Hi everyone,

I hear you all had a great run on Thursday.  I was definitely thinking of you all and missing being there.  I’ll still be away this week but back next week.  I’ve been watching the Boston Marathon today (the course is just at the end of my street here) and the runners are all so inspiring.

Running This Week
This week is ASL’s October break and some in 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 now and Thursday, even if it’s just a few 3 or 4 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 the Thursday run this week, we are starting to increase our running increments, doing 4 and 5 minute segments.

Running the Week After (week of 18 Oct)
For Thursday 21 October, we have our run to Big Ben so clear your calendars for this beginner group milestone!  PLEASE NOTE – this is during one of the parent-teacher conference days at ASL so please try to work around this run if you can.

Save the Date reminder:
Thursday 28 October – after-run beginner coffee

Running Kit
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 (of course, this was before everyone walked around in running tights as normal wear – my daughter told me she was embarrassed to walk to school with me when I was wearing them because “Who DOES that, Mom??”…)

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 you don’t have to get an expensive one by any means – just do some web searching.

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.  Some runners swear by the inexpensive Uniqlo lightweight down jackets as an extra layer.

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.  Unfortunately, my same one is no longer available but this other one is fairly close to it (although it appears to be on backorder at the moment):https://www.amazon.co.uk/Befekt-Gears-Waterproof-Sweat-proof-Adjustable/dp/B07Q9PZ3TN/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=befekt+gears+running+belt&qid=1631365333&sr=8-5
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

This one might be similar: https://www.amazon.co.uk/GORWRICH-Waterproof-Adjustable-Sweatproof-waistpacks/dp/B07XNX296N/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=befekt+gears+running+belt&qid=1631365333&sr=8-6

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  or https://www.amazon.co.uk/Laelr-Hydration-Waterproof-Adjustable-Marathon/dp/B07VNMLY4Q/

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.  Maybe ask the coaches this week which belts they like and why.

And Jess recommends this option at NinePine that she loves:  https://www.nine-pine.com/collections/accessories/products/running-utility-waistband?variant=32254434082897

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

Have a great week!
Your coaches