Hi Everyone,

It’s official!  The Met Office has announced that southeast England had the wettest January in 100 years!  I think the majority of that rain fell during our tempo run last Wednesday!   Thanks to all of you for being so dedicated to running even in all this bad weather.   I know it’s hard.  We’re in the crucial part of our training – only 8 weeks to the race.  Try to block out the time in your calendar to run.  Even if the weather is bad, I promise you’ll feel good when you finish!

This week for our long run we have a 9-mile loop east along the canal through Farringdon to the Embankment and back to St. Johns Wood.  There are a few points along the route where you can tube home if you would like to do a shorter distance and build to our 9-mile run to Canary Wharf next week. We’ll be back in Hyde Park for tempo work as well.  

Looking ahead – Remember the long runs are KEY!  

Feb. 3 – Canal, Farringdon, Embankment loop, 9 miles

Feb. 10 – Canary Wharf destination, 9 miles

Feb. 17 – ASL break (4-6 miles)

Feb. 24 – Battersea loop, 8-10 miles

March 3 – Canal west to Greenford destination, 10 miles

March 10 – Big Ben loop, 8 miles

March 17 – Kew Gardens destination, 11 miles

March 24 – Green Park loop, 6-7 miles

MARCH 30 – RACE DAY!

GERMAN RACE UPDATE

Hills during the race?  There seems to be some rumours going around about the hill profile during the German race.  The best way to describe the course is that it’s rolling hills, gradually up and down, with 3 medium hills at 3km (1.8 miles), 11km (6.8 miles), and 18 km (11 miles).  From looking at the route map, our estimate is that for each medium hill there is a climb is 30-40M over 1KM.  

So what does that mean?  From Swiss Cottage Library to Lyndhurst Road is a 32M climb over 1KM with an average 3% gradient.  We believe this is the best example for the 3 medium hills during the course.  From Belsize Lane (near the flower shop at the base of hill) to the Hampstead Tube is a 45M climb over 1KM, which we believe is a bit more difficult than the 3 hills on the course.  If you’ve been running every Friday up to the Hampstead Tube stop or all the way up the hill to the Heath you’ll have had lots of practice doing hills that are more difficult than the race course.  

PLEASE NOTE!  There is a hill map on the race website but it is very confusing because the half-marathon route is on the same map as the marathon route.  If you take a look at it, the top dark blue line is the marathon route (which does have a few huge hills).  The lower light blue line is for the half-marathon.  The good news is that after the hill at 18km (11 miles) the last part of the race is basically downhill.    Please know that we studied the hills before we chose this as our race for the year and we have complete confidence that the course is not too difficult for our group or the beginner group.  

Tips for Hill Running:  Many people tend to look down and hunch over when running uphill.  Try to resist this urge because you won’t be able to breathe efficiently.  One tip from Paula is to turn your palms upward when running uphill.  Turning your palms upward forces your shoulders back (which opens the breathing passages) and brings the body into a more compact position (instead of flailing arms.) 

Tips for Breathing:  Maureen Fossum has some tips for breathing during our tempo and speed work.  When you’re working hard, remember to focus on your breathing and try to maintain fewer deep breaths instead of taking many shallow breaths.  Maureen suggested using your steps as a guide.  For example, try breathing in for 4 steps and out for 4 steps.  If you are working hard, you may need to breathe more often, maybe breathe in for 2 steps and out for 2 steps, or even 1 step each.  By focusing on deep breathing you’ll give yourself more oxygen but you can also distract yourself from how you’re feeling.  (Your mind is a powerful tool during the difficult parts!)

That’s all for now!  

Keep running!

Jane

ROUTES

LONG RUN

Monday 3 February or Wednesday 5 February

Canal/Farringdon/Embankment Loop – 9 miles (remember this is your slower paced run)

Head out the canal to “The Wall” and exit the canal.  Turn right at the top of the exit onto Muriel/Rodney Street, which will turn into Penton Rise, then King’s Cross and, eventually Farringdon Street.  Stay on Farringdon Street until you reach the Embankment, turn right on the Embankment and run along the Thames for about a mile.  When you reach Northumberland Avenue (At Embankment Tube Station) make a right and run up through Trafalgar Square, onto Cockspur Street and then onto Haymarket. Take this to Picadilly Circus and turn right onto Regent Street.  Run on Regent Street, which turns onto Portland Place, to Marylebone Road.  Run on Marylebone to Allsop and make a right, Which turns into Park Road.  Follow Park Road along the west side of Regent’s Park back to Starbucks the usual way.

TEMPO RUN

Monday 3 February or Wednesday 5 February

Hyde Park Tempo Triangle

Head down to Hyde Park the usual way at a very gentle pace.  Once you reach the park pick up the pace a bit around Speaker’s Corner, and then run very fast down to the SE corner of the park. Jog slowly around the corner while you try to bring your heart rate back down to a recovered rate. Once you reach the straightaway, run hard again to Carriage Road.  Slow down to a recover rate again as you cross over the bridge and up to the path, where you will turn right and run hard along the diagonal back to Speaker’s Corner.  Jog very slowly back to SJW or, even better, hop on the bus or tube from Marble Arch. If you are not doing tempo work, you can do this run at a regular pace (if you go back to SJW it is about 6.5 miles).

HILL RUN  The Heath

Friday 7 February

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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