WOW! You guys are so incredible – 10 miles! You deserve a break and hey! I’m giving you one this week! Don’t say I never give you anything 🙂
I have several things to cover in this email so I will get right down to it. As always, if you have any questions, feel free to contact any of the coaches.
WRW Video Don’t forget about the filming assignments our WRW movie director, Janelle, has set for us, both while we’re out on our runs and when we’re feeling creative at home. She prefers short video clips over still photos, and they need to be shot horizontally (in landscape format): 1) “Make yourself part of London street art.” Become a statue, make yourself part of a mural, have fun showing off things you find around town. 2) Draw a WRW logo on mid-run with chalk, with a London iconic building, landmark or route in the background. 3) Make a 30-second clip of you homeschooling your children or teaching your pet a new trick. 4). Recreate any Tik-tok or other viral video– in WRW kit, of course!
Preparing for the race – 3 weeks out Fuel By now, hopefully most of you have identified gels/jelly beans/bloks that you like (or at least tolerate). You will want to have enough for our run to Kew next week as well as the race. You’re welcome to have one for the week in between as well – that is up to you. I do still have a bunch of extras and I’m happy to share so just let me know.
Additionally, make sure you’re eating something before the runs so you know what works for your body. And make sure you have a water bottle for the longer runs – it is easy to underestimate how much your body needs water after all those miles. Distance TrackingIn order to prove you have run the race (to get your medal and shirt), you will need a screenshot of a running app, or a running watch, to show the distance you have done. Although in theory you could take a photo of my watch, it will be much more fun for you guys to have your own record of this momentous occasion. So if you haven’t already, please put one of the running apps on your phone and practice using it. Many runners in WRW use Strava or MapMyRun. There are many apps – just make sure you know how to use it before race day.
Clothing Although this won’t be a full-on, hard core race in potentially unfamiliar weather (hopefully!), it is still a really long run and we want you to be as comfortable as possible. With that in mind, please make sure you try out any clothing you think you might wear on race day – short sleeve shirt, long sleeve shirt, tights, bra, socks – whatever. You don’t want to buy something new and discover it rubs something terrible when you’re reaching Mile 6 of 13 miles.
Post Race Save-the-Dates I know, you’re all probably thinking, “I’m getting this race over with and then you’re never seeing me again!” Ha! As if. Post-race is the BEST because all of the runs are shorter than the race so you KNOW you can do them! And we do fun things! With that in mind, the regular WRW group has put out some “save the dates” for a couple of runs that you might want to put on the calendar. I didn’t want you guys to miss out 🙂 We will talk more about what happens post-race in a couple of weeks but if you have questions, you can post them on the chat so everyone can hear the answers or I’m happy to answer directly. Monday, 17 May – Adventure Run!– Virginia Water to Windsor. Block off the entire morning for this beautiful run that ends at Windsor Castle!) – 7.5 miles Monday, 24 May – Pace Group adventures — stay tuned for more on this new idea!
This week We will still run in coached groups – it will just be less stressful than a normal run because it’s only 6 miles! (except Tanya, who gets to continue to build this week…) We will go out on the chat and see who can run. I’m not sure if this week’s ASL break will wreak havoc with timing or not – you can let us know!
For a route, it’s flexible. We can do The Wall again for an out-and-back. If you’re up for adventure, we could run out the canal (toward Canary) and go to Brick Lane to see some street art. Or could do a classic loop to Hyde Park. And then there’s the fan favourite of Borough Market, although you guys did just run that way last week. Decisions, decisions! We can banter it about on the chat.
The Schedule Week 32 Apr 8 – April break – 6 miles Week 33 Apr 15 – Kew Gardens – 11 miles Week 34 Apr 22 – TBD – 7-8 miles Week 35 Apr 29 – RACE DAY! Continue to do 45 min on the weekend and 60 min on Tuesdays!
Another great run, everyone! I hope you are all feeling good and ready to tackle another increase in mileage this week. You all just have 2 more long runs before the half – you can DO THIS! And I am SO THRILLED to be able to legally run in larger groups this week. YAY!!! Remember, if anything is hurting, please please please go see a professional for advice. While I know we all want to be able to run the half, we don’t want you to end up doing something not good to your body just to make it through the half. It’s not worth it!!
The Schedule Week 31 April 1 – Canada Water – 10 miles Week 32 Apr 8 – April break – 6 miles Week 33 Apr 15 – Kew Gardens – 11 miles Week 34 Apr 22 – TBD – 7-8 miles Week 35 Apr 29 – RACE DAY! Continue to do 45 min on the weekend and 60 min on Tuesdays!
