Hi Everyone,

What a beautiful run in Regents Park on Wednesday!  Thanks to Dani for the stunning photo of our runners on a spectacular winter day.

This is another long email filled with information on our money collection, training schedules, energy gels and the lottery for the Royal Parks Half. Thanks for taking a minute to read it. On Monday we have a 7-mile loop out the canal west and then down to Hyde Park, entering near the Italian fountains. We head to Green Park and then turn back toward St. John’s Wood. Remember to watch your pace. We have a few weeks of 7-8 mile runs so that we can build to our 9-mile run to Canary Wharf on Feb. 8.

Wednesday we’re doing another new tempo/speed workout in Regents Park. We’re doing Fartleks! (Yippee! – with a hint of sarcasm) Make sure you read the directions in the route section. As always, these workouts are so much more fun if you stick together as a group and encourage each other along the way.

Good Luck Karen!
On Sunday morning, Karen is competing in the 3000 meter race walk as part of the London Games at the Lee Valley Athletics Center. She’s in the senior division which is considered anyone over 20-years old. I guess that’s a sign that not many women over 20 do this event! We are super proud of you Karen for taking on this challenge! We hope the race goes well and that you enjoy the experience!

Money Collection – Tuesday 26 January 8:30-11:00am
Tuesday is a big day! Please stop by McKenzie’s house at XXXX, which is at the corner of Ordnance Hill and St. John’s Wood Terrace (1 block from Starbucks) some time between 8:30-11:00am.  (THANK YOU McKenzie for letting us invade your house!) We’re collecting money for shirts, hats and all outstanding items for the Nice trip.  We’ll also be handing out the shirts and hats. IF YOU CAN’T MAKE IT AT THAT TIME ON TUESDAY, PLEASE GIVE YOUR MONEY TO A FRIEND TO BRING. As a reminder, the shirts are £25 and the grey hats are £25. We also have extra race hats for £10 for anyone not going to the race. (If you’re going to Nice, you should have received an email on Wednesday with all the race costs.) Let me know if you have any questions.

Training Schedules
Up to this point, we’ve pretty much been following the same training plan from last year. However, now with the slight change in the school break and the race being a week later, the training plan is a bit different going forward. You can follow this LINK to see the training plan for the remaining weeks up to the race. They are on our website on the “Training Programs” tab. There’s a Standard Plan and also a Gradual Plan for anyone who wants to run slightly less weekly training mileage.

Save the Date – Key Training Runs
Here are the dates for the longest training runs. These runs are the same for both the Gradual and Standard schedule. Mark your calendar- they are so much more fun to do with the group! Note that this year we will do the longest run (Kew Gardens) after the spring break.

• Feb. 1 – Wembley (8 miles)
• Feb. 8 – Canary Wharf (9 miles)
• Feb. 29 – Battersea Park (8-10 miles)
• March 14 – Canal/Farringdon/Embankment loop (9 miles)
• March 21 – Greenford (10 miles)
• April 11 – Kew Gardens (10-11 miles)

ENERGY GELS for training and the race
Looking ahead to our longest training runs, it’s time to start to think about what type of gel or fueling you’ll use during the race. Fueling is different for each runner but I’ll give you some of Paula’s general guidelines. The rule of thumb is that after about 80-90 minutes of running you’ll have used up natural fuel sources and you’ll need to top up the tank with something. (That’s based on our type of running, if someone is running a marathon at a 6 min/mile pace, their fueling needs will be different!) Most of the women in the group use some sort of sports gel. If you’ve never used a sports gel before it is crucial that you try it out during some of our long training runs. The gels are very concentrated so a brand that might work well for one person could make another person feel sick. Some people like the gels which have a consistency of jelly or frosting and some people like blocks or chews that is similar to a gummy bear. Below are some recommendations from members of the group. (If you’ve never used one before I would try the Gu Energy brand first and make sure you note if the flavour has caffeine or not.) It’s worth stocking up now so you’ll have them for our longest runs. You can go to a Runner’s Need store or order them on the internet. Amazon also has a good stock. (If you have some leftovers at home, make sure to check the expiration date because they don’t last forever.)

