Hello Runners!
I’m writing this week from somewhere in now-entirely-separate Europe.  I missed seeing you all yesterday morning, but loved getting the photos you sent, and am so excited that so many of you chose to take on the Heath Full 8 route!  Well done– this is making us SO strong!

Running this week.  For Monday our Routes team has created a new variation on an old run– through Sloane Square and on to the Thames, but then crossing the river and circling around Battersea Park before crossing back and running along Embankment to Westminster.  The route is 9 miles, but do keep an eye on your mileage because it may vary depending on which paths you take in Battersea Park.  If you need extra distance, you can always carry on to Green Park.  On Wednesday we’re doing the 2-mile tempo loop around Regent’s Park Outer Circle.  See the Routes section below for full instructions.  And Friday we’re going up the Hill and once again conquering the full Heath, 8-mile route.  This is a great time in our training to keep taking on this challenge, and hopefully it will begin to feel quite do-able and a little more familiar– but you also have the other Heath options, as always, 

Training Notes.  I’ll keep it brief this week with just a couple of reminders.  There are only six long training runs before the Prague Half Marathon!  We’ve laid out a training plan and given you routes and distances each week, and over many years this plan has trained hundreds of women to successfully run a half marathon.  But it’s important to remember that following the plan means getting out consistently for these runs.  If you aren’t training regularly, and then you go out for a long run or a tempo workout, you may injure yourself.  If you are feeling some niggling aches and pains, try to get in to see a physio/osteo/doctor or other professional as soon as possible.  And if you need help figuring out how to adapt the plan and ramp up to being ready, please get in touch– though we are not professionals, we’ve got some great resources in this group!  Another good reminder for this time of year is to think about your shoes and running kit.  If you will need to replace something before the race, it’s a good idea to take care of it now so you can get some good miles in them and be sure they are comfortable and ready to take you through the race.  It’s also good to be trying out your fueling options (which we covered in last week’s note)– gels, shot blocks, etc– during these long training runs.  The best policy is ‘nothing new for the race!’

Shoutouts and Announcements.  The Royal Parks Half Marathon ballot is open right now, but closing very soon (notifications come out February 7!).  This event, held October 11 this year, is our home-course race, encompassing the lovely park routes we run on a weekly basis.  Sign up now if you want a chance at a spot in the race.  Or, if you want to secure a charity spot, we’ve heard from The Eve Appeal– the UK’s leading gynaecological cancer charity– to offer us access to some of their places (with a fundraising commitment, of course).  You can find out more at  https://eveappeal.org.uk/getting-involved/take-on-a-challenge/running/ or reach out to our contact by e-mail.  And of course, coming up next Sunday, February 9, is the Cancer Research UK London Winter 10K.  Many of our runners will be participating, so be sure to look out for each other and cheer one another on in true WRW fashion!  Our running schedule the following week will be flexible, given that the ladies who ran the race will want to postpone their long run to Wednesday.  

Tuesday, February 11 is Kit pickup and race payment morning!  Look for an e-mail early this week with details on what the race costs are and a reminder if you ordered an annual WRW shirt, and please, please plan to stop in to settle your account and pick up any new kit you ordered in the Fall.  If you can’t make it that morning, please send a friend to do so on your behalf!

Save the date.  Our hard-working Routes Team met this week and made some updates to the upcoming schedule!  If you’ve already put in the runs as listed in the last couple weeks, please have a look and update your calendar!
Sunday, 9 February – Cancer Research UK London Winter 10K
Tuesday, 11 February – WRW Kit pickup and race payment date!
*Wednesday, 12 February – Canary Wharf w/Regents (10 miles) — *(long run that week suggested for Wednesday because of the large number of runners doing the 10k on Sunday)
Monday, 17 Feb – Friday, 21 Feb – February break for ASL, no official running schedule
Monday, 2 March – Canada Water (10 miles)
Monday, 16 March – Kew Gardens (11 miles)
Thursday, 26 March – Depart for Prague!