This Week This week and for Kew, we will plan to take our gels while running. We need to practice – we do not plan to stop to take the gels during the race. Sometimes the gel packaging can be tricky – so just resort to pulling the tab off with your teeth if you have to. This is why we practice 🙂 We will take the gels about 70-80 min into the run. At this point, hopefully you have identified some gels that you like. If you haven’t already, please plan to purchase some this week so you have your own supply. I do have extra gels and will bring some with me this week for anyone who wants to try something new or doesn’t have her own yet. OK – for the run, don’t forget:
eat something before the run
bring water
bring a gel if you have one
bring your Oyster card/contactless
As usual, I will put the call out for who can run on Thursday on the What’sApp and then will assign groups. My hope is to start a little earlier this week but to do the same idea of spacing out groups based on pace. Canada Water (10.3 miles) RunGo: https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/6wwqUXZOx5
This route takes us along the Thames Path past Borough Market and Tower Bridge to Canada Water tube station (Jubilee line) in Rotherhithe. Head to Hyde Park in the usual manner. At the park, cross North Carriage Road, turn right at the silver sphere, and left just after the Italian Gardens, keeping the Serpentine to your left. Turn right at the end of the Serpentine to run along the southern edge of the park to Hyde Park Corner. Proceed towards Borough Market – past Buckingham Palace and Big Ben, across Westminster Bridge, and left along the Thames Path to the Golden Hinde. Follow the walkway to the right of the Golden Hinde and at the junction with Southwark Cathedral, turn sharply left and follow Montague Close, passing through the tunnel. You are now on Tooley Street. Shortly, you will see the “Number 1” bar on the right and a London map sign on the sidewalk – turn left here (photo below)
Turn right at the end of the passage – you are back on the river. Run under Tower Bridge, turn left down the tiny alley called “Maggie Blake’s Cause” (photo below), then right at the river. If you look behind you, you will see Tower Bridge – we don’t usually get this view!
Turn right off the river at Maguire Street (between the Ask Italian restuarant and the Blue Print Cafe). Turn left on Shad Thames and follow Shad Thames until it ends, then turn left on Jamaica Road. After a short stretch on this busy road take a left into George Row (directly opposite the Tesco Metro on the other side of Jamaica Road. The road sign for George Row is hard to see, so keep your eye out for the Tesco.) Follow George Row for a few blocks, heading back towards the river, then turn right onto Chambers Street. After the Thames Water building site on the left take the next left onto Loftie Street, then right at Bermondsey Wall East. Continue along Bermondsey Wall East – you’ll see glimpses of the river to your left. If in doubt, the black Thames Path/Rotherhithe Village signs point the general direction. Go straight through a narrow passage (see photo below) to reach the historic heart of Rotherhithe where the road turns into Rotherhithe Street.
You will soon see a small burial ground on your right, where Christopher Jones, the captain of the Mayflower, is buried. Then on the left you’ll pass The Mayflower pub, named in honor of his ship. Continue along Rotherhithe Street until you come to a red metal bridge — turn right immediately before the bridge and go down the path alongside a canal, keeping the water to your left. (photo below)
At Salter St, cross the road and follow the path with the water on your left, and continue alongside the water/canal until you reach a large open area with Canada Water station (Jubilee Line) to your right and the Canada Water library in front of you. This is the end of the route, you made it!
There is a coffee shop to the left called Mouse Tail Coffee Stories if you need a little something after the long run!
I hope you all enjoyed your “easy” week last week (except for Trenita and Devyani who ROCKED their long runs!). Loved seeing all of your smiling faces in the photos. We have another couple of weeks of long Thursday runs before we get another break week. This week we will be doing another 9 mile run. Most of you have done 9 already so hopefully it won’t be too stressful to think about it.
I am hoping we can run this Thursday similarly to how we can to Canary – with small, spaced groups heading out at different times based on pace and all arriving fairly close to each other. No burritos at the end this time but there are a few coffee shops where we should be able to get coffee before taking the tube home. We will end at the Wembley Park tube which is on the Jubilee and Metropolitan Lines so make sure you have an Oyster or contactless card. I’ll put the call out on the group chat about availability.
We will bring gels again this week for those who haven’t gotten their own yet. Please make sure to bring water with you – these are long runs and your body needs to hydrate. And eat something before you come!
The Schedule Week 30 Mar 25 – Wembley – 9 miles Week 31 April 1 – Canada Water – 10 miles Week 32 Apr 8 – April break – 6 miles Week 33 Apr 15 – Kew Gardens – 11 miles Week 34 Apr 22 – TBD Week 35 Apr 29 – RACE DAY! Continue to do 45 min on the weekend and 60 min on Tuesdays!
This week’s run Wembley 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 you can tell me your own opinions of it after 🙂
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!
The route https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/9xjWne66GU 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 (Jubilee and Metropolitan lines). There is a Costa just down the steps towards the stadium so we will head there for coffee afterwards for those who can stay.
Congratulations everyone on your run milestone this week! Sorry about the lack of margaritas. We will need to have a do-over once we are allowed to gather. But it was so so wonderful to see you guys TOGETHER! Wow I can’t wait for us to truly be able to run in groups again. 2 more weeks!
Thanks for submitting your photos for the WRW Global Run for International Women’s Day/Paula’s Birthday. I took the liberty of adding a couple from the Canary run for a few of you whose photo I didn’t already have. Here is a link to the slideshow if you’d like to see how strong this community of amazing women is and how even once you leave, you are still a huge part of it. It was a labour of love to put it together. If any of you who I didn’t get want to send me a photo, I will happily add it in! https://womenrunningtheworld.com/about/photo-galleries/wrw-global-run/
This week is a rest week. Those with eagle eyes might notice that I’ve changed it a bit to be 6 miles, not 60 minutes. That is still a rest – you guys have been doing a lot more on Thursdays. We want to cut back but also want to keep you strong. So do your 60 minute run on Tuesday, 6 miles on Thursday, and 45 min over the weekend.
If you have not yet run 9 miles, use this week to continue to build if you can. I, or any other coach, am happy to talk to you about what you should be doing – just reach out!
