program (in miles) for each of the above “categories”:

Hopefully, once you decide which program you want to follow, then you can look at the mileage options in our weekly routes and find what works for you.

Sports Massage
OK, this is the last subject before we get to our routes for the week.  The most important thing for us to do is keep healthy and injury-free so we can run!  To give yourself the best possible chance of running this season without aches and pains, consider having a sports massage on a regular basis.  It can make a huge difference in how tight you are and how well you function as a runner.  For the next two months, Tracey Tofts at APPI on Kilburn High Street (020 7624 5314) is offering 10% off all sports massages.  She is wonderful – several of our runners regularly see her and rave about the results.  Again, I’m not getting kickbacks here!!!  There are a bunch of great sports massage therapists in town so it’s not important that you see Tracey……  just consider seeing someone.

Routes this Week

Monday, 17 September

Ponders End (16 miles) – we’ll be joining the ladies on the run to Canary Wharf then breaking off a bit early at Victoria Park, heading over to the River Lea, then running north to Ponders End.  As with prior weeks, the pace fluctuates and transport options between Victoria Park and Ponders End are not great.

Canary Wharf (9.5 miles) – this is a fun route!  We’ll follow the canal east to “The Wall” then come up to street level and run for a few minutes through Islington until we can drop back down to the canal.  From that point, it’s all canal running until we reach Limehouse near the intersection of the canal and the river Thames.  We wind our way through a residential area, run alongside the river for a bit, then cut into Canary Wharf business district to finish at the Starbucks in the mall at Canary Wharf.  It’s a great run.  You can see Canary Wharf from a couple of miles out, the canal provides for straight running without street crossings, and it feels great to grab a coffee then ride the tube back to St. John’s Wood.

The Wall, Farringdon, Embankment to Green Park (7 miles) – run with the group to “The Wall”.  Go up the ramp to street level then turn right, run for 1-2 minutes until you reach Pentonville Road.  Cross over and continue straight on Farringdon Road to the river Thames.  Then turn right and follow the embankment towards Westminster.  Turn right near Embankment tube station to head up to Trafalgar Square then run west on The Strand until you reach Green Park.  There are transport options all along the way so this route can be easily shortened.

The Wall (6 miles) – this can be boring, but it’s a great option.  I think you know the routine by now – we drop down to the canal and start running east to Islington.  It’s 3 miles to “The Wall” which is a place where the canal path is blocked and you have to go up to street level to get around it.  We turn around there and run back to SJW.

The canal (any distance) – run with the group towards “The Wall” or Canary Wharf (same direction).  Turn around and head back to Starbucks whenever you’re ready.

Wednesday, 19 September

I’m flummoxed….  Is that really a word????  Wednesdays are boring (unless we’re running to the bakery).  I don’t know what to suggest.  Some of you want to do tempo runs so we need to either stick to the canals where we can run without redlights or go to Hyde Park which is 2 miles away so the tempo bit starts well into your run (and then you still have to get home).  So I think we’ll just break into groups based on what people want to do.

Option 1:  you could jog down to Hyde Park entering near Speaker’s Corner.  Then do the half park loop (see map) as fast as you can – it’s 2.5 miles.  You could even make note of how long that takes you and average HR if you have a HR monitor.  Try it again in a few weeks and see if you’re getting stronger.

Option 2:  jog down to Hyde Park, then do the half park loop using a modified Fartlek system.  That means to break up the 2.5 miles into varying length sections and run those intervals fast.  So you could run hard for a couple of minutes, then jog to recover, then run hard for maybe 4 minutes then jog to recover, then run hard for maybe a minute, then jog to recover.  Purposely mix up the length of the intervals.

Option 3:  run either the Notting Hill loop at a regular pace or run out and back alongside the canal at a tempo pace.

Option 4:  if you aren’t interested in a tempo run, head down towards Oxford Street and do the “shopping route”.  Run and window-shop along Bond Street, Regent Street and/or Marylebone High Street.

Friday, 21 September

Everyone heads up the hill!  Yeah!  It’s hard but you’ll feel great at the finish.  You have lots of choices in terms of distance – see below:

The Heath – old route (8 miles) – we’ll do the old route this time.  You can shorten this route by heading towards the track after Parliament Hill, exit the heath, run past Royal Free Hospital then home through Belsize.

The Darcy route (6 miles) – there still is no consensus on exactly what this route is!  I did hear that some of the ladies who normally do the Betsy route may want to go for 6 miles next week.  So ask around if you’re interested in this distance.   

The Betsy route (5 miles) – we have a lot of ladies doing this route each week.  If you’re interested in 5 miles, then ask around for others doing the Betsy route.  It’s a perfect combination of hills, heath and street running. 

Hampstead tube station (4 miles) – this is a great route to do if you’re short on time or are new to running “the hill”.  Head up to the Hampstead tube station with the group then turn around and head back home.  That’s it! 

I hope to see you running this week,

Paula