Hello everyone,

Another great week of running!  I think we had over 40 women run to Big Ben on Monday.  I love it!  Our plan was to run together for the month of September in order give everyone a chance to meet each other. We are really a bit too big a group to run on the sidewalks all together, but I think we can pull it off for one more week.  After this week we’ll be moving into pace groups – more on that below.

If you’re just getting back into running, and you’ve struggled a bit, don’t give up!  Keep running!  I promise with each run it will get easier and you will feel stronger.

There is a lot of important information in this email, please read!  If you are a returning runner, please look at the maps because our new runners are still learning the routes.  We need a lot of people who are able to guide this big of a group.

NEW MEETING PLACE!

We love Starbucks, but we want to make sure they love us too!  In an effort to be good local citizens we are going to meet at 8:15 in front of the Barclays bank at the corner of Circus Road and Wellington.  The bank won’t be open yet and there’s a nice plaza in front so we won’t block the sidewalk.

Coffee, Coffee and More Coffee

Despite my best attempts to get Starbucks to buy the upstairs flat so we could have a place to hang out for hours, they still haven’t delivered.  But we do have the next best thing.  Pret-A-Manger opened across the street and they do have a large seating area downstairs.   Given our large numbers, we may have to mix it up a little bit.  If Starbucks is full, grab a group and head to Pret.  I know it will be a difficult transition, but I think we can do it.  🙂

Be Careful

I know we are all tempted to dash across the street to stay with the group.  Please be careful!  In the past, we had a runner hit by a motorcycle and we also had a runner hit by a car (on a weekend run). They were both OK, thank goodness, but I’m reminding you that in London you can’t depend on the traffic to stop for you.

General Training and Pace Groups

In the next couple of weeks we will be posting more detailed information about the training schedule to prepare for the spring half-marathon.  In general, each week we run a long/slower run, a shorter/faster run and a hill run.  The Pace Groups will make it easier for folks to find each other and will be especially important for our long runs.  We follow the training principle that your long run should be at a pace slower than your race pace.  If you are new to all this pace stuff, don’t worry!  We can help you figure out where you should be.

Amsterdam Half-Marathon, 20 October 2013

If anyone is interested in running the Amsterdam half-marathon in October, please get in touch with Holly Bell-Stevens ASAP. [email protected].

Keep running,

XO

Jane

Click here to go to the interactive route maps

ROUTES THIS WEEK

Monday 16 September – Sloane Square/Battersea (4 – 10 miles)

The routes below all allow you to loop back to St. John’s Wood.  You can also take the tube home along the way at the following stops.  Marble Arch (2 miles), Hyde Park Corner (3 miles) Sloane Square (4 miles) and Sloane Square on the way home from the 10 mile route (7 miles).

4 miles: Start heading west on Circus Road and turn left on Grove End and follow south as it becomes Lisson Grove.  Cross over Marylebone Road and continue on Seymour Place until the end.  Turn right and cross over Edgware Road and then left to enter Hyde Park at the intersection with Stanhope Place.  Pass Speaker’s Corner, heading east one block on Oxford street to Gloucester Place. Run up Gloucester Place, over Marylebone Road and alongside Regent’s Park.  Cross over Prince Albert Road and up St John’s Wood High Street to Starbucks.

8 miles: Start heading west on Circus Road and turn left on Grove End and follow south as it becomes Lisson Grove.  Cross over Marylebone Road and continue on Seymour Place until the end.  Turn right and cross over Edgware Road and then left to enter Hyde Park at the intersection with Stanhope Place. Turn left and run along the edge of the park to Hyde Park Corner.  Cross Knightsbridge Road and run right along Knightsbridge until you reach Sloane Street, where you will turn left and run until you reach Sloane Square,  At Sloane Square, turn around and run back up Sloane Street and along Knightsbridge, where you will re-enter the park at Hyde Park Corner.  Run along the eastern edge of the park and exit at Upper Brook Street/Animals of War Memorial. Turn left on Park Street, which turns into Gloucester Road and head home as above.

10 miles: This route is for our women who are running a half marathon in a month.  (Don’t do this route unless you have been training for a half all summer.)

Follow the 8-mile run, but continue on through Sloane Square and follow Lower Sloane Street into Chelsea Bridge Road and over the Chelsea Bridge.  Enter Battersea Park and run west along the Thames to the Albert Bridge and cross back over the river.  Turn right after the bridge and run west along the Chelsea Embankment to Chelsea Bridge Road and retrace your path back to Hyde Park Park Corner.  Run alongside the eastern edge of the park and exit at Upper Brook Street/Animals of War Memorial and follow at the 8-mile route home.

 

Wednesday 11 September – Kensal Rise (4-6 miles)

The beginning of this run takes us along the canal east.  Please be aware of bikes along the canal.

Start out heading west on Circus Road, turn left on Grove End to St John’s Wood Road and go west working your way to the canal entrance on Blomfield.  Enter the canal heading west and run to the Ladbroke Grove exit.  Here we turn right and run over the bridge along Chamberlayne Road to Harvist Road. Turn right on Harvist, which turns into Brondesbury Road, and take that to Kilburn High Road/Maida Vale.  Turn right and follow Maida Vale to Hall Road where you turn left and run back to Starbucks. If you want to shorten this route, run west on the canal and turn back at your desired half-way point.

(The two mile mark is at the point on the canal when the Westway highway is over our heads.)

 

Friday 13 September – The Heath (4-8 miles)

It’s Friday again. so everyone up Fitzjohn’s.  You can pick your distance and whatever you choose, there will certainly be someone else interested in running that distance.  All of these routes are on the website.

In addition, every week there are a group of women who prefer to do a flat run.  We can help make sure that you find each other.  

4 miles:  A great way to ease into running the hill.   Run up to the Hampstead tube station and back.

5 miles: The Betsy Route

6-7 miles:  The partial Heath route

8 miles:  The full Heath route

Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes.

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