Welcome back!
I hope you all had a great break. Julie, Krishna, Sue, Meg and I had a great run in the Heath on Thursday. It’s such a nice place to run.
We have a few housekeeping things to start with this week.
WRW Video Filming this Wednesday, 9 am in Regents Park
Sorry for this last minute notice, but this Wednesday, the group who is in charge of making the video for our celebratory dinner on Sunday night would like to film as many of the WRW runners as possible this Wednesday. It will be right after the regular WRW group run. If there is any way you can make it, it would be great because we want EVERYONE to be in this part if possible (even if you’re not coming on the trip). The group is meeting at 9 am at the entrance to Regents Park from Charlbert Street where the benches are in the park.
Warsaw Photo Directory
If you are coming to Warsaw and haven’t sent me your photo and other information for the photo directory, please do. I’m not sure who has or hasn’t – I’ll start hunting people down in a week or so, but it would be great if I don’t have to hunt you 🙂
We’re coming into the final stretch
I know you all know this, but we have just over a month until race day and we have 3 longs runs left. You all are amazing and you ALL can do this. Don’t worry about the times and the distances – they are long but we are in this together and we will DO THIS!
The rest of the schedule:
Week 26 – 23 Feb – 110 min = Wembley
Week 27 – 1 Mar – 120 min = Canary Wharf [NOTE – WEDNESDAY]
Week 28 – 9 Mar – 90 min = TBD
Week 29 – 16 Mar – 130 min = Kew Gardens
Week 30 – 23 Mar – 45 min = easy run through Regents Park
RACE DAY!
Don’t forget – your Tuesday runs are now 60 min long and the weekend run is 45 mins.
This week’s run
Unfortunately, I am not going to be with you on Thursday. I am going to St. Louis to help my parents with their downsize move from a house to a condo. I am very sad to miss this run to Wembley because it is one of my favorites. There are many people who do not love this run as much as I do so I am going to tell you why I like it and next week you can tell me your own opinions of it (because we’ll have a nice long time to chat on our way to Canary Wharf…)
Why I like the Wembley run:
1) You see many sides of London along the canal
Some runners complain that parts of the canal are very ugly. This is true. However, I enjoy seeing the transition from city and the older buildings along the canal and newer gentrified condos to the industrial parts to the country parts, with glimpses of Wembley Stadium along the way. I feel like it’s the real London – many sides, not always so pretty but always something to look at. And as you keep going, it changes.
2) You see a part of London you otherwise wouldn’t – Wembley
No, not the stadium but the streets. There is a large Hindu population and there are many shops with brightly coloured saris and trinkets that are fun to look at. And there is an amazing Hindu temple that was built in 2010 that took 14 years to build from stone from India. It is incredible. Look for it on the left hand side of the street.
3) It has a long, uninterrupted stretch of canal running
Once we get on the canal, we run for about 6 miles. I believe this will be the longest stretch of uninterrupted running you will have had so far. One of the things that makes me love this run is that it was on this part of the run in my beginner year that I had a running epiphany – I felt like I could just keep running forever. I think I had settled into that pace where you feel good, you feel like you’re just cooking along and you can chat and run and all is good. I hadn’t really felt like that before and it was a great feeling. Some of you may have already had that feeling, some may never get it, but having a nice long uninterrupted stretch may put you in a similar place. I hope so!
4) You get to say you ran to Wembley!
Most people have heard of Wembley. And people in London know it’s a ways out. So it’s fun to be able to say you ran there – so impressive!
So I hope you all have a FANTASTIC run this Thursday and I look forward to hearing all about it next week.
Reminder – we will be bringing the gels again this Thursday. Bring water! Try a different gel and then go out and purchase a few of your own. We will keep bringing our stash until it runs out but you will need gels for Canary Wharf and Kew as well as the race. You will want to have two for the race just in case.
The route
Start out heading west on Circus Road, turn left on Grove End to St John’s Wood Road and go west, turning left on Cunningham then right on Aberdeen to work your way to the canal entrance on Blomfield. Continue out the canal and exit at Alperton, see photo below, not quite 7 miles in. Turn right at the top of the stairs, cross the bridge and take the first right onto Ealing Road. Just after the turn you’ll see the Alperton station on your left. 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 turn off to the stadium on the right and up to Wembley Park Tube Station.
Here’s a photo of the exit off the canal:
