28 Nov – 2 Dec 2016 Running Info

Hi Everyone,

I can’t believe it’s almost December! We have some fun runs on the schedule for the next few weeks. I hope you can join us.

Monday we are doing a route going west on the canal, then through Notting Hill, Holland Park, Kensington, Hyde Park and ending at Green Park to take the tube home. We did this route last spring and people really liked it. The entire route is 8 miles but you can shorten it to be closer to 7 miles if you run straight to the tube when you get to Green Park. You’ll be familiar with parts of the this route from other runs, but make sure you look at the directions especially for the turn to get to Holland Park. Wednesday we’re doing a Canal/Regents Park route and Friday we’re back up the Hill.

Looking Ahead – Next Monday 5 December Wembley in REVERSE
Next Monday we’ll plan to meet at Barclays as normal but we’re then going to run to the Maida Vale station and take the Bakerloo line to the Wembley Central station. We’ll then follow the canal back to St. John’s Wood. There are a few benefits of doing the route in reverse. We miss a lot of the bike traffic on the canal and we end at home so we don’t have to take a cold tube ride back. In addition, if you find that you are struggling near the end of the run, you’ll be in familiar territory and could always walk a bit. Plus we can still all meet at Starbucks!

Looking Ahead – Next Wednesday 7 December Christmas Lights Run – 6:00am START
I know it sounds crazy, but it is really worth it to get up early to see the Christmas lights in the dark and without the crowds. We’ll meet at Barclays at 6:00am. Last year I did the 4.5 mile route and took the tube from Bond Street and was home to help the kids by 7:15am. We recommend that you wear some reflective clothing and ideally have a bike light or head lamp. The streets, especially in Regents Park, are very dark at that time of the morning. You may want to purchase or borrow something before the run. (If you’re not up for an early start, or you can’t swing it with your family, there’ll be a group that meets at the normal time as well.)

THANK YOU to Starbucks
The holiday time of year is here and we’ll be organising a gift for the employees at our local St. John’s Wood Starbucks. We’re suggesting a £5-10 donation, but feel free to give whatever you would like. We’ll also be donating some home-baked goodies. Give your donation (in an envelope with your name) to me before Tuesday 13 December. Please email wrwlondon@gmail.com if you would like to contribute baked treats. We’ll gather the baked goods on Tuesday 13 December and we’ll give the gift to Starbucks on Wednesday 14 December before the run. Please get your gift to us soon if you would like to participate.

Warsaw Race update
If you are planning to run the Half Marathon in Warsaw, you can now register for the race. All the directions and links are on our website on the “Spring Half Marathon” tab. PLEASE email Jen Skor with your flight details, if you haven’t done it already. We are assuming that anyone who wants to attend the race has already booked a hotel room, but if you still need a hotel room, email us ASAP at wrwlondon@gmail.com. Very soon we will be communicating additional Warsaw information only to the people who are attending the trip so it’s important that you make your travel plans and email Jen so we know you should be on that list. Thanks!

Finally, a belated Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. I am thankful for YOU!

Jane

ROUTES

Monday, 28 November – Holland Park to Green Park (8 miles)

We start out the same as our traditional Notting Hill Route [Circus Rd to Grove End, to St Johns Wood Rd to Cunningham, to Blomfield to the Canal, going west past the Westway to Ladbroke Grove].  Once on Ladbroke Grove, run south all the way until it ends at Holland Park Avenue.  Cross Holland Park Avenue, take a right and then a left on Holland Walk [just past Aubrey Road].  Holland Walk is a pedestrian way.  Run up Holland Walk until the first entrance into Holland Park on your right [opposite the Duchess of Bedford Walk].  Run into the park and then turn left on the broad walk which goes the length of Holland Park until it ends at Kensington High Street; turn left and run along Ken High Street.  (For a shorter run, you can leave at the Ken High St Tube which makes it about a 5 mi run).  Otherwise, continue on until you reach Kensington Park, where you enter it at the junction with the Broad Walk [just before Palace Gate road]. Take the Broad Walk to the first path on the right which turns into So Carriage Dr. You’ll run past The Albert Memorial and cross West Carriage Dr at the light. Continue on So Carriage Dr all the way to Apsley House/Hyde Park Corner.   Cross over Piccadilly and run under Wellington Arch, then cross at the light to run along the path to the left of Constitution Hill [the same route we take in going to Big Ben],  At the Mall, turn left to run to the easternmost path of Green Park [again, familiar from other routes], turn left and run by Lancaster House to Green Park Tube. Hop on the Tube back to SJW and meet up at Starbucks

hollandparktogreenpark8mi

Wednesday 30 November  – Camden Left to Regents Park (6 miles)

Head out the Canal east and exit RIGHT at Camden Market, taking the bridge to cross over the Canal and make a LEFT onto Chalk Farm Hill Road.  [Note the groves in the iron railing of the bridge, made from the ropes pulling the barges.]  Take this road north, past Adelaide, past England’s Lane to Belsize Grove [before the Belsize Tube Stn] and make a left.  Left again on Belsize Park Gardens.  Take this all the way to Primrose Hill Park.  Enter PH Park and follow the north side path until it ends; make a left and continue to the Ormonde Terrace entrance, make a left and zig zag to the other side of the park and back to the main entrance on Prince Albert Road.  Exit PH Park, cross Prince Albert and go across the bridge and across the Ring Road into Regents Park.  Follow the interior path alongside the Zoo and as it curls onto the Broadwalk.  Go right and follow the Broadwalk to just beyond The Smokehouse.  Make a right onto the main path and take it across the park, exiting at the Charlbert entrance.  Head up to St Johns Wood Terrace, make a left and head to Starbucks.

camdenleftregentspark6mi

Friday 2 December – The Heath 4-8 miles
We run up the hill on Fridays–it’s tradition! It is hard, but you’ll feel great when you are finished.

If you are not up for a hill run yet, no problem, just let us know.  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. If you have trouble running up, think about how easy it will be running down!

5 miles: The Betsy Route
6+ miles:  The partial Heath route OR the Reverse Heath route
7.5 miles: The Highgate route
8 miles:  The full Heath route

Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes.

21 – 25 November 2016 Running Info

Hi Everyone,
Due to the American Thanksgiving holiday and no school at ASL, many of our runners are out of town or unavailable to run on Wednesday and Friday so we’ll do one route for Monday this week. We’re running to the Happening Bagel Bakery (LOVE that name!) in Finsbury Park via Highgate and the Greenway. (Bring cash, I don’t think the bakery takes cards.) This is a WRW favourite and we don’t do it often because the first part takes us up the hill in Hampstead, which we usually do on Friday. The first part is the hill, but the second part is beautiful as we run through Highgate and then a stretch of woodland known as the Parkland Walk. Parkland Walk is a stretch of forest that follows an old train line. (History lesson – the train line first opened in 1872 but was eventually replaced by the extension of the London Underground. Passenger service ended in 1954 and freight service in 1970.) If you’ve never done this route before I strongly encourage you to give it a try. If I can’t twist your arm to try it, you could always do one of our other Heath routes.
We’re not setting routes for Wednesday and Friday. If you want to run, show up for an 8:30 start and as a group you can decide where you would like to go.
Time to register for the Warsaw Half Marathon Race
The race registration is open! We’ve provided detailed directions on the WRW website as well as the link to the race registration page. The registration is pretty straightforward, but it will be easier if you take a minute to read the directions first. PLEASE NOTE the directions about completing your estimated run time. Since this is a very large race, runners will be put into “corrals” based on their estimated finish time so that the fastest runners are near the front at the start. If you want to make sure that you are in the same corral as your pace group, we’ve suggested an estimated run time for each of the pace groups. In reality you may be faster or slower than our suggestion, but by answering this question the same as the other members of your pace group, you’ll know that you can start together. If you want to put in a different time, that is OK, you just won’t be with the majority of your pace group at the start.
Warsaw Hotel Rooms
We’re hoping that all of you who would like a hotel room in Warsaw have already booked one. If you still need a room, please email us at wrwlondon@gmail.com.
Keep running,
Jane
ROUTES
Monday 21 November – Happening Bagel via Highgate and Finsbury Greenbelt – 7 miles

For this run we start up Fitzjohn’s like we’re going to the Heath but pass the entrance and continue up Spaniards/Hampstead Lane to Highgate. At the very top of the hill bear right and run slightly downhill towards Highgate High Street. At the second circular intersection, cross the high street at the zebra crossing and go down Southwood Lane. At the bottom of the hill veer to the right onto Jackson’s Lane (which is a very narrow road). Continue down Jackson’s to Archway Road, cross the road and make a right, then a relatively quick left onto Holmesdale Road.  Run a short distance on Holmesdale and the entrance to the Finsbury Greenbelt will be on your left.  Follow the path until it ends, turn left, cross the bridge over the train tracks and enter Finsbury Park. Turn right and run along the western edge of the park until the entrance on Seven Sister’s Road. After we stretch we will head over the street to the Happening Bagel. Once we’ve bought our bagels we will cross back over the street to Costa for coffee and then take the tube home from the Finsbury Park Station.

