Hello Runners,

Let’s start with some exciting stuff….. running bras!!!  Over the years I’ve been asked about running bras particularly those for bustier women.  OK, this cracks me up.  I obviously have zero experience in that department, but one of our runners has given me this link to a company called Moving Comfort.  I understand their bras are fabulous.  They make one with velcro on the straps that makes it easy to tighten/loosen.

Let’s move on to fun stuff…. I’ll buy a coffee for whoever can tell me what this sculpture is (see photo above).  Last Monday when we were running along the canal by Victoria Park, we passed this little sculpture (actually there were two of them).  Seriously, what is it?  How did it end up placed there by the canal?

Let’s announce changes to our schedule…. On Monday, some of our runners have a meeting in the morning so want to run later.  The main group will run at the regular time but these ladies are meeting up at Starbucks at 9:45am to do the Notting Hill loop (6.5 miles) at a medium pace.  Join them if that works for your schedule.

How about a training tip?  Many of you are still trying to figure out how the group works, where you fit into the pack, what pace to run, how far to run, etc.  I understand how difficult this can be.  Please let me know if I can help you.  Basically, if you’re hoping to do the half marathon in the spring, then you should be doing one longer run, one medium distance run, and one hill run each week.  You might consider making your medium distance run a tempo run if you want to increase your speed.  For the long run, it is extremely important to gradually increase mileage (the same concept applies to improving your pace).  Experts suggest that we should increase mileage no more than 10% each week and that every 3-4 weeks we should cut back that mileage to allow the body to recover.  By increasing mileage too quickly, you could be setting yourself up for some running injuries.

Below is the proposed mileage for each program for next week:

Routes this Week

Monday, 24 September (see notes above – you could also decide to run later at 9:45pm for a 6.5 mile loop through Notting Hill at a medium pace)

Here, there and everywhere (26 miles) – we’re going to start with the group running to Battersea then run all over London, Kew, Richmond, back towards Hammersmith and finish at Putney.

Battersea (10 miles) – we’ll head down to Hyde Park, enter near the NE corner then run down to Hyde Park Corner.  From there, we turn right to do a little window shopping as we head to Knightsbridge then we’ll continue the window shopping along Sloane Street.  We cross over Sloane Square, continue on to the river Thames, cross over the river on Chelsea Bridge Road and run along the embankment in Battersea Park.  We cross back over the river on Albert Bridge, run back to Chelsea Bridge Road, then retrace our steps to St. John’s Wood (or come home by the US Embassy and Baker St.).

Hyde Park loop (8 miles) – I think you all know this route now.

Battersea loop but finish at Marble Arch (8 miles) – if you need 8 miles, you could do the Hyde Park loop or run to Battersea with the group then finish at Marble Arch and take a bus/tube/cab home.

Serpentine loop (6 miles) – run with the group to Hyde Park (we’ll be taking Lisson Grove then Seymour to enter at the NE corner of the park), then turn right or west to run along the northern boundary, turn left or south at Carriage Rd then run alongside the road over the bridge.  Immediately after the bridge, turn left to follow the water edge back towards Wellington Arch.  To shorten this loop, cross back over the Serpentine near the café and head on a diagonal back to Speaker’s Corner.  To lengthen this run, either go past Carriage Road and cut south by the Albert Memorial or do not cross over the Serpentine at the café – instead carry on down to the far SE corner of the park, then run up to Speaker’s Corner and home via Baker Street or Gloucester Road.

Speaker’s Corner loop (4-5 miles) – run with the group to Hyde Park, once we’ve entered the park do a small loop keeping to the north side of the Serpentine.  Head back to SJW either up Seymour/Lisson Grove or by the US Embassy then up Baker Street.

Wednesday, 26 September

If you want a tempo run, I would recommend:

The Wall (6 miles) – this can be boring, but it’s a great option.  I think you know the routine by now – we drop down to the canal and start running east to Islington.  It’s 3 miles to “The Wall” which is a place where the canal path is blocked and you have to go up to street level to get around it.  We turn around there and run back to SJW.