• Amy – GU Energy, Tri-Berry
• Syma – TORQ, Forest Fruits
• Jane – GU Roctane (has caffeine), Blueberry Pomegranate
• Vicky – Clif Shot Bloks, Berry or Orange

We’ll review this again before our longest runs, but in general during a race you would take a gel somewhere between 7-8 miles and then don’t take another one for 35-45 mins. (Don’t be tempted to take more than one gel in 30 mins! – you’ll need to keep an eye on your watch.) If you don’t want to get into too much of the science of it all, Paula recommends that you take a gel at 8 miles during the race if you’re running at a medium pace for you (not as compared to anyone else) or 7 miles if you’re running fast for you. For me, during training, I will take a gel around 7-8 mile mark of a  9-mile or 10-mile run. Even if I don’t feel that I desperately need it at that point, it helps me feel better at the end of run, and helps me practice taking a gel. If you are interested in learning more about fueling, gels and the different brands, CLICK HERE to read Paula’s full note.

Royal Parks Half Marathon- October 9, 2016
The ballot for spaces in the London Royal Parks Half Marathon opens next week. The ballot will open on Tuesday 26 January and stay open until Wednesday 3 February. This is a great race because it is very close to home and you get to run in some of London’s iconic spots like Hyde Park corner and past Big Ben with no cars, only runners. (And it’s a great way to keep running over the summer as you train for this race!) We had a WRW group that ran this race last year, if you have any questions. Check out the website – http://royalparkshalf.com

Thanks for reading another long email – keep running!

Jane

ROUTES

Monday, 25 January – Canal West/Paddington/Hyde/Green/Mayfair Loop (6.89 miles)

Start out by heading west on Circus Road, turn left on Grove End to St John’s Wood Road and go west, running along Blomfield towards the canal.  Do not get on the canal but instead cross over the canal and take the Westbourne Bridge over the Westway A40.  Run south on Westbourne Terrace and at the fork, bear right to enter Hyde Park at Lancaster Gate.

Run along the west side of the Italian Gardens and continue along the south side of The Serpentine until you reach Hyde Park Corner.  Run through Wellington Arch and turn left to enter Green Park.  Run to the Green Park Tube, cross Piccadilly and head north (turn left) on to  Berkeley Street.  After Berkeley Square Gardens, turn left and then right onto Davies Street.  Run north on Davies to the Bond Street Tube.  Go left on Oxford and then right onto James Street.  Run north on James which becomes Marylebone High Street.  At Marylebone Road, turn left and then right to enter Regents Park at York Gate.  Once in Regents Park, turn left and run along the Boating Lake back to the Charlbert Street exit.  Take Charlbert back to SJW Terrace and Starbucks.

Hi Runners,

It was cold but sunny last week. (There is winter sun in London sometimes!) Well done to everyone who braved the chilly mornings. Don’t forget to STRETCH. As the mileage goes up and temps come down, it’s really important to stretch after running before the stop at Starbucks.

Our training will continue to pick up as we approach the half marathon. This week our long run is to Big Ben and BACK to St. John’s Wood. Remember when we first ran to Big Ben in the fall? Now we’re making the round trip. (If you’re not quite ready for 8 miles, there’s a half way option to go to Big Ben and then stop on the way home at Green Park.) Wednesday we introduce a new tempo training option. Make sure you read the description in the route section. As always, the tempo workouts are more fun if you stick with your group and encourage each other. Friday we’re encouraging the Highgate Heath route again.

Good Luck Carmine!
Carmine is running the Mumbai India Half Marathon on Sunday! What an adventure! We hope you have a great race and we can’t wait to hear all about it!