Wednesday 23 November and Friday 25 November
No organised routes. Meet at 8:30 and pick your own route.

14 – 18 November 2016 Running Info

Thanks for all the great feedback about our Monday adventure run to Hampton Court Palace. WRW is certainly up for an adventure! There were more than 30 women who did the run to the Palace. We had a beautiful autumn day and it’s a stunning route. We’ll plan to do this run again in the spring.

Building distance in our training – Monday to Canary Wharf
This week we have another long destination run on the schedule for Monday – Canary Wharf at 9 miles. Please note that the standard training program has a base of 7-8 mile long runs in November-December with a suggestion that you try a 9-10 mile run if you’re feeling strong. The gradual training program has a base of 5-6 mile long runs. (Here’s the LINK to our training plans if you would like to take a look.) Don’t feel like you have to do this run just because it’s on the schedule. Take stock in how you are feeling and whether you have tackled some longer runs this fall. Did you run to Hampton Court? How did you feel? If you had a few aches and pains at the end, you may decide to do a shorter option on Monday (you can join the group to the Wall and then turn around and run home instead) and continue to do the 7- and 8-mile runs on the schedule for the rest of November and December. We’ll be doing the 9-mile Canary Wharf route again on 6 Feb 2017. If you want to run to Canary Wharf, that’s great! Try to arrive early to Barclays and find your group right away so the pace groups can start together.

Wednesday and Friday this week
Since we’ll have a group of runners who run to Canary Wharf on Monday, we have a shorter run on the schedule for Wednesday. We suggested a 4-mile Regents Park route. This is to make sure that we don’t increase our mileage too much in one week. If you don’t run to Canary Wharf, and you’d like to do a longer run on Wednesday you can easily add additional mileage in Regents Park or you can choose a different route of your choice. Friday we’re planning for a run to Borough Market. Get your shopping lists ready! As always, if you can’t go to Borough Market for any reason, you could always tackle our usual Friday hill run.

Warsaw Hotel Rooms – LAST CHANCE
Thanks for all your patience with the hotel website. The site is up again and we’re requesting that if there’s any chance you are going on this trip, please book your room now! (You can cancel with no penalty before March.) We heard from the race director that the race registration is going to open very soon, maybe even next week. We’re staying at the hotel that is most convenient for the race, so we fully expect that the hotel will sell out quickly once the race registration opens.

We’re getting close to booking all the rooms in our original room block. If you go on the site and there are no rooms listed, let us know and we’ll get more added. (The hotel doesn’t want to give us more rooms until we fully book the original rooms, which is a bit annoying, sorry.) All the details and the links to the hotel booking site are on our website under the “Spring Half Marathon” tab at this LINK. If you have any issues with the room booking, please let us know and we’ll help you get it sorted. Remember that after you book to email Jen Skor with your room type and flight information.

A group of friends
A small reminder to everyone that WRW is really just a group of friends who like to run together. We have a lot of knowledge in the group from the experience of running, but none of us (especially me!) are professional experts. We tend to offer general wisdom about training such as it’s important to gradually add mileage and it’s important to properly stretch. It’s crucial that if something is bothering you, little or big, that you seek out professional advice from an expert. Or if you are new to running or new to running longer distances, you may want to see an expert to make sure that you are healthy and OK to tackle this challenge. We have the names of some experts listed on our website.

Keep running,

Jane

ROUTES

Monday, 14 November – Canary Wharf  – (9.3 miles)

Section One – Canal to the Wall
The route starts out as the Wall.  Run along Prince Albert Road to join the canal at Charlbert Street.  Run along the canal for approximately 3 miles until the canal pathway ends at the famous “Wall.”

Section Two – Angel Roads
We need to run through the Angel neighbourhood until we can re-enter the canal path.   At the wall follow the ramp up to Muriel Street.  (This is a good place to wait for your pace group.)  Take a right and then an almost immediate left up a path that winds between the apartment buildings.  See the picture below for the entrance to the path.

CanaryPic1

Keep going straight on the path and it will become Maygood Street.  When you get to the intersection of a main road (Barnsbury Road) turn right.  Run until you make the second left onto Chapel Market.  (There is a metal archway saying Chapel Market and a zebra crossing at the intersection.)  Follow Chapel Market until the end.  (NB:  There is a public Ladies Room at the end of White Conduit Street, which intersects with Chapel Market about midway.)  Turn right at Liverpool Street to the major road Upper Street.  Cross Upper Street and turn left.  (NB:  Angel Tube Station is to your right if you are going home from here.)  Make your first right at Duncan Street and follow until the end.  The entrance to the canal path will be directly in front of you.  Go straight along the canal (NOT a sharp right turn.)

Section Three – Canal to Limehouse Basin
We run for about 4 miles following the canal path past Victoria Park to the Limehouse Basin.  We exit the canal path at the wire looking bridge – see picture below – and take the brown brick steps up to the left.

CanaryPic2CanaryPic3

Section Four – Limehouse Basin to Canary Wharf
At the top of the brick steps, go straight.  At the Limehouse Gallery and Bronze Age shop turn right.  Run along the water until you reach the second metal foot-bridge leading to a park.  Cross the bridge and run through the park.  After the park, you’ll run straight, under an arch and the water will be on your right.  Run with the water on your right until you see the long flight of steps next to Royal China – see picture below.  You’re almost there!  Only a third of a mile remaining!

CanaryPic4

Run up the steps and straight ahead, through the small park to India Drive and then veer slightly right along Cabot Square.  You’re heading for the big skyscraper building in front of you.  Stop when you see the sign for the Canary Wharf DLR Station at the ‘mall’ entrance on the South Colonnade.  We’ll meet at the Starbucks inside the building, just right of the entrance.  After a much earned coffee, we’ll head to the Canary Wharf Tube station [Jubilee Line] and tube it home to SJW.  Congratulations!

Wednesday 16 November – Regents Park (4 miles)

We are going to ease up a bit and run a familiar local loop after the long run to Canary Wharf.  Head down Grove End Road as though going to Hyde Park BUT at Marylebone Road, turn left and follow Marylebone Road, past Madame Tussauds, then turn left at York Bridge/York Gate and right at the Outer Circle. Follow the Outer Circle counter clockwise, all the way to the crosswalk by the US Ambassador’s House. Cross out of the Park and head to Starbucks.

If you want a longer run, you can add another loop on the outer circle the total will be 6.8 miles.  We’ll meet you at Starbucks when we’re finished!

RegentsPark4mi

Friday 18 November – Borough Market via Westminster Bridge – 6 miles
We head to Hyde Park via the usual route. 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.   Run along the eastern edge of the park to Hyde Park Corner, under Wellington Arch and down Constitution Hill.  Run past 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.  Continue past Big Ben and cross Westminster Bridge. After the bridge turn left to run along the Thamesuntil the river path ends after Southwark Bridge. Borough Market is under the railway bridge near the London Bridge station. The official address is 8 Southwark Street SE1 1TL.

7 – 11 November 2016 Running Info

Hi all,

Halloween was so much fun with WRW this year! I loved your running costumes! Everyone was very creative and we had a large group run to Brompton Cemetery and stay for coffee at Whole Foods. I also liked all the pace group photos at the Cemetery that you posted on our Facebook group. (I recommend joining our Facebook group if you haven’t done it yet. All you need to do is request to join.)

You received lots of emails from WRW this week! We announced that we’re collecting WRW shirt and hat orders and that we’re booking hotel rooms for the half marathon in Warsaw. More details on both of those below. Please read the important update on the HOTEL rooms below.

This week is our adventure run to Hampton Court Palace on Monday. Wednesday is Notting Hill and Friday is the Hill.

RSVP – Adventure Run Monday Nov. 7
An adventure run means that we ride the train to a location at the start of the run and then we take the train home at the end of the run. This means that if you are doing this run we are NOT meeting at Barclays – see the details below. (If you can’t do this run, there will be a group that meets at Barclays and decides on a route of their choice.) Monday we’re running from Richmond to Hampton Court Palace. We run along the Thames path for pretty much the entire way and it’s a beautiful route. Plus you can’t beat coffee at the Palace cafe when you’re done. Block out the entire morning or more if you want to stay for a long coffee afterwards.

If you’re planning to attend, please email wrwlondon@gmail.com so we know to look out for you at the station. But please be aware that we are not waiting for anyone. You must be on time to catch this train or we’re leaving without you.

Here’s the plan: We’ll meet at the Finchley Road and Frognal Overground Station at 8:30 for the 8:41 train to Richmond. We will arrive in Richmond by 9:15 to start our run. (You can take a bus up Finchley Road to the station or take the tube to Finchley Road, turn left and walk up to the Overground Station.) When we arrive in Richmond we’ll run along the Thames all the way to Hampton Court Palace. Take a look at the route directions below. (The entire run is approximately 8 miles or you can exit at the Horse Fair bridge for a 6-mile route and take a train from Kingston station.) We’ll take the train back to London Waterloo from the Hampton Court train station. The train runs every 30 minutes, at 23 and 54 past the hour from Hampton Court and it is an approximately 40 minute train ride back to London.

