Month: March 2015

23 March 2015

 
 

Hello Beginners!

This week we will be doing our longest training run of the season – 10.6 miles to Kew Gardens!!!  Jane took the photo below to inspire all of our WRW runners (thank you Jane!). It is a beautiful run along the Thames.  Don’t forget your gel, water and oyster card.  Please take the time read the route and directions below and note where you will be entering and exiting the Thames path.  

We will be running in pace groups again this week.  If you have any questions or feedback about your pace and/or pace group, please let us know asap.

Padua – New directions for health form 

When you fax or email the health form to the race directors, please also send in a copy of the Runcard or your Runcard confirmation. We’ve had a few women who sent in the health form and then got an email saying that they needed a Runcard when they had already bought one. It seems like the info systems in the race office are not amazing.  Basically if you send in both forms together it will save you from going back and forth with the race office about the Runcard as well. If you have already sent in the health form, you’re probably all set but make sure you have a copy of the Runcard with you at the race expo in Padua.  

Kew Route – 

You’ll be feeling exhilarated as we do our 10.6 mile run to the cute ‘village’ of Kew.  We start out the normal way running to Hyde Park.  Once in the Park, we’ll turn to the left and run down the main walkway as we regularly do, to parallel Park Lane.  At the end of the walk, turn right to follow the main cross route in the park—beware of the bike lane!  When this ends at West Carriage Drive, cross the road at the crossing and continue on the pathway towards the bottom right corner of Hyde/Kensington Park.  We’ll run out of the Park at the Broadwalk, turning right onto Kensington High Street and continue for about two miles until we reach the Hammersmith Tube gyratory.  Run counter clockwise towards the left, ending up on Queen Caroline Street which gets you to St. Paul’s Church green.  Run along the Green to the right, heading to and crossing over Hammersmith Bridge. Exit Hammersmith Bridge Road to your left and run under it onto the Thames footpath.  Now it’s time to enjoy the view as we run along the Thames for almost four miles – it’s beautiful! When you exit off the Thames you will be looking for a railroad bridge, see the photo below:

Don’t go under the bridge, turn left down a path before the bridge. See photo below.  (There is a small sign next to the path that says Kew Riverside Park.) 

Follow the path which becomes a road, there will be the green railway fence and rail tracks on your right.  When you get to the crossroad, turn right and take the pedestrian tunnel under the bridge. At the first traffic light, cross the road and turn left to follow Leybourne Park road. At the end of the road, turn left and follow Sandycombe rd for a short bit until you see the Kew Greenhouse cafe on the corner and Starbucks is just a few doors down. Time for a celebration!

We look forward to seeing you Thursday and sharing in this awesome experience with you!

Meg and Vicky

 

A HUGE run for all of you to Canary Wharf – you are all amazing!

Beginner Note 23 March 2015

Monday, March 23, 2015

 

Beginner Note 14 March 2015

Hello beginners!

This is a big week for us…we are going to run 120 minutes!  Our run this week will take us to Canary Wharf.  You are all ready for this, so don’t worry. Just be prepared to be absolutely exhilarated once you get there – it is a great feeling!  Please make sure you have a good breakfast and remember your gels, water and Oyster card as we will return by tube to SJW.  We will be taking the gels between 70 and 80 minutes into the run – roughly at around the Victoria Park area.  

As we discussed on Thursday, we will be suggesting some pace groups for this week’s run.  Most importantly, we want you each to be running at a pace that is comfortable for you.  If you have any questions about your pacing or training to date, please let Vicky or Meg know.  

Here are the details for the route per the WRW website:  

Section One – Canal to the Wall

We will run past Panzers and turn right down on Cochrane Street to the High Street and cross Prince Albert Road at the SJW zebra crossing.  Run along Prince Albert Road to join the canal at Charlbert Street.  Run along the canal for approximately 3 miles until the canal pathway ends at the famous “Wall.”