The Schedule Week 29 Mar 18 – 6 miles Week 30 Mar 25 – Wembley – 9 miles Week 31 April 1 – Canada Water – 10 miles Week 32 Apr 8 – April break – 6 miles Week 31 Apr 15 – Kew Gardens – 11 miles Week 32 Apr 22 – TBD Week 33 Apr 29 – RACE DAY! Continue to do 45 min on the weekend and 60 min on Tuesdays!
For this week – how about a run to Borough Market? A nice slight downhill to the river and then flat flat flat with coffee and other treats at the end! https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/6U5vDjwEEA If you want to loop back to SJW and avoid public transport, you could do a classic Hyde Park loop along the Italian Gardens. https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/ybk4zOsBh9 If you want to try something new, there are many routes on RunGo in the 3 WRW groups: WRW London, the Hustlers, or the WRW Beginners, We could try to do some small groups again – let’s talk on the group chat to see what will work for everyone. See you this week! Amy
Hi all! Such great photos from the Belgravia Wander Art run! You all continue to impress us as you get it done every week.
This week, we are starting some destination runs. Although we still need to be in pairs, we would like to see if we can coordinate a bit more and do some pairs together – with one coach and 3 runners or maybe 2 coaches and 4 runners, with the pairs running close enough to see but not close enough to hear. This will require everyone to group based on pace. This may not work, depending on everyone’s availability, but let’s give it a shot.
For this week, we are running 9 miles to Canary Wharf. There are a couple of you (Devyani, Trenita, Tessa) who I believe have run about 6 miles. I don’t want you guys to try this full 9 mile run yet, but I would love for you to be a part of it. If you are willing and able, you could join us very close to the Angel tube station – we practically run right by it – and that would give you just under 6 miles from there to Canary. We can give you the approximate time to meet us if you can do it.
I’d like to start getting you guys back on a Thursday schedule anyway since we just have a few weeks (YAY!) until we can run basically together again. In an ideal world, this is what I’d like to have for Thursday:
8:30 start – Tammy and Mariyam with Trenita meeting this group at Angel 9:00 start – Darlene and Corisha with Devyani meeting this group at Angel 9:20 start – Joanna, Farhana, Sue, Natasha, Heloisa with Tessa meeting this group at Angel
Then we will all end up at Canary at approximately the same time, give or take, and we can celebrate together but apart.
Please let me know ASAP if you cannot do the run this Thursday at those times – we will determine who can/can’t and figure out how to make it work for you for another day/time.
The Half – Thursday 29 April
Mark your calendars for Thursday 29 April – this is our official race day, rain or shine. But here’s the thing, I want ALL OF YOU to mark your calendars, take the day off of work, get babysitters, WHATEVER IT TAKES for that day. Act like it is truly the race day. Even if you think you won’t be running the full race, we will figure out ways for some of you to run (or walk, or run/walk) a shorter distance – whatever is the right distance for you. There are several places along the route where people can join in. And I do mean ALL of you – even you, Ash, for whatever works for you at the time, boot or not. And Wunmi – where are you?!?! We miss you! We want you out there with us – whatever that means for you!! So seriously – I need everyone to make your arrangements now – act like you are going to be out of town for the day and get your back up/vacation day/whatever! This is your day – the time to celebrate all of you! OK, lecture over… for now.
bring a credit card in case breakfast burritos are available…
Section One – Canal to the Wall Run along St. John’s Wood Terrace taking a right on Charlbert Street to join the canal in Regents Park at the Charlbert Street entrance. 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 with 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 about midway.) Turn right at Liverpool Street to the major road Upper Street. Cross Upper Street and turn left. (NB: Angel Tube Station is to the right if you are joining from here.) Make your first right at Duncan Street 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 past Victoria Park to the Limehouse Basin. We exit the canal path at the wire looking bridge – see picture – 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. After the park, you’ll run straight, under an arch and the water will be on your right. Run with the water on your right until you see the long flight of steps next to Royal China – see picture. 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 skyscraper building in front of you. Stop when you see the sign for the Canary Wharf DLR Station at the ‘mall’ entrance on the South Colonnade. After grabbing a coffee, or maybe a breakfast burrito (if they are open), we’ll head to the Canary Wharf Tube station [Jubilee Line] and tube it home to SJW. Congratulations!
Well – how did it feel running all the way to Big Ben and then back again?! Pretty incredible that you guys have come this far. I hope you are all feeling as proud of yourselves as we are of you!
This week, we will build just a bit more. The route takes you through the Belgravia portion of the Wander Art exhibit we did a few weeks ago in Mayfair. Some of the regular WRW group have run it and the art work looks super fun.
We will continue to use gels on the rest of our long training runs so you can find ones that you like (or at least tolerate!). Please remember to bring water with you from now on for your runs. And eat something beforehand!!
Next Few Weeks The rest of the longs runs after this week that we have planned are destination runs. I had hoped that we would be able to run in more than pairs by then, but no. I would like to know if you all are comfortable with doing the next 2 long runs (March 11 and March 25) as destinations. It would mean coming back on the tube at the end of the run. The tube stations for the runs are both on the Jubilee Line. We may try doing some distanced pairs if people are comfortable with that. If you are NOT comfortable with doing a destination, please let me know and we will figure something else out.
Race Update Pace group leaders from all of WRW are meeting tomorrow to discuss race logistics for the last week of April. Right now, my hope is that we will all run at approximately the same time on Thursday morning, April 29. We will be in small groups and will base our departure times on pace with those who expect to take longer leaving earlier so we can all arrive fairly close to one another. This is not set in stone as we need to make sure this plan fits with WRW as a whole so stay tuned for confirmation and more details.
The Schedule Week 27 Mar 4 – Belgravia Wander Art Loop – 8.5 miles Week 28 Mar 11 – Canary Wharf – 9 miles Week 29 Mar 18 – 60 min Week 30 Mar 25 – Wembley – 9 miles Week 31 April 1 – Canada Water – 10 miles Week 32 Apr 8 – April break – 60 min run Week 31 Apr 15 – Kew Gardens – 11 miles Week 32 Apr 22 – 45 min = easy run through Regents Park RACE WEEK! Don’t forget – your Tuesday runs are now 60 min long and the weekend run is 45 mins. It is CRITICAL that you are running 3 times a week at this point. Put it in your calendar and get it done 🙂
Well, I have to say I am disappointed that it looks like we can’t run in larger groups until 29 March. For our currently scheduled destination runs in a couple of weeks, we might try to get a little creative, depending on how you all and the coaches are feeling then. As much as we treasure our runs with you all individually, we miss the energy, connections and dynamics of the group and can’t wait to see you all together again.
I hope you had a good break week and are ready to get back into increasing our distance!
This week, we reach another milestone where the scheduled route is running to Big Ben… and back! Remember when it was such a big deal to run to Big Ben? And now you are running there, with no walk breaks, and coming all the way back. Incredible!! This is just a half-mile increase from your pre-break week run so not too much stress 🙂
If you are not currently up to 8 miles for this week and aren’t sure what you should be doing, let me know or work with your assigned coach for the week.
This week – gels I’m going to copy the information I sent last week about gels:This week we are going to try gels on the run. Gels are basically carbohydrates to give your body some extra fuel during the race. For the most part, we train in a way to teach our body to use fat as a fuel. Fat is easier to access as an energy source and requires less fine-tuning in terms of timing carb intake during exercise. Our bodies have about 1000-1200 “easy access” calories available which will get most ladies about 10-11 miles (depending on their weight and fitness level). After that we will use gels (carbs) to fuel that last 2-3 miles of the half-marathon. We, your coaches, will tell you when you should take the gel. We will plan to use them on our longer runs going forward so we get used to taking them – we don’t want anything “new” on race day to throw us off! Hopefully, we can get us coaches organized enough to each have a few gels to bring next week for you to try. It’s a little trickier to coordinate this year! The idea is to try different flavors and brands and decide what you like (it may be helpful to keep the packet if you like it so you remember it). Then you can buy some either online or at running stores. In general, gels don’t taste great but they will either give you a boost after about 6 – 8 minutes or, if you’re like me, they will keep you from losing energy.
Some of the gels we have are called isotonic and have more liquid so you may not need water with them. Others are more like the consistency of jam and you’ll want water to wash it down. So please please bring your water with you. We will also try to have some Shot Bloks and energy jelly beans if you want to try those. Some people like the Shot Bloks which are chewy rather than jam-like. Note that half a package of Shot Bloks (3 pieces) is equivalent to one gel. This is a very individual thing – some people like fruity flavours, some like chocolate, etc. Jess claims she likes running long distances so she has an excuse to eat the chocolate and caramel gels!
Different brands can have different effects on your stomach so it’s important to try them first. In general, the energy jelly beans (I like the Jelly Belly brand) are good for a pick-me-up during a long run when you can take a few at a time but not the whole pack. The whole pack is equivalent to a gel and personally, a whole pack of jelly beans at once would not feel so great in my tummy! There are also energy gummies that some people like as well that are used similarly. Places to buy gels/beans/Bloks: Runners Need stores or runnersneed.com (individual GU, SIS, TORQ, Shot Bloks, sport jelly beans) amazon.co.uk (gels may only be available in boxes but you could share with others in the group, sport jelly beans) wiggle.co.uk energysnacks.co.uk (individual packets available)https://www.ultramarathonrunningstore.com (individual GU, TORQ, Clif Shot Bloks and gels) Ocado (Clif Shot Bloks, SIS isotonic gels)
The Schedule Week 26 Feb 25 – Big Ben and back – 8 miles Week 27 Mar 4 – Belgravia Wander Art Loop – 8.5 miles Week 28 Mar 11 – Canary Wharf – 9 miles Week 29 Mar 18 – 60 min Week 30 Mar 25 – Wembley – 9 miles Week 31 April 1 – Canada Water – 10 miles Week 32 Apr 8 – April break – 60 min run Week 31 Apr 15 – Kew Gardens – 11 miles Week 32 Apr 22 – 45 min = easy run through Regents Park RACE WEEK! Don’t forget – your Tuesday runs are now 60 min long and the weekend run is 45 mins. It is CRITICAL that you are running 3 times a week at this point. Put it in your calendar and get it done 🙂
The route this week – to Big Ben and back It was a huge deal when we ran here in October. Now we are running there AND back! For this run we head to Hyde Park via the usual route and run along the eastern edge of the park to Hyde Park Corner, under the arch and down Constitution Hill. Run pass 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, then turn around and run the same route back to Starbucks.
