Hi Everyone,

Thanks for all the great feedback on our Christmas lights run! We had a big group for such an early start. You have amazing spirit!

This week we’re keeping things simple with Hyde Park on Monday, Kensal Rise on Wednesday and The Hill on Friday. If you’re training for the Warsaw Half Marathon, both the standard and gradual training programs suggest 7 miles on Monday. Challenge yourself to finish the year on a strong note!

THANK YOU to Starbucks – Last chance! We need your help!
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. I’ll be collecting money on Monday and Wednesday before the runs. We’ll also be donating some baked goodies. Please email [email protected] if you would like to contribute baked goodies. We’ll gather the baked goods on Tuesday Dec 13 and we’ll give the gift to Starbucks on Wed 14 Dec. before we start our run so please get your gift to us soon if you would like to participate.

Warsaw Hotel Update – Cancelling? Roommates?
Our hotel in Warsaw is fully booked on Friday night and we have no more rooms available at the WRW rate for the other nights. If you can no longer go to the race for any reason, please email us first before you tell the hotel because we may transfer your room to someone in the group who is on a waiting list. We also have a runner who is looking for a roommate, so please email wrwlondon@gmail if you would like to share a room. Thanks!

Running over the holiday
We aren’t setting official routes for the weeks of 19 and 26 December. We’ll be back training as a group on Wednesday 4 January. For those of you in town over the holidays, there’ll be a group meeting at Barclays on MWF at 8:30. If you need some route ideas, scan back through the weekly emails on our website. For everyone, those staying in town and those travelling, feel free to take it easy over the break. There is no harm in giving your body a break. Running 2-3 times a week for 30-40 minutes will allow you to maintain fitness. For those of you training for the half marathon in the spring, we will start back in January with 6-7 miles then our long-run mileage will increase over the weeks leading up to the race.

New Year’s Resolution
We currently have 97 women signed up to do the race in Warsaw! I love it! When we return in January we have only 11.5 weeks, including Feb break, before the race. If you are coming to Warsaw, you need to commit to your training and make it a priority to be out running regularly and ideally running with the group. At this point in the training, the Monday long runs are most important. If you are battling some aches and pains or an injury, make sure that you see an expert to help manage your recovery. OK, that’s it for the “gentle” reminder for now, but stay tuned for more arm twisting in the New Year!

I hope you all have a fantastic holiday!

Keep running,

Jane

ROUTES

Monday, 12 December – Hyde Park  – always versatile! (5 – 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 and enjoy your run!

Wednesday 14 December –  Kensal Rise (4-5+ miles)

The beginning of this run takes us along the canal to the west.  Please be aware of bikes along the canal and move into single file whenever you hear a ‘bike!’ shout.

Start out heading west on Circus Road, turn left on Grove End to St John’s Wood Road and go west, turning left on Cunningham then right on Aberdeen to work your way to the canal entrance on Bloomfield.  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 16 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.