Well done ALL of you!  Such a great run to Borough, and so nice to see Renata, too!  I know you were all nervous about adding on time but look at you!  So just keep that in mind as we go forward – YOU CAN DO IT!

You may not believe us, but the hardest part is behind you.  Once someone can run an hour, bumping up a session 10 minutes each week is not a significant jump in terms of fitness/cardio requirement.  The hard part is learning how to run and building a base.  It’s tough to move from walking/jogging intervals to non-stop running.  We’ve done that hard work and are more than ready to start extending our mileage.

This is another crazy long email so bear with me – sorry!

A few notes about training over the coming weeks:

• It’s very important to get in the the long runs each week, even if they are not on Thursday with the rest of the group
• If you want to run a little faster, you can push your pace on the shorter weekend run.  But keep your Tuesday runs slow please!
• It’s important to not steadily increase your time every week – it is best to lengthen your session for 3-4 weeks then drop back for one week to allow your body to recover/rest.  We will rest the week of ASL’s February break and then again 3 weeks later.
• Please continue to email/talk to each other when you have scheduling conflicts – it’s a great way to get those longer runs in if you can’t make a Thursday, and if there are a bunch of you who will miss, you can always see if a coach can run with you later

Message from Jess – she wants you all to know that she will be running the Winter 10K with you.  She is going to miss the prior Thursday and go visit her daughter in order to be back here for the race.  So no fretting – she’ll be there!

This week, in addition to Shannon guest coaching, we will also have two new guest coaches – Janelle and Magali.  Paola and I will be there, too, of course.  So if you see Janelle and Magali at Barclays before we get there, just say hello 🙂

SAVE THE DATE – Tuesday 11 February
On Tuesday 11 February, we will be doing money collection for the race and kit distribution.  It will be on Loudoun Road at a runner’s home – details soon – between 8:30 and 10:30.  So come after your Tuesday run.  At this time, we will be collecting money for the dinners at the race and other incidentals, and if you ordered an annual Nike shirt, you will pay for them then and pick them up.  VERY IMPORTANT – If you cannot make that time, PLEASE have someone pay and pick up for you.  With almost 150 people, we can’t take the time to chase people down.  The other important thing is that it is cash only, and last year, the cash machines in SJW ran out of cash on the morning of the money collection.  So plan ahead.  You will get an email from WRW sometime next week with all of the specifics.

Running Playlists
Some of us were talking about running playlists and songs that can match the pace you want.  It’s important to test out the beats per minute (bpm) yourself and not just rely on what I say or what websites say.  It can vary quite a lot based on your stride length.  I have found that for me, especially as I’m getting tired, I take smaller strides at a faster pace, so 180 bpm, which one site says equals a 7 min/mi equals more like a 9+ min/mi for me when I’m tired.  Conversely, when I was trying to keep myself slower during a run, when I used one for 10-10:30 min/mi (150 bpm) I ended up going faster.  So I think perhaps take some music out that you like to run to and pay attention – does one song cause you to speed up?  Or slow down?  Then type those songs into the links below to see what the bpm is to get a sense.
I have created a bunch of playlists on my Spotify for a wide range of bpm – 120 – 180.  You can go to my profile and follow any of them that you want and/or use them to help build your own:  https://open.spotify.com/user/aewgrace?si=bapDYQyZR9CJfBZdPLZcsA
Sites I use to find songs:
https://jog.fm/workout-songs – can search for songs with a certain bpm or search a particular song to find the bpm
https://songbpm.com – this one has a nicer interface but you have to type the song in, you can’t just look for songs with a certain bpm.I know there are many others out there – just do a search for them.

Finally, we’ve had some questions in the past week or so that I wanted to address.

What should we do about running before/after the Winter 10K?
I will email about strategies for the race itself the week before the race, but from a run length perspective, you will swap your normal weekend and Tuesday runs – so you will run our regular long run on Thursday, you’ll do the 10K on Sunday and you’ll do your shorter (normally on the weekend) run on Tuesday.  Then the long Thursday run again.  Let me know if that doesn’t make sense.  