Looking ahead – Canary Wharf Feb. 8
If you’re training for the race, now’s the time to get out and run. We have our 9-mile run to Canary Wharf in 3 weeks, Feb. 8 and I’d love to see a great turn-out for that run. (Nancy is threatening to have the Canary Wharf Tortilla restaurant start their margarita machine early! This could be a new twist to long-run training!)

Training Plan
As a reminder, our training is based on three runs per week.

• slow, longer run
• fast/tempo run
• hill run

This week I’d like to focus on the importance of running a slower long run. Below I’ve copied Paula Mitchell’s (WRW’s fabulous founder!) explanation from our website. This is important stuff so it’s worth the read.

Why do we run the long run slower than race pace?
The quick answer is that it has to do with how your body builds fuel, which is something you’ll need for the race! I’ll delve into the basic science of fueling (which I have hugely over-simplified but hopefully it’ll get my point across). To fuel our runs we have 3 options – Creatine Phosphate (CP), glycogen and fat.

Creatine Phosphate– You have about 15 seconds worth of CP fuel – that’s it. Think Usain Bolt running the 100m – he fuels with CP and it works because he can run 100m in less than 15 seconds. CP is where your body will go first looking for fuel, particularly if you take off like a rocket from Starbucks. Think of CP as kindling on a fire – it catches fire easily but burns out very quickly.

Glycogen– Glycogen is the next fuel option. Glycogen is basically stored in your muscles and in your liver and because of that it makes glycogen a bit more difficult to burn as fuel (think of damp firewood – it will eventually burn but it takes quite a bit to get it going).

Fat– Fat is the 3rd source of fuel and most runners, even the very lean women, have an ample supply of it. Think of fat as a butane tank of gas on the BBQ grill – once it’s lit, you can have countless cook-outs before the fuel is gone.

Here’s the important part- All of those fuel sources – kindling, damp firewood or butane gas need something to ignite them and keep them burning. Physiologically speaking that ignition or burning “tool” is ATP which is created by mitochondria; so, the more mitochondria you have the more efficient you are as a fuel burning machine.

What is mitochondria and how do we get more of it?  Some of us are genetically blessed with higher mitochondria counts. Thank your mother for that – it comes through the maternal side of the genetic equation. If you didn’t win the genetic lottery, then the only way you can increase mitochondria is through LONG, SLOW, ENDURANCE training (LSE). When you go for a long run at a slow pace, you actually produce mitochondria. Kind of cool, huh? Now remember – we need mitochondria to help ignite our fuel sources. So what does that mean for you? It means SLOW DOWN on your long run – give your body a chance to become a mitochondria production factory. If you do your long run at a strong pace, you’re missing out on this benefit.

How slow, is slow?  On our website we have a cool calculator from Runners World that calculates training pace based on your race pace. LINK  (It has 6 different training paces for speed work, training and longer runs.) If you would like to run the half marathon in 2 hours (which is a fast time) you will need to average 9:10 min/mile during the race but your long run pace should be 10:34-11:54.  If you would like to run it in 2 hours and 15 minutes, you will need to run 10:15 min/mile during the race but your long run pace should be 11:46-13:12.  If you want to run it in 1 hour and 45 minutes (we will only have a few women at that pace from our group) you will average an 8 min/mile race pace but should do your long run at 9:20-10:30.  I think you get the general picture.

But I don’t know my race time?  That’s fine. Talk to the women in your pace group. Many of them will have run a half marathon before and you can get a sense of their race time as a base for what you might target as a race time. During training, if you don’t have a pace watch, ask the women in your pace group so you can get a general sense of the speed of the group. Also, try slowing down to the lower end of your pace group time. As a rule of thumb, your long run should be at a pace so comfortable that you feel like you could run forever.

It feels like this shouldn’t work.  I know it seems counter intuitive. (I want to run a fast race so I train slowly.  Really?) Trust us on this one. We’ve had very sceptical runners who followed this program and ran great races. It does work. Also, don’t forget we’ll be adding more tempo and speed work into our workouts, just not on the long run day.