Happy Valentine’s Day! So fun to see the photos of the London runners checking out the Wander Art in Mayfair this week. And so impressed with you guys getting out there in the cold. Luckily, the weather should be kinder to us this week. This week is a break week for those of you who have been following the schedule. If you are not up to the current mileage of 7.5 miles, use this week to continue to build up if you can. Continue to do a 45 min “short” run and another 60 min run this week as well. We plan to coach this week as usual for whatever mileage you are doing.
Aches/Pains It feels like more of you are experiencing various physical issues. This is not unusual for beginners at this stage as we are really ramping up and asking a lot of your body. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to go see someone if you are experiencing more than just minor pains. I was reminded of this this week when I went to see a new physio for the sciatica that just won’t go away. She determined that my left side, where the sciatica is, is not nearly as strong as the other side and is likely causing a lot of the issues. She gave me some exercises to start strengthening the areas that are weak, and I could tell right away the difference in ability between the two sides. Having a professional review your body is so important to help prevent future injury and keep you up and running (pun intended!). If you want a recommendation, let me know.
More about gels Next week we are going to try gels on the run. Gels are basically carbohydrates to give your body some extra fuel during the race. For the most part, we train in a way to teach our body to use fat as a fuel. Fat is easier to access as an energy source and requires less fine-tuning in terms of timing carb intake during exercise. Our bodies have about 1000-1200 “easy access” calories available which will get most ladies about 10-11 miles (depending on their weight and fitness level). After that we will use gels (carbs) to fuel that last 2-3 miles of the half-marathon. We, your coaches, will tell you when you should take the gel. We will plan to use them on our longer runs going forward so we get used to taking them – we don’t want anything “new” on race day to throw us off! Hopefully, we can get us coaches organized enough to each have a few gels to bring next week for you to try. It’s a little trickier to coordinate this year! The idea is to try different flavors and brands and decide what you like (it may be helpful to keep the packet if you like it so you remember it). Then you can buy some either online or at running stores. In general, gels don’t taste great but they will either give you a boost after about 6 – 8 minutes or, if you’re like me, they will keep you from losing energy.
Some of the gels we have are called isotonic and have more liquid so you may not need water with them. Others are more like the consistency of jam and you’ll want water to wash it down. So please please bring your water with you. We will also try to have some Shot Bloks and energy jelly beans if you want to try those. Some people like the Shot Bloks which are chewy rather than jam-like. Note that half a package of Shot Bloks (3 pieces) is equivalent to one gel. This is a very individual thing – some people like fruity flavours, some like chocolate, etc. Jess claims she likes running long distances so she has an excuse to eat the chocolate and caramel gels! Different brands can have different effects on your stomach so it’s important to try them first. In general, the energy jelly beans (I like the Jelly Belly brand) are good for a pick-me-up during a long run when you can take a few at a time but not the whole pack. The whole pack is equivalent to a gel and personally, a whole pack of jelly beans at once would not feel so great in my tummy! There are also energy gummies that some people like as well that are used similarly. Places to buy gels/beans/Bloks: Runners Need stores or runnersneed.com (individual GU, SIS, TORQ, Shot Bloks, sport jelly beans) amazon.co.uk (may only be available in boxes but you could share with others in the group, sport jelly beans) wiggle.co.uk energysnacks.co.uk (individual packets available)https://www.ultramarathonrunningstore.com (individual GU, TORQ, Clif Shot Bloks and gels) Ocado (Clif Shot Bloks, SIS isotonic gels)
The Schedule Week 25 Feb 18 – February break – 60 min run Week 26 Feb 25 – 100 min = Big Ben and back – 8 miles Week 27 Mar 4 – 105 min – 8.5 miles Week 28 Mar 11 – 110 min = Canary Wharf – 9 miles Week 29 Mar 18 – 60 min Week 30 Mar 25 – 110 min = Wembley – 9 miles Week 31 April 1 – 120 min = Canada Water – 10 miles Week 32 Apr 8 – April break – 60 min run Week 31 Apr 15 – 130 min = Kew Gardens – 11 miles Week 32 Apr 22 – 45 min = easy run through Regents Park RACE WEEK! Don’t forget – your Tuesday runs are now 60 min long and the weekend run is 45 mins. It is CRITICAL that you are running 3 times a week at this point. Put it in your calendar and get it done 🙂
Routes this week A 60 min run for all of you should be between 4 and 5 miles. There are a bunch of options that are mainly loops from our runs this past fall in the Beginner RunGo group here: https://routes.rungoapp.com/group/wrw-london-beginners Happy running! Amy
So fun to see the Pink House with so many smiling faces! You ladies are really getting this stuff DONE! This week is just a small increase – 95 minutes or 7.5 miles. We have one more week of building and then next week we get a break to let your body rest. But you will still need to get in your 3 runs…
Next week – ASL break week Next week is a rest week to let your body recover from the work it has been doing to build up your muscles. The schedule has you running 60 minutes on Thursday. of that week You’re also supposed to now be running 60 minutes on Tuesday. I assume that those of you who are in London now will still be here over break so we will just keep on matching you up with coaches and continuing as usual.