What are we going to do about running after the half marathon?
First, let me say I am psyched you’re already thinking about running after the half.  Yay!  (They are all sucked in – check!)  We will talk lots more about this as we near the race but basically you will all fold into the regular MWF group after the race.  Don’t be nervous.  It will feel a bit weird at first, because you will be used to just your group being there and running together and then suddenly there are all these other people that maybe you met at the race but don’t really know.  It will all be OK – we promise.  But think about this when you are planning your spring schedule.  I found after my beginner race that I was so used to clearing my calendar for Tues/Thurs that I had a bunch of conflicts in April after the race for Mon/Wed/Fri.  So start scheduling your haircuts and pilates and whatever on Tues/Thurs in April, OK?  Put those run days in your calendar now so you don’t forget.

My knees hurt, my hips hurt, my <insert body part> hurts
First, buy a foam roller.  Something basic, like this:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Maximo-Fitness-Superior-Instructions-Included/dp/B06Y97NVKZ/ref=cts_sp_1_vtp  (mine is 45 cm,  not 90 but I’m sure either is fine).  Use it on your IT band.  Search YouTube for videos on how to roll.Second, go see an expert to make sure all is OK.  I have used Victor and Soliman and find both are good for different areas.  Victor is great for making sure things are “working” the way they should.  He is also great for any doubts you have about if you can do this.  Soliman has been better for me with sciatica.  Let me know if you want their information. Other people see various people, too – but go if you’re having niggles that won’t resolve within about 10 min of the run.

When should we increase our weekend/Tuesday running time?
This will happen starting next week (4 Feb).  You will start running 60 min on Tuesdays and 45 min on the weekends.  I’ll put it in next week’s email as a reminder.

Can we/should we add another run in during the week?
No.  Running is a repetitive movement and we don’t want you to injure yourselves by running too much.  However, you can certainly do other exercise – spinning, yoga, pilates, walking, swimming, whatever! – to increase your stamina and muscle strength.

The Schedule
(this week) Week 23 Jan 30 – 80 min = Brompton Cemetery/Whole Foods Kensington
Week 24 Feb 6 – 90 min = Sloane Sq/Green Park (note – this is parent-teacher conf at ASL)
Week 25 Feb 13 – 100 min = Big Ben and back 
Week 26 Feb 20 – February break – 60 min run
Week 27 Feb 27 – 110 min = Wembley
Week 28 Mar 5 – 120 min = Canada Water
Week 29 Mar 12 – 90 min = TBD
Week 30 Mar 19 – 130 min = Kew Gardens
Week 31 Mar 25 – 45 min = easy run through Regents Park (note this is a Wednesday since we leave for the race the next day)
RACE DAY!

This week’s run
This week we are running an interesting route through the Brompton Cemetery to finish at Whole Foods in Kensington. We’ll head down to Hyde Park in the normal fashion via Lisson Grove/Seymour. As we near Wellington Arch, we’ll veer to the right (or west) staying along the inside edge of the park. exiting at the gate we normally use at William Street [next to the French Embassy].  Cross the street, take a right.  Turn left at Brompton Road (just past the tube) and take Brompton all the way (admiring Harrods as you pass) until Fulham Road.  Veer left on Fulham Road and continue to Brompton Cemetery.  Turn right to enter the Cemetery.  Run through the Cemetery then exit and turn right onto Old Brompton Road, then turn left onto Earls Court Road. Cross Cromwell Road, then turn right onto Cromwell Road and then turn left onto Marloes Road. Continue north on Marloes making your way through the streets to Kensington High Street.  Whole Foods will be to your right. Whole Foods is a great place to finish. There is plenty of room for everyone to sit together for coffee after the run (if you have time). To get back to SJW, some people may decide to share cabs or you can tube home from Kensington High Street station (Circle Line).

