Month: May 2011

Running this week 30 May – 3 June 2011

Hello everyone,

The Dorking race is a week away so we have some gentle runs planned for the next few days.  That must be great news for those of you who have been doing speed work leading up to the race.  You’re done with that!  Yeah!  Could I take this opportunity to just say congratulations to you?  I know that type of training is a new thing for some of you and you’ve done it well.  It’s hard, but it does pay off.  It’s also less social.  Normally we get to chat and run, but that’s kind of difficult when you can’t breathe.  So anyway, that’s behind us but let me know if you would like to incorporate tempo/speed training into your schedules for next year.  I’m happy to help you think through how you could continue pace work on a regular basis or write periodized training programs for specific events.
Monday is a holiday but for anyone available/interested in running we will be doing about 8 miles.  Originally I was thinking we could do some fun and different route, but with it being a day off of school/work, we’ll probably do a loop that gets people back to Starbucks at a reasonable time.
Tuesday is the “open day” of the week.  So far, I know Randi wants to run so we’ll be doing 6 miles together – join us if want!
Wednesday is 6 miles of easy running.  I’m getting kind of tired of Notting Hill and the Wall so was thinking of doing more of a fun destination run with a coffee finish away from SJW.  So if you’re interested, bring your Oyster card.  If you have a busy day and need to get back to SJW, feel free to do one of the regular routes.
Thursday is going to be a lovely 3-4 mile gentle pace route for the Ease Back into Running group.  Last Thursday we went to Wandsworth Commons and had such a nice run.  We all agreed we must go back there sometime and finish at Jamie Oliver’s Recipease for a cooking class.  I’ll bring more tootsie rolls this week, but I’m thinking they won’t be needed!
Friday should be about 4 miles of pretty easy running for those of you doing the Dorking race.  Would anyone be interested in a delayed start (10:00am) for a 5 mile run down to Borough Market?  I’ll be at Starbucks at 8:15 for a 4ish mile run then will probably hang around for an hour or so and head down to Borough Market at 10:00.  Let me know if you’re interested in the 10:00 run so I’ll know who to be looking/waiting for.
The school-year is winding down and I’m starting to think about our schedule for next year.  I will be starting a new beginner’s running group on Thursday, 1 September.  Please let me know if you have any friends who might would be interested.  I have 5-6 ladies who are somewhat curious about running.  I usually start these groups with 10-12 and a few fall out over the first month or so.  The criteria is simple – they must be non-runners.  “Closet runners” who can do a few miles on their own are demotivating for those girls struggling to jog 60 seconds.  I’m thinking of starting a regular Tuesday morning run for mid-level runners (the “closet runners” may fit perfectly into this group).  Do you think that would work – would people be interested in doing that?  Lastly, I’ll definitely be planning another half-marathon for next year but am thinking of throwing in a few more races of varying distances.  We’ll see how the Dorking 10-miler goes.  Maybe some of you would like to do some more local 10k races or 8-10 milers????  I think it’s nice to have some different goals.  What do you think?  Any feedback would be most appreciated!
 
Hope to see you this week,
Happy Running,
Paula

Running this week 20 – 27 May 2011

Hello everyone,

I can’t wait for next week!  We’ve got a great program going for our last big training week leading up to the Dorking race.  It’s going to be fun – I promise.  Here’s what we have scheduled:
Monday – to Kew (10 miles) – yeah!  I love this route.  Some of you have more than 10 miles on the schedule and if so I’ve probably already had a chat with you about how this could be done.  Some options:  you could run the north side of Hyde Park instead of the diagonal or what may work out better is to do an up and back once we get on the river or go past Kew and turn around and come back.  Most of you who have 11 miles on your schedule are our faster runners so and up and back may work very well.  All that means is once we hit the river and you start to edge ahead of the group (probably at about 6 miles into the run) then check your distance, run another 1/2 mile, turn around and run back 1/2 mile (probably seeing some of our runners on your way back), then turn around and carry on running to Kew.  This way we all sort of stay together (not exactly because you will pass people again after you’ve added the extra mile), but at least we get to see each other and our middle-pack runners can cheer you on as you are running.  Those of you needing less mileage can walk in the last mile or so, do the 10 miles anyway or you can always take the tube home from Hammersmith or the train from Barnes or do some sort of Hyde Park loop.
Tuesday – I’ll probably be running at 8:15 from Starbucks with whomever can’t run on their regular day.  So let me know if you want to run and we’ll come up with something fun.
Wednesday – many of you are doing some sort of tempo/speed work on Wednesdays.  I’m probably going to do Notting Hill again at my steady pace.  For you tempo-runners, the canal is a perfect place to do these sessions.  You can jog down to the canal, then do your tempo work out 2.5 miles, turn around, tempo back for 2.5 miles, then jog back to SJW.  It’s a straight 5 miles that way without having to worry about street crossings and such.
Thursday –  to Wandsworth Commons with the Ease Back into Running group.  Fun, fun!  This is a tough route, but the window shopping stretch just before we reach the commons is excellent.  One of these days we’re going to have to call it quits there and finish with lunch/shopping on that high street.  Please come out and run with us.  For those of you not doing Dorking, don’t be put off by the route or distance.  You said you wanted to train as though you were going to do the 10 mile race – so let’s do it.  The pace will be gentle, there are plenty of street crossings, and it’s something fun and different to go to this area.
Friday – the Heath
As always, feel free to join us, do your own thing or start with us and break off to do your own training.  No worries.
I’ll be sending out another email early next week about our Dorking plans.  One more thing, could someone forward this to Francesca?  I thought I had her email address but I can’t find it.
Hope to see you out running next week,
Paula