The canal (any distance) – run with the group towards “The Wall” then head back to Starbucks whenever you’re ready.

If you don’t want a tempo run, you could do a nice loop along the canal then through Camden and Belsize.

Friday, 28 September

Everyone heads up the hill!  Yeah!  It’s hard but you’ll feel great at the finish.  You have lots of choices in terms of distance – see below:

The Heath – old route (8 miles) – we’ll do the old route this time.  You can shorten this route by heading towards the track after Parliament Hill, exit the heath, run past Royal Free Hospital then home through Belsize.

The Darcy route (6 miles) – there still is no consensus on exactly what this route is!  I did hear that some of the ladies who normally do the Betsy route may want to go for 6 miles next week.  So ask around if you’re interested in this distance.   

The Betsy route (5 miles) – we have a lot of ladies doing this route each week.  If you’re interested in 5 miles, then ask around for others doing the Betsy route.  It’s a perfect combination of hills, heath and street running. 

Hampstead tube station (4 miles) – this is a great route to do if you’re short on time or are new to running “the hill”.  Head up to the Hampstead tube station with the group then turn around and head back home.  

I hope to see you running this week,

Paula

Hello everyone,

We had so much fun last week!  The run to Hummingbird Bakery was a big hit – several of our runners had never run that far, some runners from the beginner group successfully transitioned into the regular MWF group and we celebrated with cupcakes!

We are still seeing an influx of new runners to the group (which is great!!!) and people are trying to figure out how to make the group work for them. Before we discuss routes, let’s try to explain how things work.

What do I do????

I hear this question a lot and it’s a good one!  “What do I do?  How far should I run?  How fast am I running?  Should I be going faster/slower?”  Here’s the deal… I don’t want to categorize people because I don’t know anyone’s full story, ie  running experience, current level of fitness, short term goals, longer term goals/dreams, how important running is to you at the moment, etc.  What I can do is give you some options:

General Fitness – if you want to run 2-3 times a week to build or maintain fitness, then consider doing a 45-60 minute run each time (that’s running time – it doesn’t include time standing and waiting to cross the street).  The mileage is less important than the time spent developing cardio fitness.  If you’re fast, then you’ll get in a lot of mileage.  If you’re not so fast, you’ll still get in the recommended time with a raised heart-rate.  It would be a good idea to do the Friday run up the hill to mix up your training.

Spring half-marathon (more “relaxed” training program) – if you are recovering from an injury, or haven’t run much recently, or are completely new to long distance running, or do a lot of other fitness-related activities and don’t want to overtax your body, then you might consider following the program labeled “Gradual Progression”.  This is also a great program for runners who want to do the half-marathon but really don’t care about how long it takes them.  They care more about the “experience” than a specific finishing time.  By the way, this approach is absolutely fine.  There’s no reason we all have to push, push, push.  Some ladies just want to run, meet some people, get fit, go on a fun trip and the half-marathon is the vehicle to make all of that happen.  This program will have you ready for our group half-marathon in the spring and may be less daunting than the more aggressive program some of our ladies are following.  The complete program is on the website, but the next few weeks of that program look like this (yellow boxes are ASL holiday periods):

Marathon training – some of our runners are targeting a marathon in the spring.  We are constantly tweaking their program, but the general training plan is on the website.

Other races – we usually have women who are training for a range of races.  Those programs are specific to each event.

To put it in real terms, this is next week’s program (in miles) for each of the above “categories”:

Hopefully, once you decide which program you want to follow, then you can look at the mileage options in our weekly routes and find what works for you.

Sports Massage
OK, this is the last subject before we get to our routes for the week.  The most important thing for us to do is keep healthy and injury-free so we can run!  To give yourself the best possible chance of running this season without aches and pains, consider having a sports massage on a regular basis.  It can make a huge difference in how tight you are and how well you function as a runner.  For the next two months, Tracey Tofts at APPI on Kilburn High Street (020 7624 5314) is offering 10% off all sports massages.  She is wonderful – several of our runners regularly see her and rave about the results.  Again, I’m not getting kickbacks here!!!  There are a bunch of great sports massage therapists in town so it’s not important that you see Tracey……  just consider seeing someone.

Routes this Week

Monday, 17 September

Ponders End (16 miles) – we’ll be joining the ladies on the run to Canary Wharf then breaking off a bit early at Victoria Park, heading over to the River Lea, then running north to Ponders End.  As with prior weeks, the pace fluctuates and transport options between Victoria Park and Ponders End are not great.

Canary Wharf (9.5 miles) – this is a fun route!  We’ll follow the canal east to “The Wall” then come up to street level and run for a few minutes through Islington until we can drop back down to the canal.  From that point, it’s all canal running until we reach Limehouse near the intersection of the canal and the river Thames.  We wind our way through a residential area, run alongside the river for a bit, then cut into Canary Wharf business district to finish at the Starbucks in the mall at Canary Wharf.  It’s a great run.  You can see Canary Wharf from a couple of miles out, the canal provides for straight running without street crossings, and it feels great to grab a coffee then ride the tube back to St. John’s Wood.

The Wall, Farringdon, Embankment to Green Park (7 miles) – run with the group to “The Wall”.  Go up the ramp to street level then turn right, run for 1-2 minutes until you reach Pentonville Road.  Cross over and continue straight on Farringdon Road to the river Thames.  Then turn right and follow the embankment towards Westminster.  Turn right near Embankment tube station to head up to Trafalgar Square then run west on The Strand until you reach Green Park.  There are transport options all along the way so this route can be easily shortened.

The Wall (6 miles) – this can be boring, but it’s a great option.  I think you know the routine by now – we drop down to the canal and start running east to Islington.  It’s 3 miles to “The Wall” which is a place where the canal path is blocked and you have to go up to street level to get around it.  We turn around there and run back to SJW.

The canal (any distance) – run with the group towards “The Wall” or Canary Wharf (same direction).  Turn around and head back to Starbucks whenever you’re ready.

Wednesday, 19 September

I’m flummoxed….  Is that really a word????  Wednesdays are boring (unless we’re running to the bakery).  I don’t know what to suggest.  Some of you want to do tempo runs so we need to either stick to the canals where we can run without redlights or go to Hyde Park which is 2 miles away so the tempo bit starts well into your run (and then you still have to get home).  So I think we’ll just break into groups based on what people want to do.

Option 1:  you could jog down to Hyde Park entering near Speaker’s Corner.  Then do the half park loop (see map) as fast as you can – it’s 2.5 miles.  You could even make note of how long that takes you and average HR if you have a HR monitor.  Try it again in a few weeks and see if you’re getting stronger.

Option 2:  jog down to Hyde Park, then do the half park loop using a modified Fartlek system.  That means to break up the 2.5 miles into varying length sections and run those intervals fast.  So you could run hard for a couple of minutes, then jog to recover, then run hard for maybe 4 minutes then jog to recover, then run hard for maybe a minute, then jog to recover.  Purposely mix up the length of the intervals.

Option 3:  run either the Notting Hill loop at a regular pace or run out and back alongside the canal at a tempo pace.

Option 4:  if you aren’t interested in a tempo run, head down towards Oxford Street and do the “shopping route”.  Run and window-shop along Bond Street, Regent Street and/or Marylebone High Street.

Friday, 21 September

Everyone heads up the hill!  Yeah!  It’s hard but you’ll feel great at the finish.  You have lots of choices in terms of distance – see below:

The Heath – old route (8 miles) – we’ll do the old route this time.  You can shorten this route by heading towards the track after Parliament Hill, exit the heath, run past Royal Free Hospital then home through Belsize.

The Darcy route (6 miles) – there still is no consensus on exactly what this route is!  I did hear that some of the ladies who normally do the Betsy route may want to go for 6 miles next week.  So ask around if you’re interested in this distance.   

The Betsy route (5 miles) – we have a lot of ladies doing this route each week.  If you’re interested in 5 miles, then ask around for others doing the Betsy route.  It’s a perfect combination of hills, heath and street running. 

Hampstead tube station (4 miles) – this is a great route to do if you’re short on time or are new to running “the hill”.  Head up to the Hampstead tube station with the group then turn around and head back home.  That’s it! 

I hope to see you running this week,

Paula

Hello everyone,

Thank you so much for continuing to welcome our new runners.  We are still getting to know each other and sorting out pace “packs” within our larger group but it will happen! Everyone hang in there, keep coming out, keep running and things will settle into a routine soon.

Calling all mid-paced runners….
In an effort to help our mid-paced ladies identify other similarly-paced runners, we’ll be heading down to Hummingbird Bakery in South Kensington on Wednesday (12 Sept).  We’ll run between an 11:15-12:15 min/mile pace and have lots of opportunities to rest as it’s mostly street running (hopefully lots of red lights!!!).  You’ll have the option of running 4, 5 or 6 miles or running less than that by starting with us then taking some sort of transport to meet us at the bakery.  If you run around that pace or are new to long distances and want to slow down your pace a bit to extend your mileage, come join us!

Beginner Runner Overload…..
A note about this year’s beginner running group, it’s time to stop recruiting!  We have 33 women in the group.  There are a few who will be trying out the MWF groups this week and we always lose a few over the first couple of months.  Handling more than about 25 is tricky.  I will never say no to anyone wanting to join – I can’t make myself do it, but we definitely can stop recruiting beginner runners.  Thanks a million!!

Functional Movement Assessments….
I’ll give one more nudge here for you to set up an appointment with Christian for a functional movement assessment.  I promise I’m not getting any kickbacks!  It’s a great time of year at the beginning of our season to have a “tune-up”.  Christian can help you get everything in balance so as we start increasing mileage you’ll be ready for it.  His contact information is under the “Our Experts” tab on the website.

Physio….
I’ve heard from several of you that Victor’s schedule is booking up and the next available appointments are weeks away.  If you need to see a physio, consider going to APPI.  Victor is fabulous (and that’s why he gets booked up), but it can be difficult to get an appointment. APPI is a team of physios led by Glenn Withers.  It’s easy to get in and they are very good. They also offer sports massage, pilates classes and other services. Their contact info is on the website.

Bike Path Etiquette….
To avoid falling in the canal or having a head-on collision with a biker, we’ve always said to put the bikers closest to the water.  Legally we should go to the left, but most of the information on canal/footpath/towpath usage suggests that people use their common sense and just be considerate of other path users.  It should not be necessary that someone in the group scream “bike”.  That can be helpful, but we need to all be alert and watching for bikers.  If we all agree to always jump into a single file queue away from the water, then the bikers can easily get around us. By all moving in the same direction, we send them a signal that says “We’re going towards the wall, you go towards the water”.  Pedestrians do have the right of way on paths but that doesn’t really matter when a cyclist runs into us.  We have had a runner “fall in the drink”.  It can happen and that water is nasty!!!  So everyone, pay attention, just stay in a single file line if the bike traffic is heavy.  Your conversation can wait until the end of the run.

Our Routes this Week

Monday, 10 September
Teddington near Hampton Court (22 miles) – see the route description below.  We’ll do the run to Kew but then keep on going to Kingston-on-Thames and then Hampton Court and Bushy Park.  Just like last week, we’ll be setting the pace based on Patricia’s HR once we past Kew so I don’t really know what pace that will be.  Sometimes we’ll speed up, sometimes we’ll slow down.  Join us if you want if you are prepared to be very flexible with the pace!

Kew (10 miles) – run with the group to Hyde Park, do the northern boundary heading west then head down towards Kensington Palace.  In front of the palace, we’ll head out Kensington High Street to Hammersmith then on over the river and out west.  For those new to this route, you take a train home from Kew Gardens.  I don’t make you run home as well….  I’m not that mean!!!

Hyde Park loop (8 miles) – run with the group to Hyde Park (we’ll be taking Lisson Grove then Seymour to enter at the NE corner of the park), then turn right or west to run along the northern boundary, turn left or south to reach Kensington Palace, then continue to follow the full perimeter of Hyde Park and return to St. John’s Wood via Baker Street or Gloucester Road.

Serpentine loop (6 miles) – run with the group to Hyde Park (we’ll be taking Lisson Grove then Seymour to enter at the NE corner of the park), then turn right or west to run along the northern boundary, turn left or south at Carriage Rd then run alongside the road over the bridge.  Immediately after the bridge, turn left to follow the water edge back towards Wellington Arch.  To shorten this loop, cross back over the Serpentine near the café and head on a diagonal back to Speaker’s Corner.  To lengthen this run, either go past Carriage Road and cut south by the Albert Memorial or do not cross over the Serpentine at the café – instead carry on down to the far SE corner of the park, then run up to Speaker’s Corner and home via Baker Street or Gloucester Road.

Speaker’s Corner loop (4-5 miles) – run with the group to Hyde Park, once we’ve entered the park do a small loop keeping to the north side of the Serpentine.  Head back to SJW either up Seymour/Lisson Grove or by the US Embassy then up Baker Street.

Wednesday, 12 September
Hummingbird Bakery in South Kensington (4, 5 or 6 miles – your choice) – Let the fun begin…  I’ll be leading a group down to the best cupcake bakery in London (we can debate that on our way there).  We’ll be running at a gentle pace somewhere between 11:15 – 12:15 min/mile pace.  There are tons of streetlights/road-crossings so we’ll have plenty of opportunities to catch our breath on the way there.  Come join us – I promise it will be fun.  There are quite a few ladies who have said they are not sure where they belong in our group (in terms of pace).  Let’s figure it out together on this run.  There will be no pressure to run fast – it’s more about meeting other runners who are in your general pace-range.  Bring your Oyster card and some cash.  We’ll go home from the South Kensington tube station or jump in cabs if you prefer.

Notting Hill (6.5 miles) – For our quicker paced runners, we’ll repeat this route again so our new runners can learn it.  If you are wanting a tempo run, once you hit the canal…. Go for it.  It’s a perfect place to stretch your legs.  You also have the option of not turning off the canal and running Notting Hill.  You could tempo run out the canal and turn around and tempo back.  Use the bit between Starbucks and the canal to warm-up and/or cool-down.

The canal (any distance) – join the group and head down to the canal.  Run half the distance you want and turn around and head home.

Friday, 14 September
Everyone heads up the hill!  Yeah!  It’s hard but you’ll feel great at the finish.  You have lots of choices in terms of distance – see below:

The Heath – old route (8 miles) – we’ll take a quick vote on Friday morning to see what people prefer – the old route or the western route.  They are both 8 miles.

The Heath – western route (8 miles) – this route is even prettier than the old route but to me it seems a bit harder.  If we decide to do it, you can tell me what you think – maybe it’s not really harder, it’s just less familiar.

The Darcy route (6-7 miles) – some of you are on to me!!!  I have no idea about the specifics of this route.  Darcy (Fautz who it’s named after) explained it to me this past week but you’ll have to ask her exactly how it goes.  While we’re talking about Darcys, here’s a shout out to the new Darcy.  Wow girl!  You can run!  No more talk about “can I or can’t I keep up”!  I’ll ignore that talk in the future.  You did very well!

The Betsy route (5 miles) – join Betsy if you would like a drill sergeant insisting you not walk one step!!!  (just kidding).  Betsy usually does this route so join her if you’re interested in a lovely 5 mile route.  It’s actually perfect because you get a lot of hill running, you get to see some of the heath, then you head back to SJW. 

Hampstead tube station (4 miles) – this is a great route to do if you’re short on time or are new to running “the hill”.  Head up to the Hampstead tube station with the group then turn around and head back home.  That’s it! 

I hope to see you running this week,

Paula