Hi everyone,
Well, we are really starting things this week.  Up until now, we have been building our muscles and our lungs and our psyche to know that we can run for 60 minutes.  We will now start to add on a bit each Thursday to build you up to the distance you need to run that race.  The other thing to know is that while we plan the runs for a certain amount of time, we won’t all finish the planned distance at that time.  So depending on your pace for that day, you may run a little less than the expected time or a little more, but we will all need to run the same distance for the race so we all need to build up to that distance even if it takes different times for each of you.
Think of how far you’ve come – it really is amazing.  We can’t wait to watch you grow from here!

OK – today’s lecture – why we run slowly.  This is from Paula Mitchell, our founder.

Why do we run the long run slower than race pace?
The quick answer is that it has to do with how your body builds fuel, which is something you’ll need for the race! I’ll delve into the basic science of fueling (which I have hugely over-simplified but hopefully it’ll get my point across). To fuel our runs we have 3 options – Creatine Phosphate (CP), glycogen and fat.

Creatine Phosphate– You have about 15 seconds worth of CP fuel – that’s it. Think Usain Bolt running the 100m – he fuels with CP and it works because he can run 100m in less than 15 seconds. CP is where your body will go first looking for fuel, particularly if you take off like a rocket from Barclays. Think of CP as kindling on a fire – it catches fire easily but burns out very quickly.

Glycogen– Glycogen is the next fuel option. Glycogen is basically stored in your muscles and in your liver and because of that it makes glycogen a bit more difficult to burn as fuel (think of damp firewood – it will eventually burn but it takes quite a bit to get it going).

Fat– Fat is the 3rd source of fuel and most runners, even the very lean women, have an ample supply of it. Think of fat as a butane tank of gas on the BBQ grill – once it’s lit, you can have countless cook-outs before the fuel is gone.

Here’s the important part– All of those fuel sources – kindling, damp firewood or butane gas need something to ignite them and keep them burning. Physiologically speaking that ignition or burning “tool” is ATP which is created by mitochondria; so, the more mitochondria you have the more efficient you are as a fuel burning machine.

What is mitochondria and how do we get more of it?  Some of us are genetically blessed with higher mitochondria counts. Thank your mother for that – it comes through the maternal side of the genetic equation. If you didn’t win the genetic lottery, then the only way you can increase mitochondria is through LONG, SLOW, ENDURANCE training (LSE). When you go for a long run at a slow pace, you actually produce mitochondria. Kind of cool, huh? Now remember – we need mitochondria to help ignite our fuel sources. So what does that mean for you? It means SLOW DOWN on your long run – give your body a chance to become a mitochondria production factory. If you do your long run at a strong pace, you’re missing out on this benefit.So we will be keeping it SLOW on Thursdays, and now you know why.

The route this week:
BOROUGH MARKET!
Please make sure to bring your Oyster Card or contactless card for the tube ride back.  Also, you might want to have some cash if you plan to do some shopping – not all vendors accept cards.  We will head first to Monmouth Coffee – legendary filter coffee – and then we can head into the market together or separately or head home – whatever works for everyone.  

Borough Market via Westminster Bridge
We head to Hyde Park via the usual route:  start heading west on Circus Road and turn left on Grove End and follow south as it becomes Lisson Grove.  Cross over Marylebone Road and continue on Seymour Place until the end.  Turn right and cross over Edgware Road and then left to enter Hyde Park at the intersection with Stanhope Place.   Run along the eastern edge of the park to Hyde Park Corner, under Wellington Arch and down Constitution Hill.  Run past the Victoria Memorial down the mall and enter St. James Park.  Run over the pond and out of the park, turning left onto Birdcage Walk and down into Parliament Square to Big Ben.  Continue past Big Ben and cross Westminster Bridge. After the bridge turn left to run along the Thames until the river path ends after Southwark Bridge. Borough Market is under the railway bridge near the London Bridge station.