Section Two – Angel Roads

We need to run through the Angel neighbourhood until we can re-enter the canal path.   At the wall follow the ramp up to Muriel Street.  (This is a good place to wait for your pace group.)  Take a right and then an almost immediate left up a path that winds between the apartment buildings.  See the picture below for the entrance to the path.

Keep going straight on the path and it will become Maygood Street.  When you get to the intersection of a main road (Barnsbury Road) turn right.  Run until you make the second left onto Chapel Market.  (There is a metal archway saying Chapel Market and a zebra crossing at the intersection.)  Follow Chapel Market until the end.  (NB:  There is a public Ladies Room at the end of White Conduit Street, which intersects with Chapel Market at the euphorium bakery.)  Turn right at Liverpool Street to the major road Upper Street.  Cross Upper Street and turn left.  (NB:  Angel Tube Station is to your right if you are going home from here.)  Make your first right at Duncan Street (Jack Wills shop at the corner) and follow until the end.  The entrance to the canal path will be directly in front of you.  Go straight along the canal (NOT a sharp right turn.)

Section Three – Canal to Limehouse Basin

We run for about 4 miles following the canal path to the Limehouse Basin.  We exit the canal path at the wire looking bridge – see picture below – and take the brown brick steps up to the left.

Section Four – Limehouse Basin to Canary Wharf

At the top of the brick steps, go straight.  At the Limehouse Gallery and Bronze Age shop turn right.  Run along the water until you reach the second metal foot-bridge leading to a park.  Cross the bridge and run through the park.  (You’ll see that the way we have gone in the past is blocked so we need to make a slight detour.)  When you reach the road (Narrow St.), turn left and run past the Dunbar Wharf and make your first right on Three Colt Street.  Run until you hit the water again and turn left.  Run with the water on your right until you see the long flight of steps next to Royal China – see picture below.  You’re almost there!  Only a third of a mile remaining!

 

Run up the steps and straight ahead, through the small park to India Drive and then veer slightly right along Cabot Square.  You’re heading for the big sky-scrapper building in front of you.  Stop when you see the sign for the Canary Wharf DLR Station at the ‘mall’ entrance on the South Collanade.  We’ll meet at the Starbucks inside the building on the right, next to the DLR station.  After a much earned coffee, we’ll head to the Canary Wharf Tube station [Jubilee Line] and tube it home to SJW.

Have a wonderful rest of the weekend!

Meg and Vicky

9 Beginner Note 9 March 2015

 
 

Good morning Beginners!  We are really looking forward to the run this week followed by the celebration at Kundhavi’s house.  The run this Thursday will be 60 minutes.  A huge thank you to Nancy who has designed the route in honor of the Festival of Colors.  As a reminder, Kundhavi has asked that we all break away from our black running gear this Thursday.  Kundhavi’s address is No. 19 Middlefield, NW8 6ND.

  Next week we will resume our long runs with a 120 minute run.  It is critical that you do not miss these long runs.  If you can not run along with the group on Thursdays, please let us know.

  Please see Nancy’s email below with some of the details for this Thursday’s run.

  If you have any questions or concerns about the upcoming half marathon, please let us know.  It will be here before we know it!

  

  Meg and Vicky

Since it is the Hindu Festival of Colors that we are celebrating, what if we ran by here…

It won’t be decorated this way, but it is suppose to be one of the larger Hindu temples in Europe. 

So here is a revised map that runs us by here, and ends at her house. I think if we use the route to do our warm up & cool down walks, we should all be pretty close.

 

Beginner Note 9 March 2015

Monday, March 9, 2015

 

2 March 2015

Hello Beginners.  What a great run you all had last week.  This week we will be running 110 minutes!  The route will take us to Wembley.  Please remember your oyster cards.  See details below about the route.