Sport beans/gels I know many of you are feeling exhausted at the end of the run and that is totally normal. After break, we will start to introduce the concept of sport gels that we will use on our longer runs which may help this a bit. However, for the run this week, you might want to consider bringing along some candy that can give you a little pick-me-up when you’re starting to feel tired. I’m not talking a big chocolate bar (sorry!) but maybe some Starbursts or a hard candy of some sort that will wake up your mouth and give you a little sugar. Runners often use sport jelly beans – a common brand is Jelly Belly. You can usually get them on Amazon. You might be able to get them at Holland & Barrett (a Google search shows they have them on their website). You can pop a couple in your mouth and it makes your body pay attention and “wake up” a bit.
Keeping Yourself Engaged During Long Runs For those of you not able to run with coaches for your long runs, or even for those 60 minute runs, it can be hard to keep yourself motivated and engaged. For me personally, I start to get tired of my playlists after a while. So I turn to audiobooks or podcasts to try to make the runs feel a little less long. Micki recently put a call out for podcast recommendations from the MWF group so I thought I’d share those here if you’re interested. For audiobooks, I find that a good mystery or thriller keeps me wanting to keep running a bit more to find out what happens… If anyone has other podcast or audiobook recommendations, please share!
How I Built This, with Guy Raz – looks at how people came up with ideas for things and how they built their companies– everything from Dyson to Jazzercise!
Revisionist History (Malcom Gladwell) – looks at various events in history that might have been misunderstood or overlooked
The Daily from NYT
The Argument from NYT – topics discussed by columnists with a range of views
Planet Money from NPR – interesting insight on economics related topics told at a digestible level
The Way I Heard It (Mike Rowe) – short, true, anecdote-type stories (until recent ones) that end with a twist in the reveal of who or what familiar or famous people they are actually about
Smartless – Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett interview random people that they know, from actors to chefs to politicians to authors to comedians, fascinating, informative, and very lighthearted
Bear Brook – in the vein of Serial – a true murder mystery from NH Public Radio
Blood Ties – a fictional murder/thriller story
No Such Thing as a Fish – four smart (and hilarious) hosts each find an unusual fact for the week and the discussion winds entertainingly where it will
This American Life from NPR – good storytelling, interesting and varied topics
Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard – explores ‘the messiness of being human’ through stories and interviews
Ask Me Another from NPR – silly nerdy games with celebrity guests
Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me from NPR – news quiz show with comedian contestants
Dolly Parton’s America (multiple submissions). “She is a force to be reckoned with and it’s unusual to know of a celebrity who is loved by almost everyone!”
Here’s the Thing (Alec Baldwin) – Baldwin interviews artists, policy makers, and performers
The Moth – stories from the famous story-telling organization
Modern Love – from the New York Times column
Welcome to Night Vale – an NPR-style broadcast from America’s strangest (fictional!) town, where weird is completely normal– bizarre and entertaining
My Dad Wrote a Porno (Warning! Some may find it offensive, but some will find it hilarious if you don’t mind the subject matter). Jamie reads aloud the series of books his father was inspired to write based on the success of Fifty Shades. Terrible writing, truly horrifying books, but amazingly funny reactions and commentary by James and his 2 friends who are at least as horrified as you are as the listener
The Schedule In prior years, before now, I would have been listing out our upcoming schedule so you would know the destinations and be able to block off your calendar appropriately. Since we haven’t been able to do destinations in the past month, I haven’t, but I am going to be optimistic and believe that we will be able to be back in small groups and able to run to destinations after 8 March. This schedule may change – especially the longest, Kew, run – but we will go with this for now. (this week) Week 24 – 95 min = 7.5 miles Week 25 Feb 18 – February break – 60 min run Week 26 Feb 25 – 100 min = Big Ben and back – 8 miles Week 27 Mar 4 – 105 min – 8.5 miles Week 28 Mar 11 – 110 min = Canary Wharf – 9 miles Week 29 Mar 18 – 60 min Week 30 Mar 25 – 110 min = Wembley – 9 miles Week 31 April 1 – 120 min = Canada Water – 10 miles Week 32 Apr 8 – April break – 60 min run Week 31 Apr 15 – 130 min = Kew Gardens – 11 miles Week 32 Apr 22 – 45 min = easy run through Regents Park RACE WEEK!
Don’t forget – your Tuesday runs are now 60 min long and the weekend run is 45 mins. It is CRITICAL that you are running 3 times a week at this point. Put it in your calendar and get it done 🙂
This Week’s Route RunGo: https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/irwAvCNBXV Thanks to Tamar Brooks for the idea for this run.This run takes you through Maida Vale and part of Hyde Park before guiding you past 5 cool outdoor art installations sprinkled around Mayfair. The run then goes up Regents Street to Regents Park and back to SJW. The art installations are called Wander: https://mayfairandbelgravia.com/wander-art#aboutI hope to see some fun photos of you all this week with the art!