Thanks for reading that long email!  And keep running!

Jane

ROUTES

Monday 18 January (8 miles)  Big Ben and back
For this run we head to Hyde Park via the usual route and run along the eastern edge of the park to Hyde Park Corner, under the arch and down Constitution Hill.  Run pass the Victoria Memorial down the mall and enter St. James Park.  Run over the pond and out of the park, turning left onto Birdcage Walk and down into Parliament Square to Big Ben, then turn around and run the same route back to Starbucks.

Wednesday 20 January — Speed Drills!  Tempo ‘Diamond’ Run
We are continuing with our focused tempo running on Wednesdays.  This week we will do ‘diamonds’—they are fast but also fast to be done with so give them a try!

Head over to Regents Park, the normal way.  Enter the Park at the Charlbert Entrance and veer to the left path.  When you reach the first intersection with the other sidewalk, it is time to turn on your running jets.  You will run hard for 1 minute, then recover by running slowly for 3 minutes; then run hard for 2 minutes and recover by running slowly for 3 minutes; then run hard for 3 minutes, recover run slowly for 3 minutes; run hard for 2 minutes, recover run slowly for 3 minutes and finally run hard for 1 minutes, recover run slowly for 3 minutes.

The ‘diamond’ looks like this:

1 minute hard                     3 minutes jogging recovery
2 minutes hard                   3 minutes jogging recovery
3 minutes hard                   3 minutes jogging recovery
2 minutes hard                   3 minutes jogging recovery
1 minute hard                     3 minutes jogging recovery

If you need to extend the amount of time for the jogging recovery, that’s fine, you can jog up to twice the amount of the hard run time [so 6 minutes max recovery jog for the 3 min hard run]

This type of running is best done within the park so you don’t have to contend with driveways etc.  If you find you need more mileage in Regents Park, just keep looping however you see fit.

Friday 22 January –   Highgate  (7.5+miles)

Head up Fitzjohn’s, as usual, and continue past the Hampstead Tube and Whitestone Pond to stay on Spaniards Road.  Do not enter the Heath at the normal entry point, but stay on Spaniards Road as it wraps around the outside of the Heath, past Kenwood House and past The Bishops Road where Spaniards Road turns into Hampstead Lane.

Continue on Hampstead Lane as it edges around the outside of the Heath in a gentle rise until you reach The Grove, where you turn right.  [The Grove is a pretty, tree lined street just before the Highgate roundabout].  Run to the first right lane, which is Fitzroy Park and has a traffic barrier across the road.]  Pass around the traffic barrier—this is fine! And continue down the road, past lovely homes and a famous allotment on the right side.  This road curves downhill to the left and takes you to the entrance of the Heath near a set of bathrooms [and just before Merton Lane to the left].  Enter the Heath, run past the loos and take the path to the left as it runs along a the model boating pond, the men’s bathing pond and a third pond.  [Due to the construction in the Heath, you may need to take the path on the near side of the first pond.]  When the sidewalk dead ends, take a right to run along the exercise fields, track and swimming pool.

Exit the Heath past the swimming pool, crossing over the bridge onto Constantine Road.  Take a right, running past South End Rd/Fleet Rd, past the Royal Free Hospital and cutting to the left just past the Royal Free’s entrance driveway to take a short cut to Haverstock Hill.  Go left on Haverstock Hill to Belsize Avenue, veering to the left to stay onto Buckland Crescent  and take this to Fitzjohn’s.  Left on Fitzjohn’s to Swiss Cottage, then scoot over to St Johns Wood Park Road and back to Starbucks.

Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes.