Several of you have been asking about what to eat before and during your runs.  Our best advice would be to try to find what works best for you.  We still have plenty of time before the race to figure this out.  Amy Grace sent out a detailed email a few weeks ago with some tips about nutrition.  Here is what she said…

First – fueling for longer running in general:

As our runs get longer, you may want to think about what you are eating for breakfast pre-run.  Experts suggest 50g carbs, 3-5g protein and 2-3g fat (the fat is very important pre-run).  That could be half a bagel spread with nut butter or cream cheese, oatmeal with nuts or nut butter mixed-in, cereal with milk, yogurt with some granola or crushed cereal on top, or yogurt and a banana.  Those are just some suggestions.  Within 30 minutes of a long run, you should aim to take in another 50g carbs, 10g protein and 1-2g fat (the fat is less important post-run).  This could be a tall latte and half a muffin, bagel or scone from Starbucks or yogurt and a latte, or a latte and a banana or mixed fruit cup.  As these runs get longer you may consider eating a bit more breakfast than you normally do, you will definitely need to carry water with you, and I encourage you to eat something at the finish of the run (within 30 minutes of running if possible). I’ve given you the guidelines in terms of carbs/protein/fat so aim for that mix, but at a minimum – eat something! 

Second – Fueling for even longer runs and on race day

It works like this…..  your body has about 1000-1200 stored, fairly-accessible calories available to you.  For most of us, that will be enough fuel for exercising 1:30 to 1:45 hours.  Beyond that, we need to “top-up” fuel sources to power you through the last few miles of the half-marathon.  We’ll do that with gels.

Gels are simple carbohydrates.  Most gels have similar formulas, so when deciding what gel to use, most runners go with the gel that is the most palatable to them.  The important point is that it is almost impossible for a beginner runner to complete a half marathon without taking in carbs during the race, so you will need at least one gel to complete the race (some may need 2).  Now is the time to try the gels and decide what tastes best for you, or what texture works.

Here is some more information on gels that was sent out by Paula (the founder of WRW and previous beginner coach) to the beginners a few years ago…

What type of fuel?

I recommend gels.  Period.  There are issues/problems/complications with all other types of fuel when considering what our group is trying to achieve.  Again, this would be different if we were not beginner runners who’s aim it is to finish a half-marathon.  If you chose to use a different fuel source, I recommend taking in an equivalent amount of carbs at the same time that everyone else is doing their gel.  For example, if you are going to use shot-blocks or sport-beans, you need to take in the equivalent of a gel within a few minutes (not just eating a shot-block every now and then).  The body responds differently to periodic fuel injections (snacking on sport-beans) than a one-off significant fuel injection (ie., a gel).  For what we are trying to achieve, a one-off injection has less of a chance of disturbing the body’s fuel sourcing system.  We want the body to fuel primarily with fat for this half-marathon.  Once you have one half-marathon under your belt, then you can decide to push the pace (or distance) and you will have different fuel requirements.  Remember to drink 50-100ml of water after doing most gels.  There are a few gels that don’t require water.  The downsides of those types of gels is that they are bulkier and I’ve seen quite a few women throw them up (which is kind of unpleasant but more importantly, you lose the carbs you just took in).

Please let us know if you have any questions as there is a lot of information covered in this email!

Meg and Vicky

P.S.  I am sad to report that I (Meg) won’t be able to run with you again this week.  I am optimistic that I will be back out with you in two weeks.  I have peroneal tendonitis :(.  I am doing everything in my power to heal so I can be running again with all of you asap as I miss you tons. 

Wembley

This is a great run – we go out the Canal to the west almost the entire way. No lights and soft on the knees! Continue out the canal and exit at Alperton.  (See photo below).  Turn right at the top of the stairs and your first right again onto Ealing Road.  Just after the turn you’ll see the Alperton station on your left for the 7-mile route. Follow Ealing Road to the High Road and turn right.  You’ll see Wembley Central on your right for the 8-mile route.  For 9 miles, continue until you make a left on Park Lane which becomes Wembley Park Drive. Continue past the stadium and to the Wembley Park Tube Station.

 

Here’s a photo of the exit off of the canal:

Beginner Note 2 March 2015

Monday, March 2, 2015