Directions: Head down Circus Road, past Maida Vale and bear left onto Wellington Crescent. Continue straight onto Warwick Ave and make a right onto Blomfield. Take the first left to cross over the canal and onto Westbourne Terrace Rd. Go under the highway and continue on Westbourne Bridge. This will become Sussex Gardens – continue straight to cross Bayswater Rd and head into Hyde Park. Turn left, cross over N Carriage Dr and get onto the path heading towards Speakers Corner. Continue on the Broadwalk and turn left to cross Park Rd past the Animals in War Memorial. Go straight onto Upper Brook St and take the first left onto Park St. Take a right onto North Row (the block before Oxford) and then turn right onto North Audley St. You will see the first artwork here. Turn left onto Providence Ct and a left onto Balderton St. A right on Brown Hart Gardens takes you to the second artwork. Turn around and run back to Balderton St where you will turn right to find the third artwork. Turn around again and run to George Yard where you will turn right. Take a right onto Duke Street and bear right to enter Grosvenor Square. Run around the periphery of the square, looking for the fourth artwork on the south side. Exit the square and turn right onto Grosvenor Square and then left onto South Audley St. In 2 ½ blocks, turn left at Grosvenor Chapel to head into Mount Street Gardens where you will find the last artwork. Cross the park diagonally and head onto Waverton St. When it ends, turn left onto Charles St. Run past Berkeley Square and onto Bruton Lane. Turn right onto Bruton St and continue straight onto Conduit St. Turn left onto Regents Street and run all the way up to Park Crescent, turn right to run around the crescent. Cross Marylebone Road and head to Regents Park, running around the outer edge. Head back to SJW via the regular Charlbert St exit.
This is going to be a VERY long email, but it has a lot of important information so I’m going to do a little table of contents at the top to make sure you don’t miss anything. Here are topics we will cover:
Hampton Court Race Update
Revised Training Schedule
Increasing the Non-Thursday Run Time
Coach/Runner match-ups
WRW Watch Party
Where We’ve Live
This week’s route
First, the race update. I’m just going to let Micki say it – I’ve taken this from the email she sent to the M/W/F runners yesterday:
IMPORTANT! Hampton Court Half Update. Obviously we all have been wondering about the status of our annual half marathon on March 21st at Hampton Court Palace. Race Boss Sue Wheeler has kept in contact with the race organizers, and as of this week they have not yet made a decision. But we feel the chance of it proceeding in its original format is increasingly unlikely given the extension of the UK lockdown to March 8. Further, as your WRW-organising team, even if the race goes on, we would be concerned– as many of you might be– about sending our community into a very large group event just seven weeks from now, and less than two weeks after the potential end of UK lockdown restrictions. For these reasons, we have decided to officially move our training target to a late April or early May half marathon.
It is possible the Hampton Court Palace Half itself could be rescheduled for that window (which would be great!) but if not, we have been assured by organisers that we will still have the option to run it as a virtual event, with flexibility in the timing. So while we wait to see if the official race is rescheduled and for when, we are working on a backup plan to try to offer the best version of a WRW community-wide event we can!
Revised Training Schedule OK, so what does this mean for you, the beginner group? It’s really not much different from the regular group. We are going to revise the training schedule so we have a more gradual build and add some rest weeks in there. Since we now have a bit of breathing room, we are really going to start emphasizing the mileage over the minutes (sorry!) for the Thursday runs. We are going to keep our 90 minute run for this week (which translates to about 7.25 miles) but as you can see from the schedule, we pare the increases back a bit. We may revise this a bit after February break but for now, this is the new schedule. The far right column shows the expected mileage.
The training plan minutes assume you are running about a 13 min/mi. Some of you are faster than that, some of you are slower. But the half marathon will be 13.1 miles for all of you so that’s what we need to be training towards at this point.
For those of you who have been, or are, injured, this might allow you to build up and catch up with us. Your assigned coach will work with you on this – more on that below. Increasing your non-Thursday run timeStarting this week, you should increase your running time so you are running 45 minutes on the weekend and 60 minutes on Tuesdays (so start this on Tuesday if you can). You’ll keep doing this for the rest of the training until the race. Remember to keep it nice and slow! Also, make sure you stretch, and use a foam roller if you have one, after EVERY run. This is so important!
Coach/Runner Match-upsWe coaches have been feeling a bit out of touch with the group as a whole (that Zoom meeting was SO GREAT to reconnect!) and we want to make sure no one is slipping through the cracks and that everyone has someone to go to for guidance on any physical issues or questions about anything. To do this, we are going to try out coach/runner match-ups. Each coach (including our regular guest coaches Shannon, Sue and Micki) each have 2 or 3 of you as their match-up. If they haven’t already, they will reach out and let you know they are your assigned coach. This does NOT mean that coach will be running with you on Thursday. We will continue to rotate among coaches and runners on Thursday because we all love seeing all of you! This is really so you have a first point of contact and so we all can make sure you are feeling supported and that we know how you’re doing each week. For those of you who are not in London or who are injured, the coaches will plan to reach out weekly, or more often if necessary, to see how you’re doing, make sure you got the runs in, etc. If you’re in London and running with a coach on Thursdays (or whenever), they likely won’t need to reach out because we coaches will report in about how the run was and how amazing you all are, as usual. This doesn’t mean you can’t email/talk to another coach – this is really about not slipping through the cracks, as I said before. We are the mama birds – we want to make sure all of our chicks are ready to fly before we push them out of the nest 🙂
WRW Watch Party this week Here’s another bit copied from the M/W/F email from WRW. Everyone is invited to join in so we didn’t want you to miss out! How about some big-screen running inspiration together on the small screen? We’re going to try to have a couple of ‘Watch Parties’ using Amazon Prime. We will post the link on the WRW Facebook page 30 minutes before the party starts (see below for times). You’ll need a UK Amazon Prime account to join (apologies to our friends not in the UK). Once you join the party, we will watch in sync and with the benefit of a chat function. You can always do this with a smaller group of friends, but what a potentially fun way to connect with the broader WRW group we’ve been missing! The selections are two running-related movies:
Wednesday, February 3, 8pm: “Skid Row Marathon“– a truly inspiring documentary about a running club created by an L.A. judge (the trailer will make you cry!). Only 84 minutes. If you don’t join the watch party, try to catch it on your own sometime!
Thursday, February 4, 9pm: “Brittany Runs a Marathon“– about a woman who reluctantly starts running for her health and ends up changing her life. At least one of our pace groups got together last year to watch this (yes, like, in the same room– can you imagine?). It’s funny and inspirational, and won audience-choice awards at the Sundance Festival. If you haven’t seen it, or you want a rewatch, join us!
Where We’ve Lived So fun to see where everyone has lived and kind of trace their journeys to London! I think Tammy wins with the most places and Paola has the fewest. Many of us have spent time in NYC and in the Washington DC area. Several of us have lived on both coasts and in the middle of the country. Many have lived multiple places abroad but for a few of us, London is the first. Of the people who responded, only Paola has not spent any time living in the US. I’ve copied everyone’s responses at the bottom of the email. For those of you who did not respond yet, feel free to Reply All to this email so we can see where you’ve lived!
This week, we have a route with a lot of pauses. You’re welcome! Also, your coach will probably get lost so you’ll have even more stops. This is a sightseeing route through Notting Hill with lots of local landmarks, many from movies. It’s a little complicated so we recommend using RunGo to help you.
But here is the write-up:This route goes thru tons of fun & history in Notting Hill, but please be mindful of the lack of official crossings! Head down St Johns Wood Rd alongside the Cricket ground. Cross at the light and take the usual left on Cunningham Pl and then around on Aberdeen Place. Make your way thru the light and along the canal on Blomfield Rd. Continue alongside and turn left to cross the bridge on Westbourne Terrace Rd. Make an immediate right when you cross to Delamere Terrace and jump onto the canal tow path. Continue on for less than a half mile and then veer to the left before the Harrow Rd bridge. Make a left at the top to briefly run to the light on Harrow Rd. in front of Westminster Academy. Cross here and continue straight down the side road, Alfred Rd. You will see the Westminster Academy on your left and Harbour Club coming up as well. There is a small footpath between them. Make a left before Harbour Club to follow the path, and eventual colorful footbridge that takes you across the train tracks into Notting Hill!
When you get down the stairs, make a left onto Westbourne Park Villas and stay to the right as it bends and continues into Westbourne Park Road. Continue until St Luke’s Rd on your right. Make an immediate left onto St Luke’s Mews. It is hidden and cobblestone. On the left, at 27 St Lukes Mews is a bright pink house from Love Actually. Make a right coming out onto All Saint Rd, the street that has been the center of much racial transformation to the area from Carribean immigrants. Make your first left onto Lancaster Rd to enjoy the colorful houses alongside. Turn left on Portobello Rd and your first left on Westbourne Park Rd. Hugh Grant’s character’s flat (282) from the movie Notting Hill is on your left. Keep going until you make a right on Blenheim Crescent. Make a right on Clarendon Road and an immediate right on Portland Road. Follow it around and then make a right on Portland Road again (confusing!). On your left is Hippodrome Mews, which was the site of the former Kensington Racetrack stables. Follow the road until you see the park in front of you and cross carefully, making a left on Walmer Road. On your left you will see a strange site – a giant kiln from the brickmaking days this area was once known for. Continue past and you will see a sign for Earl of Zetland. Go thru to the street on the left of this, Pottery Lane. which also has a church alongside it. Hard to believe that “Cut Throat (Pottery) Lane” was one of the former worst slums in London. Make a sharp left when you get to the bottom at Penzance Pl and see a beautifully curved pink house. Follow Penzance Pl up to the left and make a right at shops at Clarendon Cross. Make a quick left and then right UP Lansdowne Rise. Turn left on Lansdowne Rd and another quick left on Rosemead Gardens. This is the stop from Notting Hill movie where they jump the fence into the private garden. Make a right on Elgin Crescent and follow it until it hits Portobello Rd.
Make a right on Portobello Rd. You will pass the Travel Book shop, Alice’s Antique Shop and Orson Welles house on your left as you run down it. When the road stops, make a right on Pembridge Rd and cross carefully when you hit the roundabout towards Notting Hill Gate (tube) Rd. Make a right and you will see The Coronet Theatre. Turn left on Hillgate Rd and a quick right on Uxbridge St. This is a pretty & hidden pocket of colorful houses! Make a left on Farm Pl and follow it around to Hillgate Pl. making a rectangle when you turn left on Jameson St and back through a small passageway to the right on Uxbridge St. Cross back over Notting Hill Gate and make a right. Then make a left on Pembridge Gardens. Take your first right on Pembridge Square and go by Prince William and Prince Harry’s preschool. When the gardens end, make a left and continue up Chepstow Pl. Congrats! The twists and turns are almost over! Follow it up until you hit Talbot Rd. Make a right. Talbot end at Westbourne Park Rd and there is a small hidden passage when you cross the street. The passageway gets you directly to the pedestrian bridge we took over. Make a right on Alfred and then left on Harrow Rd. Cross the street and Sutherland Ave is a few streets up on your right. Take it straight into SJW High street!
