Another great week of running! I’ve really enjoyed meeting the new runners – thanks for joining us! 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. Also don’t be tempted to run too fast. This is a common issue for people who are used to running alone. You tend to go too fast, feel miserable and then have a hard time sticking with running. Remember you should be running at a pace where you can comfortably talk. We will have runs where we do more speed work on Wednesdays and very few of us can talk when we go up the hill, but for the start of the year, being able to talk is a good way to make sure you aren’t running too fast. I give more information about the structure of our training week below. This email is a bit long, but it has a lot of important so make sure you read it. It will also hopefully give you some incentive to keep running when you see the interesting destinations on the schedule. AND…there is a treat that you won’t want to miss at the end of the email.
We have some great routes this week with many distance options. Monday we head to Sloane Square/Westminster/Green Park and you can pick anything from 4-10 miles. (10 miles is an option for the women doing a fall half marathon.) You’ll see all the options listed below. Remember to bring your Oyster card/Tube card. Wednesday we run east along the canal until Camden market and then exit to run through the Camden, Morningside Crescent and Euston areas until we enter Regent’s Park and head home. The entire route is 5 miles, but you could also run to the market and then turn around and run home which would be about 3 miles. Friday we’re back up the hill.
Good Luck Racers!
We have a large group running the “Run the River” 10K on Tuesday evening 12 September at 7pm including Melinda Bariso, Carol Bertolino, Dani Burke, Claire Butler, Stephanie Gladis, Amy Grace, Joanna Gusich, Megan Marine, Corinna Matlis, Kathy McMahon, Miki Neant, Leah Neenan, Marissa O’Malia and Odie Syse. Unfortunately the event is sold out so you can’t join today, but if you have already signed up and you want to join the WRW group to travel to the event together you can email Stephanie Gladis at
[email protected]. We hope that everyone has a great race! Have fun!
Borough Market- Save the Date
One of our favourite routes is to go to Borough Market on a Friday. If you want to plan ahead, our first Borough Market run will be on Friday Oct. 6. For anyone who doesn’t want to do a destination run, the Hill is always going to be an option on Fridays.
Looking Ahead – Mark Your Calendar
Here are the Monday routes over the next two months:
11 September – Sloane Square/Embankment/Westminster
18 September – Hyde Park
25 September – Whole Foods Piccadilly
2 October – Brick Lane
9 October – Hyde Park
16 October – FALL BREAK
23 October – Tower Bridge
30 October – Halloween Run to Brompton Cemetery and Kensington Whole Foods
General Training and Pace Groups
In general, each week we run a long/slower run on Monday, a shorter/faster run on Wednesday and a hill run on Friday. We have pace groups that help make it easier for folks to find each other and will be especially important for our long runs. I’ll write more about the pace groups in the next few weeks. We follow the training principle that your long run should be at a pace slower than your race pace. If you’re new to the “race pace” concept, don’t worry! We can help you figure out where you should be.
Stay Tuned – Spring Half-Marathon Trip
We’re hard at work behind the scenes trying to find a race for our spring half marathon. As you know, we have to balance many factors in choosing a race including timing, travel and finding a race that is appropriate for our beginner runners. We also just learned that the date for the ASL Global Festival was changed so some races we were considering are now out and others are an option. We have our eye on a few races that look great and we are hard at work behind the scenes talking to the race directors, negotiating hotel contracts and researching all the logistical details. (Thank you Carolyn Perelmuter!) We can’t announce anything until those important details are finalised, but we hope to be able to announce the 2017 race around the end of September or early October. I know it’s tempting to bombard Carolyn with questions about the race, but please be patient. We promise we will announce the race as soon as we possibly can.
Lululemon Shopping Event – 11 October
Here’s the treat I mentioned! Our friends at the Lululemon Marylebone Store have invited us to a “Fall Sneak Peak” shopping event on Wednesday 11 October from 7:00-8:00pm. Come check out the new collection and enjoy a 20% discount on the evening. RSVP to Kathy Anderson Lululemon Marylebone is located at 74-75 Marylebone High Street W1U 5JR.
As always, if you have any questions or if you need any guidance, just let me know.
Keep running,
Jane
ROUTES
Monday 11 September – Sloane Sq/Westminster/Green Park–3.75 to 7/10 miles, Your choice!
Today’s routes are fun because you can pick whichever distance suits you–in this case one size can fit all!
Everybody starts out to Hyde Park, taking the usual route: west on Circus Road, left on Grove End, all the way down to Seymour Place where the road ends. Right on Seymour, across Edgware, left on Stanhope and enter the park. At the silver orb, turn left and run down to the southern edge, following the path to the right before it leaves the Park. Run to big gated exit before the tall ‘One Hyde Park’ complex, cross over Knightsbridge at William Street, quick right on Knightsbridge then a left onto Sloane Street.
3.75’ers: at Sloane Sq, take the Tube home!
6.33’ers: continue past Sloane Sq down Lower Sloane St/Chelsea Bridge Road to the Thames. Turn left on the Thames side of Grosvenor Rd and run along the embankment to Westminster Tube–you’re done!
7+’ers: continue left on Birdcage Walk, cutting through St James Park to the Mall, then left on the Mall towards Buckingham Palace, crossing before the circle to reach Green Park. Run up to the Green Park Tube on Piccadilly St and head home!
10 milers: for anyone needing a longer run today, continue past Green Park Tube, through Mayfair to Baker Street and head to SJW Starbucks–this will give you almost 10 miles.
Wednesday 13 September – Camden/Morningside Crescent/Regent’s Park (5 miles)
We will run to the canal going eastbound to Camden Market, where we exit the canal and turn right onto Camden High Street. We’ll run down Camden High Street to Mornington Crescent Tube Station and veer right onto Hampstead Road, which we will take down towards Euston Road. Just before reaching the huge intersection at Euston Road we turn right at the Sainsburys/Itsu and run between the office buildings at Regent’s Place and past the nice fountains, through Triton Square. Left to Euston Road, then cross Osnaburgh Street and Albany Street. At Park Square East, turn right towards Regents Park. We make the first left onto Outer Circle and run around the loop to the Charlbert Street exit (where we usually enter for the canal or park). We’ll run up Charlbert Street to Allitsen Road, make a left, and head back to Starbucks. [Note, some ladies choose to run into and through Regents Park to meander to the Charlbert Street exit].
Friday 15 September – The Heath (4-8 miles)
It’s Friday which means everyone up to the Heath. 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.
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.
5 miles: The Betsy Route
6-7miles: The partial Heath route OR the Reverse Heath Route
7.5 miles: The Highgate route
8 miles: The full Heath route
