Hello Runners,
Hope you have enjoyed your weekend, and some well deserved rest after rocking our long run and intense speed workout last week! If you made it to Finsbury Park Friday, maybe you’ve been ‘replenishing’ your energy with some good bagels?
Sincere apologies for getting this note to you so late today– let’s just say there’s a lot going on behind the scenes. It is so fun to be getting close to our race date– only THREE WEEKS from today! I hope you all are feeling good and strong, and that the positive energy is equally there for all– whether going to Berlin or not. We’ve had several women join the group in the last few weeks and that always brings its own great energy– welcome, welcome, ladies!
Running this week. After a fairly big mileage total last week, we are taking it down just a notch this week. Monday we are doing a mashup route including Sloane Square and Battersea Park and ending at either Westminster (8 miles) or Green Park (9 miles). Our training plan calls for 8-9 miles this week, so you can take your choice of which finish based on how you’re feeling. Wednesday we will head to Brick Lane for a fun destination now that we are taking our pre-race break from doing speed work. It’s approximately 6.5 miles, so if you can’t take time for the destination, you can run one of our many looped routes of approximately that length (Notting Hill, Kensal Rise, Hyde Park partial). And Friday we are back up to the Heath, for a Runner’s Choice day. Pick your group’s favorite route and enjoy some hills together! Directions and maps, as always, are below in the Routes section, as are links to all of our Hampstead Heath runs.
Announcements and Shoutouts. Thanks to everyone for being patient with various filming sessions this past week. Please bear with us as we continue to film into the coming week– hopefully finishing up in a few days! Meanwhile, just a reminder that next Wednesday, March 23 will be the pre-race coffee in Regents Park after our run– all are welcome to attend, regardless of whether they are coming to Berlin. And finally, a more somber announcement: the lovely Melissa Kay is managing our Leaver’s List this year. If you are planning to leave London at the end of the school year, please let her know (or email WRW)– and also be assured she/we will keep it a secret if your plans are not yet public!
A couple of big shoutouts this week– to Morgan Lintz and Abby Khatiblou– for organizing our really fun WRW pub quiz last Wednesday night! We got a great chance to mix it up with tables of people randomly matched, and it was so fun to see who knows their British pop music, their politics and famous or not-so-famous faces. There are some smart ladies in this group– and with some really random and surprising facts in their brains! Another huge thank you to Devy Schonfeld for hosting the ‘first-timers’ information session– we had a great group of rookie racers, as well as some wise veterans to offer thoughts and field questions. Particularly, thanks to Veena Gopal and Kelly Willis for the insight and reassurance they offered us all! If you weren’t able to attend and you would like to see the notes, please let us know. They were emailed to all Berlin attendees this week, but we are happy to share with anyone!
Next Saturday we have several runners planning to run a 50k race– Centre of the Universe– around London. It’s a fun event in which racers– or teams of racers– create their own 50k anywhere around London but ending at the specific finish line in Hackney. We can’t wait to hear how it goes and give shoutouts next week! Good luck, ladies!
Mark your calendars… After a big day last Wednesday (first-time racer info session, and WRW Pub Quiz), our upcoming events list is getting shorter! Yes, there is life after April 3, and we will soon add to the list some of the fun runs we always do in the weeks after the race. Stay tuned!
Monday, March 21 – Kew Gardens run (11 miles)
Wednesday, March 23 – Pre-race Coffee (after run, in Regents Park)
Sunday, April 3 – Berlin Half Marathon!!!!
Best to all as the weekend winds down. Looking forward to seeing you out on the pavements for anothergreat week of running together!
xx Micki
ROUTES
Monday, 14 March – Battersea Loop to Big Ben (8 miles) or to Green Park (9 miles)
RunGo: https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/CBttvNfICO
This is a mash up of two of our routes– Battersea Loop and Sloane Sq to Green Park. If you are not running the Half, you can cut your route shorter today by taking the Tube home from Sloane Sq. Otherwise, ending at Westminster will give you 8 miles, and Green Park will give you 9 miles.
We head out to Hyde Park, along the eastern edge of the park, and down Sloane Street to Sloane Square the usual way. We continue through Sloane Square, 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 south side of the Thames to the Albert Bridge, where we cross back over the Thames and then turn right again (completing the “Loop”) to run along the north side of the Thames along the Embankment all the way to Westminster Tube Station.
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 take the tube home!
Wednesday 16 March – Brick Lane Art Tour- 6.6 miles
RunGo: https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/JtJprR11K2
Let’s head to Brick Lane to see some street art and get some bagels! This route takes you down several streets known for their street art. Street art is constantly changing so there are no guarantees, but chances are good you see something spectacular!
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 the 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 about a mile and a half, the water will be on your right. Follow the canal until you reach the Kingsland Road Bridge, Number 45. See the photo below.
Run up the ramp at the side (on the left) to get up to Kingsland Road. Turn right (you’ll be running back over the canal). Follow Kingsland Road– you’ll see the Gherkin building in the distance in front of you, and Kingsland Road will become Shoreditch High Street at Old Street and you will turn right shortly after onto Rivington Street. Turn left at Curtain Rd, run a couple of blocks and turn left on New Inn Yard. You should be seeing some art by now! Make your first right onto King John Court and left onto Holywell Lane. At the end, cross the road and bear slight right onto Bethnal Green Road. Take your first left onto Ebor St, right on Redchurch St, right on Chance and then left on Whitby to see some more popular art areas. Turn right onto Club Row, cross over Bethnal Green Rd and turn right and then the first left onto Sclater St. At Brick Lane, turn left and run up to Beigel Bake and Crosstown Doughnuts on your left.
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.
Friday 18 March – Heath – Runner’s Choice
It’s Friday so away we go to the hill! The hill is never easy but you always feel great at the top. So which will you choose this week?
<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.