First, a big shout out to Linda Dolan for baking delicious cupcakes for the birthday girls.  Nothing like a little sugar high after running the Heath.  Also, apologies to Alev for leaving her off the birthday list (11 July).

I’ll get the administrative tasks out of the way next:
1)  Don’t forget to RSVP to the Leavers’ Coffee Evite that was sent out last week.  If you can’t find it in your email, please let us know.
2) Please let Kelli Montanaro know if you are planning to join the group for the pub crawl next Friday, 7 June.  This is not going to be a pub run so no running gear is necessary (unless you want to track the distance between pubs on your Garmin…).

Summer Reading
Looking for a great read and a little running (and life) inspiration?  Jane highly recommends Born to Run:  The Hidden Tribe, the Ultra-Runners and the Greatest Race the World has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall.  Amazon describes it this way – “At the heart of Born to Run lies a mysterious tribe of Mexican Indians, the Tarahumara, who live quietly in canyons and are reputed to be the best distance runners in the world; in 1993, one of them, aged 57, came first in a prestigious 100-mile race wearing a toga and sandals. A small group of the world’s top ultra-runners (and the awe-inspiring author) make the treacherous journey into the canyons to try to learn the tribe’s secrets and then take them on over a course 50 miles long. With incredible energy and smart observation, McDougall tells this story while asking what the secrets are to being an incredible runner. Traveling to labs at Harvard, Nike, and elsewhere, he comes across an incredible cast of characters, including the woman who recently broke the world record for 100 miles and for her encore ran a 2:50 marathon in a bikini, pausing to down a beer at the 20 mile mark.”  The reviews say, “Hugely entertaining…one of the most joyful and engaging books about running to appear for many years.”

Health and Nutrition
We have two items in the health and nutrition corner this week.  First, from The New York Times:  OPINION: Breeding the Nutrition Out of Our Food  The piece discusses how much of our produce is relatively low in phytonutrients — compounds that may reduce the risk of many diseases.  Next, an article in Fitness Magazine on the Top 7 Foods for Runners.  Sunny comments, “The first 2 and actually all of them are just obvious healthy eating habits but I think the reasoning of how and why they help aide in running..be it energy or recovery is useful. (Especially berries! I never knew vitamin C helped recovery!)”

Finally, here is a link to an amusing list on The Guardian entitled Running Etiquette – the 10 Commandments.  You’ll probably find yourself, as I did, nodding in agreement with several of them.

See you next week,

Amy

Key Information:
Friday, 7 June – Sights of London run and Leavers’ Coffee at Richoux
Friday, 7 June – Pub run crawl, 7 pm, The Holly Bush, 22 Hollymount, Hampstead

ROUTES

Monday June 3 – Notting Hill (6.75 miles)
There is no Lower School today so we decided to stick with a simple local run for those who may have limited time.  Run out the canal to the west and exit at Ladbroke Grove.  Run to Elgin Crescent and make a left.  Continue to Ledbury and go right and then left at Westbourne Grove.  Run down Westbourne Grove over Bishop’s Bridge and down the steps into Sheldon Square.  Go back along the canal and out where you entered and back to Starbucks.

Wednesday June 5
You have two options for your run today as we try to squeeze in those last fun runs before everyone disappears for the summer.

Finsbury Park/Happening Bagel (6.8 miles)

Since we’re doing our “Sights of London” run on Friday, we head up the hill today (but not on our normal route) to Finsbury Park and the Happening Bagel Bakery.  (We can’t have a week without hills, right??)  The route goes up Fitzjohn’s, on to Highgate then across the Finsbury greenbelt to Finsbury Park.  We end at a fantastic bread/bagel shop and Costa for coffee.  Bring your tube card for the trip home.  The hill in the first part of the run is a good work-out but the payoff is running through the greenbelt.

