Hello Runners,

Here’s the latest on the hotel for the Bratislava trip….  we now will pay €100 per room per night for either a single or a double (so the single price hasn’t changed and the double price has been reduced by €10 per room per night).  We still are going to be committed to the hotel with quite strict cancellation terms.  I will be re-opening the Bratislava spreadsheet through the end of January so that you may update your information.  If you’ve decided to not join us on the trip, it would be best if I knew that by the end of January.  Thanks everyone!!!

Find-a-Race – One of our runners sent me a link to a race finding website – click here for the link.   If you’re looking for a challenge, it’s a great way to find a race.  Input the race distance you want, time period and location, then the site feeds back races which fit your criteria.  It’s handy!!!  On that same topic of racing, registration is now open for the Windsor Half marathon in September.  Several of our runners have already signed up for it – a few ladies from the group did it this past year and really enjoyed the race.  For the link to their website – click here.

The following runners have (or already have had!!!) birthdays in January:
4 – Lynn Gilbert
12 – Maureen Fossum
14 – Patricia Stracener
20 – Kathy McMahon
22 – Donna Butler
26 – Pam Wakoff

We’ll celebrate with cupcakes on Friday, 1 February after the run.

Routes this Week

Monday, 21 January
The weather forecast is for snow or freezing rain so we’ll do a route that keeps us closer in to London for all the groups on Monday.  

Marathon Trainees (12 mile long run on your schedule):

 

Western London route to Whole Foods (12 miles) – We will head to the canal and run west to Wood Lane (close to Wormwood Scrubs). We’ll come off the canal and run south on Wood Lane all the way to Hammersmith.  At that point the runners training for the half-marathon will run east but we will continue over the river.  Once on the south side of the Thames, we’ll run the embankment back to Putney then cross back over the river.  From there, we run up Fulham Road then begin to wind our way north to Kensington High St. for a post-run coffee at Whole Foods.  Whole Foods is a great place to finish as there is always space to sit together.  We often group up into taxis to get home but you could also take the tube or bus home.  We’ll be maintaining an approximate 9:45-10:30 pace so if you want to go much slower or much faster, study that map so you can run your own pace.

Half-marathon Trainees in the Fast group (8-9 mile long run on your schedule):
Western London route to Knightsbridge tube station (9 miles) – For this route, you will join the marathon trainees for the first 6 miles of their run.  At Hammersmith when the marathoners carry on towards the river, this group will head east on Kensington High Street and run all the way to Knightsbridge tube station.  The more aggressive half-marathon training schedule has a 9 mile long run this week; the medium program has 8 miles on the schedule.  If you want 8 miles instead of 9 miles, you could finish at Kensington High St tube station (you may need to run a bit past the station then turn around and retrace your steps to get a full 8 miles).

Half-marathon Trainees in the Mid-level I group (6 mile mid-pace or tempo run):
Sutherland Tempo/Speed loop (5.3 miles) – OK, I have a fun new game for you!  This is a suggested route for a new type of tempo run.  Give it a try.  Jog from Starbucks down Hall Rd, cross over Maida Vale Rd, and continue jogging until you pass the big round-about near the Warrington Pub.  After that round-about, run hard for 1 minute then jog for 3 minutes, run hard for 2 minutes then jog for 3 minutes, run hard for 3 minutes then jog for 3 minutes.  Then start dropping down to do 2 minutes of hard running and 3 minutes of jogging, 1 minute of hard running and 3 minutes of jogging.  Keep following the route – turn right on Harrow Rd. then left to cross over the canal at Ladbroke Grove.  Run along the canal back to Maida Vale.  Once you get to Maida Vale Rd./Edgeware Rd., jog slowly back to SJW.  This type of speed/tempo work is called pyramids.  It’s kind of fun.  Basically you follow this routine over and over from the Warrington Pub around to Maida Vale/Edware Rd.

1 min hard                3 min jogging recovery
2 min hard                3 min jogging recovery
3 min hard                3 min jogging recovery
2 min hard                3 min jogging recovery
1 min hard                3 min jogging recovery

If you need to extend the jogging recovery (particularly after the 3 min hard interval), that’s fine.  You could do a recovery up to twice the length of the hard interval (so after a 3 min hard interval you could jog up to 6 min to recover).

Half-marathon Trainees in the Mid-level II group (8-9 mile long run on your schedule):
Western London route to Knightsbridge tube station (9 miles) – This is the same route that the Fast group will do (see route description above). The route goes out the canal to Wood Lane.  You can identify the exit off the canal by looking for railroad tracks going over the canal.  You’ll run under a bridge then go up some steps to reach Wood Lane.  Run south on Wood Lane past the Shepherd’s Bush triangle down to Hammersmith.  Turn left onto Hammersmith Rd (which is the same as Kensington High Street).  There are options along the way to shorten this run (Wood Lane tube station 5.2 miles, Shepherd’s Bush 5.7 miles, Hammersmith 6.2 miles or Kensington High St 7.7 miles).

Wednesday, 23 January
The weather forecast is for freezing rain so we’ll do a route that keeps us closer in to London for all the groups on Wednesday. 

Marathon Trainees and Half-marathon Trainees in the Fast group (6 mile mid-pace or tempo run):
Sutherland Tempo/Speed loop (5.3 miles) – How about a new type of speed/tempo work? See the description on Monday’s Mid-level I run above.  Give it a try!  It’s kind of fun in a weird sort of way.  If everyone decides to do it, you might consider rotating the time-keeping role so one person isn’t stuck looking at their watch the whole run.

Half-marathon Trainees in the Mid-level I group (8-9 mile long run on your schedule):
Camden, Euston, 3 parks loop (9 miles) –This route is a big loop taking us through Camden via Elsworthy, Adelaide and Chalk Farm Road.  We’ll run south on Hampstead Rd. past Marylebone Rd., Oxford St, through Trafalgar Square then down to Westminster tube station. From there we’ll head back north through St. James, Green and Hyde Park.  Depending on the program you are following, you have either 8 or 9 miles on your schedule this week.  If you prefer to do 8 miles, you could take the tube/bus home from the Baker St. area.

Half-marathon Trainees in the Mid-level II group (6 mile mid-pace or tempo run):

 

Hyde/Regents Park loop (5.3 miles) – This is a nice loop for your mid-distance run.  The weather is supposed to be freezing rain so this loop will get you back to SJW and into the dry/warm Starbucks as efficiently as possible.  Run down to Hyde Park via Lisson Grove/Seymour like we normally run.  Cut across by the US Embassy on Brook St all the way to Regent St.  Then run north to Regents Park following along the SW edge by the boating lake.  Most of this group do not want to do speed/tempo work so this should be a mid-pace run.  If you are wanting to incorporate speed/tempo work into your regime, let me know.  We’ll come up with a plan for you.

Friday, 25 January
On Fridays, everyone goes up the hill to Hampstead and/or the Heath.  There are groups doing all distances (4-8 miles) and all paces.  Last week we had a beautiful (but cold) run in the snow.  Have fun and remember…..  if you’re doing intensive tempo work during the week, there is no need to push the pace on the Friday hill run.

 

Happy Running,

Paula