That’s it for this week.  Have a great weekend, everyone!  I’m looking forward to catching up with you all Monday morning for our fun, new route and, of course, the coffee afterwards!

xx Micki

ROUTES
Monday, 3rd February – Battersea Park to Big Ben (9 miles)
This route is a mash up of a few runs and includes a loop of Battersea Park…somewhere we haven’t run in a long time!

Start out from Barclays to Hyde Park, along the eastern edge of the park, and down to Sloane Street the usual way.  Continue through Sloane Square and down Chelsea Bridge Road, and over the Chelsea Bridge to the south bank of the Thames.  Turn right into Battersea Park and run along the outer perimeter of the park.  The park paths will meander some but that’s the fun of running in a park!  Once you make your way around the park and back to the Thames, run along the river path back to the Chelsea Bridge.  For the final part of the run head back over the bridge and run along the north side of the Thames along the Embankment all the way to Big Ben and the Westminster Tube Station. 

Wednesday, 5th February – 2 mile tempo run at sub race pace; 1 mile warm up/cool down
Head to the outer circle of Regent’s Park, taking the normal way to the Charlbert entrance. Turn right to pass the US Ambassador’s house (Winfield House) and continue past the mosque to York Bridge (this is where we sometimes turn left to run the inner circle). At this point pick up your pace, as the “tempo” part of the run begins (see guidance below). Stay on the Outer Circle and keep a sub-race pace back to the Charlbert entrance area (push yourself just past it to the second driveway of the Ambassador’s house for the full 2 miles). Ease into the wide entrance area and have a little recovery jog until your group is all gathered again. Consider a nice and easy cool-down just inside the park, then take an easy pace back to the St Johns Wood High Street for stretching, followed by coffee. 
Note that the tempo part of this run should be sub-race pace. Remember this is 2 miles, not 13, so it should be faster than race pace.  Everyone should be aiming for about 30 seconds faster than your race pace. If you are not sure of your race pace, this might be an opportunity to begin to gauge it. Below are suggested times, but these are just general guidelines. Please adjust if these are too fast or too slow!
For the 8’s – 7:45-8:00 per mile
For the 9’s – 8:45 per mile
For the 10’s – 9:55 per mile
For the 11’s – 10:55 per mile

Friday, 7th February – The Heath 8 miles
Run down Circus Rd past Starbucks to the end and turn left on Townshend Rd. Turn right on Acacia then left on Avenue. Cross diagonally over Adelaide Rd to run past the Swiss Cottage tube and proceed up Fitzjohn’s Avenue. Run up the hill to the Hampstead Heath Tube. Continue up Heath St (to the left of the Tube) all the way to the stoplight at E Heath Rd. Cross at the light, continue past the roundabout, and enter the Heath at the first trail entrance on your right. Follow this major trail down past Lime Avenue and other smaller trails, fields and forested areas. As the trail starts to veer right, take the sharp left to run up Parliament Hill. Enjoy the spectacular vista (and catch your breath before continuing down the other side of the hill, keeping left when the path splits and taking a sharp left at the bottom of the hill. Run past three ponds on your right, turn right after the third pond and up the rise to a wide gate (loos on your left here). Go through the gate and turn left along the eastern edge of the Heath. Follow the path downhill then up until you reach the gate on the left that marks the entrance to the Kenwood House grounds. Enter the grounds, turn right to run past Kenwood House, then right again through the gate onto a gravelly path. Follow the path through a gate, and stay on the path as it bears left and passes a wooden bench on the left. Keep your eye out for a small clearing ahead on the left with another bench — when you see it (but before you pass it!) take a hard right down a steep path that crosses a small bridge and heads uphill again. Turn right at the main trail intersect (this is the same trail you ran down at the beginning of the Heath, in the opposite direction) and run back up to where you entered the Heath. Turn left on Spaniards Rd and retrace your steps all the way back to SJW and Starbucks.

As always, the other Heath routes are always an option:
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 OR Pergola route
7.5 miles: The Highgate route
8 miles:  The full Heath route
Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes.