Hello Runners,
You ladies are amazing! I understand we had some huge groups out running while I was away. Well done! Your level of determination/commitment to running is impressive. It will pay off – I promise.
Two updates before we discuss routes:
Running Group T-shirts:
Our t-shirt order should be arriving the first week of December. We’ll figure out a way to easily distribute them once they are here. Chris and Kelli did a great job on getting those designed, fitted and ordered. Thanks so much ladies!
Bratislava Race:
The race registration is open and they continue to improve the process. There is now more English on the website and the race director has informed me that they will continue to update the website up to race day. There are now photos of last year’s races on the site which are interesting. It’s nice to get an idea of where we’ll be running. I will be at Starbucks on Monday and Wednesday to help people register for the race. Please remember if you register on your own to put “WRW- Women Running the World” or some version of that under our group name. The director is finding that helpful in identifying our runners.
Running over Thanksgiving:
Many of you will be away from Wed, 21 Nov through Sun, 25 Nov or home with children and not able to run the regular days. Please don’t worry! On Monday, 19 November, we’ll have routes that will work for marathoners, faster-paced and mid-paced runners for the long run. So mid-paced runners who do their long run on Wednesday can do it Monday instead. If you are able to run regularly over the break, excellent – if not, then shoot for one or two runs of 30-45 minutes each.
Routes this Week
Monday, 12 November
Yay! We’ll run to Kew – that’s always fun. If you are training for the half-marathon from the medium or gentle progression program, there is no need to run 10 miles this week. If you are training for a marathon or from the aggressive half-marathon program, then this is a great route for you!
Kew (10 miles) – We’ll run down to Hyde Park via Lisson/Seymour (normal route) then do a diagonal through Hyde Park towards the SW corner of the park (in front of Kensington Palace). From there head out Kensington High St to Hammersmith, cross over the river, then head west along the river to Kew. If you want the full 10 miles, don’t take the first Kew exit from the river (near the railroad tracks) – keep on running until you reach Kew Bridge then head south to Kew Gardens.
Mid-paced runners could do a mid-distance regular-paced run (and begin their holiday shopping) using the following route:
Modified Shopping Route (6 miles) – Start with the main group and head down to Hyde Park via Lisson/Seymour. Run down to Wellington Arch and cross over into Green Park. Head east along the northern boundary of the park then exit the park and continue along Piccadilly until you reach Old Bond St. Run north to Oxford St. then head up Marylebone High Street. Cross over Marylebone Rd to Regents Park and make your way back to SJW. to I think most of you know this route now. If you’re not familiar with it, have a look under the “Routes” tab to make sure you know where you’re going.
Or mid-paced runners could do a tempo run by staying in Hyde Park running hard on the red sides of the triangle on the map and jogging gently on the blue lines:
Hyde Park tempo work (6.5-7 miles) – Start with the main group and head down to Hyde Park via 
Lisson/Seymour at a very gentle pace. Once you reach the park, pick up the pace of your jog around Speaker’s Corner then run very fast down to the SE corner of the park. Jog around that corner trying to bring your heart-rate down then run hard to Carriage Rd. along the bike path. Jog over the bridge trying to reach a “recovered” state before doing the last hard run back to Speaker’s Corner on a diagonal. From this map you are jogging the blue parts and running hard on the red parts. Jog very slowly back to SJW or preferably take a bus/tube home from Marble Arch/Oxford St.. DO NOT continue to run at a strong pace all the way back to Starbucks in SJW (it’s OK to jog back slowly).
Wednesday, 14 November
Mid-paced runners should do the following route for their long run. If you are short on time, start with the group, do the Notting Hill loop and add 1-1.5 miles in Regents Park at the end of your run.
Wembley Central (8 miles) – Head out the canal west as though we are doing the Notting Hill route. Do not turn off the canal at our normal exit – keep running out the canal until you reach 7 
miles. At that point (Alperton area – it’s the next exit after you see a white pedestrian bridge leading over the canal to a residential area on the northside). When you exit the canal, go over the bridge and take an immediate right on Ealing Rd. Run one mile up to the main intersection of Ealing Rd. and High Rd. The tube station is just to the right about 100m.
Our faster runners could do the tempo run that some of our mid-pace runners will do on Monday (see above):
Hyde Park tempo work (6+ miles) – If you are doing your long run on Monday, consider doing this route as a tempo run (or just at a comfortable pace – your choice!!!). Your warm-up and cool-down could be the jog to/from the canal.
Friday, 16 November
The Heath – (8 miles) – The old route.
The Heath – (6-7 miles) – follow the group doing the full 8 mile old route. At parliament hill instead of turning left towards Kenwood House, turn right and run past the track. Exit the heath, run past Royal Free Hospital and head home through Belsize Park.
The Betsy route (5 miles) – I think Betsy is now doing a longer route on Fridays, but her namesake run is a great route. Anyone wanting this distance ask around as we are running up the hill to Hampstead and someone will explain to you how to do it.
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. For a change of scenery, run up to Hampstead tube station then run back to Starbucks in SJW via the Hampstead high street, then Belsize Park, then down St. John’s Wood Park Rd.
Happy Running,
Paula