We head up the Fitzjohn’s hill to the top but instead of turning into the Heath, we follow the road (which becomes Hampstead Lane) all the way around the top of the Heath until we enter Highgate.  We turn left of Southwood Lane and then right on Jackson’s Lane.  We cross over Archway road.  The entrance to the greenbelt is a bit tricky to find, so make sure to stick with a runner who knows the route.  (We promise to look out for those of you who are new to the route!)  At the end of the greenbelt, we enter Finsbury Park, turn right to head toward the Finsbury Park tube station and the Happening Bagel Bakery.  (You have to admit that is a great name!)

Turkish Coffee (5 miles)

Betsy and Alev will be leading a group to a Turkish coffee shop near Piccadilly Circus.  The group will run to Hyde Park, follow the eastern side of the park to Hyde Park Corner then continue on the south side of Green Park, pass Buckingham Palace and go through St James Park to reach Big Ben.  Continue up Whitehall to Trafalgar Square, then up Haymarket to Piccadilly Circus, turn left onto Piccadilly and end at a wonderful Turkish coffee shop, Kahve Dunyasi.  If you would like to join this group, look for Betsy or Alev on Wednesday.

Friday June 7 – Sights of London (7.5 miles) and Leavers’ Coffee

We’ll be doing our “Sights of London” run all over town.  We stop in front of the iconic locations for photos.  Instead of running with a dozen cameras, it would be great if we had only a few cameras and someone would agree to make the photos available to everyone.  Any volunteers???  The entire route will be something around 7.5 miles with options to shorten or lengthen the route.  The pace for the run is wide open – come-one-come-all – seriously!!!  Because we’re stopping so often for photos, there is plenty of time for people to catch up.  (I borrowed those words from Paula’s email last year – could you hear her enthusiasm?  PLEASE JOIN US – It will be fun!)

We start out down Circus Road to Lisson Grove/Seymour Place to Hyde Park.  We continue through Hyde Park and Green Park stopping to wave to the Queen at Buckingham Palace.  On to St. James Park and Big Ben.  Then we head up Whitehall to Trafalgar Square and then up Haymarket to Piccadilly Circus.  Next up Regent Street/Portland Place and through Regents Park to end up back in St. John’s Wood for our Leavers’ Coffee at Richoux.

______________________________________

Facebook Group:  Women Running The World (request to join)
Email: [email protected]

Hello Runners,

Plans for next year are coming together beautifully.  The running group will be better than ever!  Lynn is pulling together a team of people to help with different aspects of the group.  Next year, there will be runners providing nutritional tips, finding and promoting races, helping set routes, selecting and organising the group half-marathon, updating the website, and keeping the group fun with social activities.  It’s going to be fabulous!  I think by spreading out “jobs” everyone will feel more ownership of the WRW.  Thank you so much for keeping the group going.  It means the world to me.  Knowing that WRW will continue makes me very happy.  Thank you Lynn for agreeing to coordinate the group!

Syma will be leading a beginner group for next year.  If you know of anyone who is interested, please have them contact Syma.  As in the past, it is best if the ladies in the group are truly beginners.  If someone can run a bit, they are better suited for the regular MWF group.  You could help Syma and Lynn by encouraging new WRW runners to find the right group.

Attached to this email are training programs for Ealing or Windsor half-marathons on 29 September and the 17 November San Antonio half-marathon.  Amy Grace will put these on the website so you’ll have easier access to them.  When I finish the program for the Spring 2014 group half-marathon and a spring full marathon, I’ll forward those to Amy for the website.  All of these programs are just suggestions.  Use them as a basic guideline and adjust them to suit your schedule or your specific training needs.

If you are moving from London this summer, please let Lynn know.  She will be organising a “leavers” get-together probably around the first week of June.  Speaking of leaving, please stop by Cafe Richoux on Friday after the run (around 9:30-9:45am).  I would love to have a chance to tell you goodbye.  It will be very casual.  Pop in for a quick coffee/tea or stay for the whole time.

That’s it from me.  Next week’s email will come from Lynn.  Please keep on running!!!!  If you need some inspiration, listen to the song written specifically for the Trans-alpine Race in this video – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJxHFmsQz8w  It says keep on running, keep on fighting while you’re broken, keep on laughing while you’re crying, ‘cuz you’ll make it any way.  I loved that race and I love that song.  It’s true – running can be hard but you just have to keep putting one step in front of the other.  You can do it!  Thanks a million for all the fun times we’ve had together.  I’ll miss everyone!!!!  Keep on running…..

Routes this Week

Monday, 6 May
Monday is a bank holiday so we’ll probably have a small group.  Some of the ex-beginners want to run the hill to Hampstead.  Join them or consider running this route.  We will be meeting at 8:15am as normal.  Some of the runners with small children want to run then get back home to family.  

 Hyde Park Serpentine Loop (6.25 miles) – This is an efficient, 6+ mile route down to Hyde Park.  Take Lisson/Seymour to enter the park at the NE corner.  Run west along the northern edge of the park crossing over Carriage Rd.  At the Italian fountains, turn left and run south following the water’s edge.  Run under Carriage Rd, pass by the Lido cafe, then cross over the Serpentine bridge at the eastern edge of the water.  From there, take a diagonal path towards the park exit at Brook St.  The map to the left shows the route following Upper Grosvenor but we normally take Brook St by the US Embassy.  Run back to Starbucks in SJW via Baker St. or Gloucester Place.

Tuesday, 7 May
Some of the ex-beginners will be doing a 45-60 minute run – route of their choice.

Wednesday, 9 May
Whole Foods Cafe on Glasshouse St. and Choccywoccydoodah (7 miles) – Why not????  Let’s run to the Whole Foods Cafe on Glasshouse St (near Piccadilly Circus).  That location has some tables outside.  Hopefully the weather will be nice and we can have coffee al fresco.  After coffee, I’m walking up to Choccywoccydoodah – it’s about a 5 minute walk up to Foubert’s Place.  Have a look at this website (http://www.choccywoccydoodah.com) and you’ll be tempted to come with me.  They are famous for their cafes and chocolates.  The route goes out the canal to “the wall” then down Farringdon to the river Thames.  We’ll follow the Embankment towards Westminster then turn right at Northumberland.  After running through

Trafalgar Square, we’ll take Haymarket up to Piccadilly Circus.  Just north of Piccadilly Circus, there is a little cut-through to reach Glasshouse St. (see map below left). The Whole Foods Cafe is on that street.  After having coffee, I’ll walk up Lower John and Carnaby St to reach Choccywoccydoodah.  Join me if you have time.  It’ll be worth the walk – I promise!

Thursday, 9 May

I will not be running on Thursday but here’s an interesting route to try – it’s something different.  You could shorten it by running back down Finchley Road to SJW instead of NW on Hendon Way.

West End Lane and Shoot-up Hill (6.5 miles) –
From Starbucks, head north of St. Ann’s Terrace then turn left on Acacia running by the SJW tube station. Carry on across Wellington Rd and at Abbey Rd turn right.  Run up Abbey Rd/West End Lane to Finchley Rd. where you will turn left.  At Hendon Way, veer left then after about 1/3 mile turn left on Cricklewood Lane.  Run about 2/3 mile to Shoot-up Hill.  Turn left and run down about 1.5 miles to Quex Rd.  Turn left to cut across to Abbey/West End then retrace your steps to Starbucks in SJW.

Friday, 10 May
On Friday, I won’t be running but I’ll join you for coffee/pastries at Cafe Richoux around 9:30-9:45am.

The Heath – old route (8 miles) – It’s hard to give directions as most of this run is in the heath.  The route is on the map to the left but you’ll probably need to follow other runners if you don’t know the way.

The Heath – Western route (8 miles) – This is the route we did yesterday. Again, it’s difficult to give directions in the heath (turn at the 2nd big tree on the left????) but hopefully seeing this map will help give you an idea of where we were.

The Darcy route (6-7 miles) – We probably need to quit calling this one the Darcy route because she rarely does it anymore.  If you need details about the route, Darcy can explain it to you.

The Betsy route (5 miles) – Betsy is out of town but this is the route she was doing in the fall.  It’s lovely.  Ex-beginners – this is basically what we did together in our hill running “lesson” (see map to the right).

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!

Happy Running,

Paula