Hi Everyone,
Welcome back – it was great to see so many women running last week! This Monday we’re heading to Sloane Square, the Embankment, Westminster and Green Park. This is a great route with many distance options and a chance to see some beautiful parts of the city. We’re also starting our more intense tempo training this Wednesday (more on that below). Friday we’re encouraging the 7.5 mile Highgate/Heath route as an option. This is a beautiful hill route and you can avoid some of the mud in the Heath at this time of year.

Hi everyone,

Welcome to 2016! I hope you had a fantastic holiday break! It will be great to see you all again. I know it can be difficult to get back to running, especially in the dark January days but now is the time to start! Try to block the time in your schedule and plan to run. You’ll be glad you did it – I promise! The routes this week are straight forward and give lots of options for mileage. If you didn’t run at all over the holidays, you might consider limiting your mileage this week and easing back into a regular running routine.

THANK YOU from Starbucks

A big “thank you” to everyone who participated in our holiday gift to Starbucks especially our bakers, Jacki Van Wagner who organised the huge baked-goods platter and Jennifer Jorgensen who provided Haagen Dazs gift vouchers. I think this is a really nice way to say thank you for their kindness and service throughout the year. Thanks for being so generous. They were VERY grateful! We even got mentioned on the sidewalk sign! They also gave us a gift of sample bags of the Christmas Blend coffee. I’ll bring them to you in the new year.

Keep running!

Jane

ROUTES

Monday 4 January – Hyde Park (3 to 8 miles)

Click here for all of the Hyde Park interactive route maps

Start:  Everybody starts the same way… head west on Circus Road, turn left on Grove End Road 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 take the first left on Stanhope Place to enter Hyde Park at the intersection with Stanhope Place. Cross into the Park—you’ll see a silver orb just inside the Park.

3 Milers:  Continue south through Hyde Park, past the Serpentine and at the Carriage drive, make a left and head back toward Hyde Park Corner.  Take the Hyde Park Corner tube home.

5 Milers:  At Hyde Park Corner continue back up/north on the carriage drive.  Exit the park at the Animals in War memorial and follow Upper Brook Street.  Turn left on Park Street which becomes Gloucester Place and then Park Road back to St. John’s Wood.

6 Milers: upon entering the park, turn right at the silver sphere and run until you meet N Carriage Road where you turn left.  Run down to the Serpentine, crossing over the bridge then left to run along the Serpentine. At the end of the Serpentine, turn left again and make your way to the eastern edge of the park before exiting at the Upper Brook St/Animals in War exit.  Continue along Upper Brook Street to Park Street, turn left, take it to Park Road and into SJW.

8 Milers: follow the 6 mile run but do not turn left at No Carriage Rd, instead cross over [this is tricky, be careful] and follow until you reach the large broadwalk where you turn left.  Run past Kensington Palace (on your right) and take a left to run along the southern edge of the park towards Hyde Park Corner, then turn left on the eastern edge and exit at Upper Brook St/Animals in War exit as above.  Take Upper Brook Street to Park Street [left] to Park Road and home to SJW.

Wednesday 6 January – The Wall (3 to 6 miles)

We head down towards Regents Park, then enter the canal at the Charlbert entrance and run east [left] cutting through Camden Lock Market until we run out of canal path at Islington and hit “The Wall.”  [Don’t forget to touch The Wall or else your run doesn’t count :p ].  At The Wall, we turn around and head back to St. John’s Wood.  This is a great route to do a tempo run because there are no traffic lights.  But please be careful and aware of the bikes on the path.

If you run all the way to The Wall and back it is 6 miles.  But it is very easy to run half the distance if you want and turn around and head home.  As a marker, if you run to the Camden market (where we have to exit the canal path and run past the food stalls for a minute) and return home it is a 3 mile round trip.

Friday 8 January – The Heath 4-8 miles
It’s a NEW YEAR and a Friday so everyone up head up for our FIRST HEATH RUN of 2016!!!  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.

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
6-7miles:  The partial Heath route
7.5 miles: The Highgate route
8 miles:  The full Heath route

Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes.