I love this photo from the pergola a week ago. The weather was not as cooperative this week!
There’s a lot of important stuff in this email (so please read it!) because we’re starting to formalise our pace groups this week. I’m going to try to avoid bombarding you with too much training information all at once. I’ll give you the basics and point you to the website for more specifics. We’ll come back to these training principles often throughout the year.
We have fun routes on the schedule this week. Monday we head to one of our favourite destinations, Brick Lane, for famous east-end bagels from Beigel Bake and coffee and “fancy” doughnuts next door at Crosstown Doughnuts. We’ll try to get into our pace groups before we start, but make sure you look at the map and the photos below and take a note of the bridge where we exit the canal.
Wednesday we’re sticking close to home and doing the Regents Park outer and inner circles. Friday is our first official run to Borough Market. Yeah! We’re recommending the standard Westminster Bridge 6-mile route. If you aren’t quite up for a 6-mile run yet, you could join the group to Big Ben, which is 4 miles and then take the Jubilee Line at Westminster to London Bridge and meet the rest of the group at the market. (We also listed the 5-mile Hungerford Bridge route, but this way is more congested with pedestrians.) If you’ve never been to Borough Market before – join us! It’s a real London treat. If you need to stick closer to home, you can tackle the Hill like we usually do on Fridays.
Congratulations Racers
Congratulations to Stephanie Gladis and Audgunn Syse who ran the Windsor Half Marathon last weekend. They reported it was a great race, but very hilly! Well done! And…We’re going to miss you Audie! We wish you all the best in your new adventure and please make sure to come back and visit us.
Shoreditch 10K Sunday 8 October 9am
We have a group of women running in the Shoreditch 10K next weekend. Entries are open until 4 October if you would still like to sign up. Email [email protected] if you want to connect with the group that is running.
2018 HALF MARATHON
I sent out an email Thursday announcing that the group will be travelling to Utrecht, Netherlands to run a half marathon on Sunday 18 March 2018. Thanks for all the positive feedback! We’re really excited about this race. If you didn’t receive the email, it may have bounced to your junk box. If not, please let me know so I can check the distribution. All the information is also listed on our website. At this point, you can book your flight. We’ll be back to you soon with more details about the hotel and race registration. I will also be posting our training plan soon so that you can see how we get from where we are now to running a half marathon in March.
PACE GROUPS
Each training week is planned to have one longer/slower run on Monday, one shorter/faster run on Wednesday and one hill run on Friday. The pace groups are for the longer/slower run and the pace listed is the training pace (not race pace). For the tempo/faster day and the hill day the groups will not necessarily be together. Some folks may want to push it more than others.
For those who are interested, there is a nifty calculator on our website to determine your training pace as compared to a target race pace. For many, the pace calculator might be too technical. As a rule of thumb, you should run your long run at a pace that allows you to carry on a conversation. Not too fast, not too slow. (I know that is easier said than done!) The slower run is an important part of your training because it helps build mileage without injury but it also helps your body build fuel. For more info about pace and the science behind the slower run, click here.
The pace groups are not an exact science! They serve more as a general guide. Since our group is so large, the pace groups allow for smaller groups of women that run roughly the same pace to find each other and train together. A few important things to note:
- The pace groups names are relative to each other. For example, you would be in the 9s if the 8s group was ahead of you and the 10s group was behind you. That seems obvious, but it is the relative placement in the larger group that matters and less about the actual specific time of the pace group.
- The pace group names are simplified. For example, most of the 10s probably run a 10:30 min/mile training pace, but we don’t call them the 10:30s, we just call them the 10s.
Leaders
There are 2-4 women in each group who will be pace group leaders for the long run. They’ll help keep the group together, which will be increasingly important as we do more longer runs and/or new routes. But please remember that everyone is responsible for generally knowing the route, not just the leaders. We are also having more leaders this year to help cover the natural range of the pace group. For example, in the 10s we may have a faster sub-group and a slower sub-group and we tried to have leaders who covered the range.
Please let me know if you need some help finding your group or if you have any questions.
The “Eights” Group
Leaders: Melinda Bariso, Asdis Karadottir, Marissa O’Malia, and McKenzie Webster (8:15 – 8:45 min/mile)
Leaders: Carol Bertolino, Dani Burke and Meg Stone (8:45 – 9:15 min/mile)
The “Nines” Group (9:15 – 10:00)
Leaders: Amy Grace, Micki Heskett, Megan Marine and Kathy McMahon
The “Tens” Group (10:00-11:00 min/mile)
Leaders: Darcy Fautz, Jane Novak, Carolyn Perimeter and Megan Weitz
The “Elevens” and “Twelves” Group (11:00-12:30 min/mile)
Leaders: Melissa Kay, Magali Kivatinetz, Jenn Murphy and Litsa Savastano
A big THANKS to all our leaders – you play an important role in helping such a large group work smoothly!
That’s all for now – Keep RUNNING!
Jane
ROUTES
Monday, 2 October – Brick Lane via Canal (6.5 miles)
This is a fun and funky destination run! We will head out in the same way as though we are running to The Wall. Take the Canal east to the Wall—go up ramp to Muriel Street, take a right and then an almost immediate left up a path that winds between the apartment buildings. Here’s the entrance to the path:
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. Turn right at Liverpool Street to the major road Upper Street. Cross Upper Street and turn left, then make your first right at Duncan Street. Follow Duncan Street to the end and there will be an entrance to the canal directly in front of you. At the canal path continue running straight, the water will be on your right. Follow the canal until you reach the Kingsland Road Bridge, Number 45. See the photo below.
Run under the bridge and take the brick steps up on your left, see photo below.
At the top of the stairs turn left and at the main road, Kingsland Road, turn left. (You’ll be running back over the canal.) Follow Kingsland Road, you’ll see the Gherkin building in the distance in front of you. (Kingsland Road will become Shoreditch High Street.) Turn left at Bethnal Green Road. There will be a white medal railroad bridge in front of you and the BOXPARK market will be on your right once you turn. You’ll also pass the Shoreditch High Street Overground Station on your right. Follow Bethnal Green Road until you hit Brick Lane, less than a quarter of a mile.
There is a Casa Blue cafe at the corner, turn right into Brick Lane and you’ll see Beigel Bake and Crosstown Doughnutes on the right. They are FUNKY so bring your cool attitudes! For the journey home, you can take the Shoreditch High Street Overground to Canada Water and then take the Jubilee Line home. Or you can walk through Spitalfields Market to get to the Liverpool Street tube station.
Wednesday 4 October – Regents Park (inner and outer loops) (5 miles)
From Barclay’s head down Wellington Road to the traffic circle at Lord’s Cricket Ground and bear left onto Prince Albert Road. Run to the pedestrian crossing where we will cross and head to the Outer Circle. Turn right and run on the inside of the circle past Winfield House which will be on your left. Continue around the Outer Circle until you reach the traffic light at intersection with York Bridge. Turn left and proceed to the Inner Circle. Run one complete loop of the Inner Circle and back out across York Bridge where we will take a left and continue on Ulster Terrace which is part of the Outer Circle. At the next large intersection take a left and continue on the Outer Circle, heading north back towards the Zoo and Camden. Pass the entrance to the Zoo on your left and continue to the bridge at North Gate which we will cross to reach Charlbert Street. Run up Charlbert Street until St John’s Terrace where we turn left and run back to Barclay’s for a stretch before heading to Starbucks.
Friday 6 October – Borough Market
Option 1 – 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.
Option 2 – Borough Market via Hungerford Bridge – 5 miles
Head to Regents Park the usual way taking Circus Road to Charlbert. Cross Regents Park until you hit the Broad Walk turning right and following the Broad Walk until you exit at Park Crescent. Follow Portland Place south, it turns into Langham Place and then Regent Street until you get to Riccadilly Circus. At Piccadilly Circus, take Haymarket South to Cockspur Street into Trafalgar Square. At Trafalgar Square, continue south toward the Thames on Northumberland Ave. At the river, cross on the Hungerford Bridge right in front of you. At the end of the bridge, turn left to follow the The Queen’s Walk along the Thames until the path ends after the Southwark Bridge. Borough Market is under the railway bridge near the London Bridge station. The official address is 8 Southwark Street SE1 1TL.