Running for the next 3 weeks – May 2011

Hello everyone,

I’ve spent a bit of time looking at our schedule over the coming weeks leading up to the Dorking race and have some suggestions.  As always, feel free to do your own thing.  I thought it might be helpful to lay out some mileage/routes that you could each incorporate into your programs.   On the race route, there are 5 hills – none of them are awful, each are an approx 60ft elevation gain (about the elevation difference between Starbucks and half way up Fitzjohn’s in a bit shorter distance than that).  They each peak at somewhere around a 5% gradient (you could think about that like for each 20 feet you run, you would climb 1 ft higher in elevation).  So, not horrible, but definitely there.
All that being said, there are three Fridays between now and then (13th, 20th, 27th May) – I would recommend the heath for those of you who normally do it and are not injured (and currently avoiding hills).  There are also three Wednesdays (11th, 18th, 25th May) where many of you are going to be trying to do some sort of tempo/speed/pace work.  I realize it may be boring, but the best route for that work would be the canal west.  Anyone not interested in pace work could just do the regular Notting Hill route and the others could keep running out until they are half way done with the workout, then turn around and come back.  I know, I know…. kind of boring, but it would only be for 3 weeks.  Some of you will be doing pace progression and that should be done without street crossings/stoplights; others are trying to do 4-5-6 miles at a pushed, extremely consistent pace which is also best done on a long, straight stretch.
Mondays I would recommend the following:
  • 16th May – possibly the embankment loop that goes down to Hyde Park, around Harvey Nics, down Sloane St. (like the Battersea route) but when you hit the river turn left and run along the embankment back to the House of Parliament.  Then head up to Trafalgar Square and Regent’s Street and Regent’s Park home.  Some of you will be wanting to do 9 miles and that would do it.  Some are shooting for 8 and you could come home by bus/tube, others are needing 6 miles and that would get you to Westminster tube station.
  • 23rd May – Kew?  Some of you want 11 miles so you would need to either run past Kew a half mile or more, then turn around and come back, or instead of going diagonally across Hyde Park you could stay on the perimeter of the park (north or south side) which would bump the mileage up a bit.  Some of you are needing 9 miles (Kew falls somewhere between 9.5 and 9.85 depending on your path through Hyde Park) so you could either just do the whole thing and feel like Superwoman or you could walk in the last bit after you reach 9 miles.  Others are needing 6 miles so that might be some sort of Hyde Park loop along the Serpentine.
  • 30th May – Maybe this route we could just decide later on.  We have different groups wanting to run 8, 6 and 5 miles that day so we’ll think of something (hopefully more interesting than Hyde Park).  A few undulating hills would be a good idea (possibly over by King’s Cross/Farringdon where we would go over Pentonville Rise???).
Thursdays I had these routes in mind for the Ease Back into Running group (I’m telling you now because no one has arms long enough to reach across the Atlantic and strangle me):
  • 12th May – 7ish miles – maybe a slightly extended Notting Hill route?  Syma’s the boss – be nice to her!
  • 19th May – 7.5 miles – Finsbury greenbelt.  This is a tough route as we have to go up to Hampstead then continue up to Highgate, but the greenbelt is gorgeous and our legs will start getting used to hills.  The prize at the finish is that fab bakery at Finsbury so everyone remember to bring your 80p to cover the cost of a cappucino, a pastry, a bottle of water, and some rugelach (sp?) to go.  We’ll do a little excursion in either Highgate (just to bring back those fond memories of the Highgate Incident) or maybe Finsbury Park near the finish of the route to bump the mileage up to 7.5 miles.
  • 26th May – 9 miles – Wandsworth Common.  This is also not an easy route, but we’ll take it slow.  There are a number of street crossings so we’ll have some breaks.  The route takes us down to Battersea Park then up that nasty hill to the Wandsworth area.  It’s a tough one, but it’ll make Dorking look flat.  This is the train station that didn’t accept our Oyster cards before (maybe that’s all changed now with Boris?).  So, keep your savings from last week’s run to pay for the possible fine at Waterloo (or I guess we could just play by the rules and buy a train ticket???).
This schedule leaves Tuesdays free.  I’m always happy to run with whomever wasn’t able to get out on their regular day.  Just let me know and we’ll sort something out.  I hope all is well in London – let’s keep it our little secret, but I’m actually missing the London weather.  I’m running morning and/or evenings here in Texas and it’s sweltering.  I’m heading out now (5:00pm) and it’s still 94 degrees out there – yikes!!!
See you in a week or so,
Happy Running,
Paula