Hi everyone,
We are so impressed with you all!  You guys made those longer segments seem easy.  It was fun to see the Frieze sculptures along the way.  And we are so happy that several of you have taken the plunge and bought your tickets for Prague!  Wahoo!

I am attaching the warm-up exercises we did on Thursday so you can start to incorporate them into your Tuesday run as well.  It is good to get your muscles activated and warm before we start out now that we are starting to increase the minutes we are running.

We have a couple of new runners joining us this week, hopefully on Tuesday.  So please be on the lookout for them at Barclays!
Yvonne and Tulsi – the group has a What’sApp group to keep in touch –  here is the link to join:  

This Week
This week we are going to Melissa’s flat after Thursday’s run to have some social time over coffee and pastries, hear a bit more about the race and hear from former beginners who have gone through the program.  I know some of you may not be able to stay and that’s fine – just let us know if you have any questions.  Melissa’s address is 50 South Lodge, Circus Road.  We should be getting there between 9:15 and 9:30 if you can’t make the run but can make the coffee.

For the run this week, we are starting to increase our running increments, doing 4 and 5 minute segments.

Running Next Week
Next week is ASL’s October break and many of the group may not be around for the Tuesday run.  But not all of you are ASL and not all may be going away, so please reach out to each other to see who is available to run and when.  If you are away, try to get one run in between this Thursday and next Thursday, even if it’s just a few 4 or 5 minute intervals.  Don’t worry about keeping track of how many intervals – just get out there and run/walk for about 35-40 minutes if you can.  We want your legs to get used to running on a regular basis.  And if you’re traveling, use it to explore where you are!

For next Thursday (17 October), we have our run to Big Ben so clear your calendars for this beginner group milestone!

Running Kit
First, I want to make sure you all received the email about WRW running kit.   There is absolutely no obligation to buy, but the orders are due by Wednesday so I wanted to make sure you don’t miss it if you want a WRW shirt.  From a sizing perspective, most years I have gotten a small but for some reason, last year’s shirt ran a little small and I moved into a medium.  It will depend on how you like your shirt to fit.  I believe Marissa, our kit master, also has some extra WRW black hats if anyone is interested in one of those.

I know there have been questions about recommended gear for running and where to buy it.  First, know that you don’t need to run out to buy things unless you want to (always good to have a shopping excuse!).  My beginner year I bought super cheap stretchy cotton yoga pants at Sports Direct (for literally less than £10 each) and a super cheap running belt (that I still use) and then bought things like shoes and running tights when I went back to the states at Christmas.  I was also not convinced I would last at this running thing beyond Christmas so was reluctant to buy running tights that I would never use again.

The coaches recommend you consider the following gear to get you through the training season:

Rain jacket – it does rain here and it’s not going to stop us.  You want one that is breathable if possible (although again, I got by for almost 3 years with a super cheap not-breathable lightweight waterproof shell that I already owned).  They can be very expensive but this one isn’t and is similar to one I got a few years ago:https://www.sportsshoes.com/product/ron2737/ronhill-infinity-nightfall-women%27s-jacket/

Baseball cap – good for keeping light drizzle off your face, helping with sun, taming your hair; does not need to be an official running cap – just something you are comfortable in

Thermal layer/light fleece – I have two weights of fleece.  As we get into colder months, the heavier fleece is all I’ve ever needed for a warm layer for running.

Running gloves – again, I have two weights of gloves for various temps.  You just want something form fitting that won’t soak up sweat

Ear warmer band and/or warm hat – I have both of these because if it’s really cold, I want a full hat but sometimes I just want ear protection.  Any wool or fleece hat that isn’t floppy is fine.

Running belt – I discussed this in an earlier email but will copy what I said then here in case you missed it:
First, a running belt choice is really individual.  I have purchased at least 5 over the years and I keep coming back to the cheap one I bought when I was a beginner.  This is the current version of what I have although you’ll have to get it from a third party seller on Amazon.  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Karrimor-Unisex-Audio-Belt-Black/dp/B00SJ14CYM/ref=sr_1_2?crid=3FAC1AWMVK7GZ&keywords=karrimor+audio+belt&qid=1567680746&s=gateway&sprefix=karrimor+audio%2Caps%2C128&sr=8-2
This other one is fairly close to it  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Befekt-Gears-Waterproof-Sweat-proof-Adjustable/dp/B07Q9PZ3TN/ref=sxbs_sxwds-stvp?keywords=karrimor+running+belt&pd_rd_i=B07Q9PZ3TN&pd_rd_r=1292ac68-678a-4ef8-b296-e6d3eff20b7f&pd_rd_w=oznXy&pd_rd_wg=buQsq&pf_rd_p=7dc56c0d-8a5f-4d97-9143-7233b106859a&pf_rd_r=H3VB8XV6VER7G83PRTCZ&qid=1567680547&s=gatewayhttps://www.amazon.co.uk/Karrimor-Unisex-Audio-Belt-Black/dp/B00SJ14CYM/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1536333617&sr=8-4&keywords=karrimor+running+belt
The reasons I like it:

• it has 2 pockets so if you pull your phone out of the bigger one, you don’t have to worry about your keys or money or whatever being pulled out at the same time because those can go in the smaller one
• the belt is not stretchy (some people really love the stretchy belt (Spibelt is the popular brand) but I don’t, maybe because I got used to the non-stretchy one)
• it doesn’t soak up sweat like the kind that some runners like – the FlipBelt
• it’s cheap so if you don’t like it, you don’t feel like you’ve wasted too much money

For a belt that holds water bottles, this is the sort of thing I have https://www.amazon.co.uk/Karrimor-Unisex-Bottle-Belt-Black/dp/B00SJ12WNU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1536334083&sr=8-1&keywords=karrimor+bottle+belt
I can tell you, though, that every runner will have her favorite belt for various reasons so it often comes down to trying one and if it doesn’t work, trying another.

Places to buy:
Runners Need (both in store and online) for clothes, gear and shoes (they do gait analysis)
Wiggle (online only) for gear
Asics store on Oxford St for shoes (they do gait analysis)
London Designer Outlets by Wembley (Asics, Nike, New Balance Adidas are all there) for better prices
Sports Direct/Lillywhites (not a great experience but can get cheap stuff there)
Amazon