2016-2017 Shirt and Hat Order – DEADLINE SOON
I sent an email on Thursday afternoon announcing that we’re collecting orders for the 2016-2017 Women Running the World T-Shirt. This year we are also offering a WRW half-zip, long-sleeved shirt and WRW everyday hat. If you want to order, please complete the Google Doc at this LINK We need to have a very quick turnaround on the order collection because the inventory levels are constantly changing. When we know the style/colour is in stock we need to get our order in ASAP. Orders are due before Thursday 10 November at 5pm.

Warsaw Hotel Rooms – UPDATE
We sent an email on Friday announcing that you can now book hotel rooms from the Warsaw half marathon. Thanks for being so responsive! We’ve had many women book rooms already. At the moment the hotel website is showing that there are no rooms available, but this is a technical issue on their end. We will let you know when the hotel website is back up but it might not be until Monday or early next week. (We also heard from a few of you who received a “privacy” message when you tried to book and we’re looking into that as well.) If you would like a hotel room and you haven’t booked yet, please email wrwlondon@gmail.com and let us know if you are planning to have a single room or share with a roommate so we have a sense of the total size of our group and whether we are going to need add rooms to our block. Thanks so much!

ROUTES

Monday 7 November – Richmond to Hampton Court (8 miles)
We will meet at the Finchley Road and Frognal Overground Station at 8:30 for the 8:37 train to Richmond. We will arrive in Richmond by 9:15 to start our run.You can take a bus up Finchley Road to the station or take the tube to Finchley Road, turn left and walk up to the Overground Station.

Leave the Richmond Overground Station, cross the road at the traffic lights and go down Old Station Passage. Turn left at the end and run a few yards until you get to Richmond Green. Cross the common, using the paths on a diagonally right direction, aiming for Old Palace Lane. Follow Old Palace Lane until you reach the river and turn left.

Now we stick to the river path along the Thames for the rest of our run. We will pass Petersham, Ham House and run briefly along Lower Ham Road. We keep right at Canbury Gardens and run into Kingston. In Kingston, we run as close to the Thames as possible, first on Thames Side past the pier, then right onto a small path which leads to the bridge pictured below.

Bridge in Kingston - Richmond to Hampton Court run

Bridge in Kingston – Richmond to Hampton Court run

At the bridge you have two options:

6-mile route:  Go up the stairs on the near side of the Horse Fair bridge and turn left into town. Follow the road to Kingston Overground station.

8-mile route to the Palace:  Go up the stairs on the near side of the Horse Fair bridge and cross the bridge.Come down the stairs and turn right under the bridge to continue along the Thames on a very pretty path called Barge Walk. This path continues all the way to Hampton Court Palace where we will pass some of the gardens and see the palace from the outside. If you can stay for a coffee, we’ll meet at the Tiltyard Cafe which is one of the restaurants on Palace grounds. If you cross the courtyard in front of the palace and then walk past the rose gardens you’ll see the Cafe. (No need to pay Palace entrance fee.) Enjoy a coffee and a treat before we get on the train back to London.

We will head back to London from the Hampton Court train station which is across the bridge from the palace. Coming from the path with the palace on your right, turn left across the Hampton Court Bridge and the train station is on your left. The train runs every 30 minutes, at 24 and 54 past the hour.

RichmondHamptonCourt8mi

Wednesday 9 November – Notting Hill (4 – 6 miles)
Keep your eyes open as this is often a celebrity spotting route!

Start out by 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 and run to the Ladbroke Grove exit then run down Ladbroke Grove, past the tube stop, to Elgin Crescent and make a left. Cross Portobello Road and continue on what is now Colville Terrace until it meets Ledbury Road where we turn right and then left at Westbourne Grove. Run down Westbourne Grove to the top of Bishop’s Bridge, then left down the steps into Sheldon Square (across from the Paddington Station entrance). Stay along the canal to where you entered, then run back on Blomfield to SJW and Starbucks.

You also have the option of a shorter run by not running as far as Ladbroke Grove. Instead, run half the distance you want, turn around and head home. For example, running to the Westway flyover and back is about four miles.

NottingHill

Friday 11 November – The Heath (4 – 8 miles)
It’s Friday again so everyone up Fitzjohn’sYou 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.

If you are not up for a hill run yet, no problem, just let us know.  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. If you have trouble running up, think about how easy it will be running down!

5 miles: The Betsy Route
6+ miles:  The partial Heath route OR the Reverse Heath route
7.5 miles: The Highgate route
8 miles:  The full Heath route

Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes.