Hi everyone,

This week we’re all about Paddington Bear! There are 50 Paddington Bear statues across London to celebrate the arrival of the Paddington movie in cinemas.  Each bear is different and they’ve been designed by an interesting group of celebrities and artists.  At the end of December, the bears will be auctioned off to aid charity.  This week we have two routes that will lead you to see some Paddington Bears.  Monday we have a modified Hyde Park/Green Park route that leads you past six Bears and on Wednesday we have a Paddington route that leads you past nine bears including the original Paddington Bear in Paddington station.  If you’re not up for the new Paddington routes you can do the original routes planned for this week, Hyde Park on Monday and Notting Hill on Wednesday.

Here is the link to the map of ALL the Paddington Bears:

http://www.visitlondon.com/paddington/trail-map

To give you a little inspiration, here’s our small group from last Friday that found the original Paddington!

Keep running,

Jane

ROUTES

OPTION 1

Monday 1 December – Paddington Bear in the Three Parks (6-7 miles)

(Bring your Oyster card, we’ll tube home from Westminster or Green Park)

Bear 1

For this route, we head to Hyde Park in our regular way of Circus Road, to Grove End Road, to Lisson Grove/Seymour Place and into Hyde Park.  We’ll turn left and head along the Park Lane path to Hyde Park corner.   Follow the path to the end of the Serpentine and you’ll have found the first bear, The Journey of Marmalade, On the Bridge near the Serpentine Bar and Kitchen, Hyde Park, SW1X 7LA.

Bear 2

Exit the park at Sloane Street (near Harvey Nichols) turn right on Basil Street and run until you see Flutterby (by Emma Watson) at Hans Crescent, Knightsbridge Tube exit, next to Harrods, SW1X 0LZ.

Bear 3

Turn Right on Sloane Street and left on Pont Street.  Run around Belgrave Square and head back to Hyde Park corner.  Run under Wellington Arch and along Constitution Hill until you get to Buckingham Palace and see Golden Paws (by David Beckham) Canada Gate, Green Park, Opposite Buckingham Palace SW1A 1AA.

Bear 4

Run along the Mall and then cross St. James Park and turn left along Birdcage Walk.  At the end of the park, turn left up Horse Guards Road to see Paddington Jack, Clive Steps, Horse Guard Parade, Outside Churchill War Rooms, SW1A 2AE

Bear 5

Turn right on King Charles Street and then left on Whitehall to see Paddington is Great, Downing Street, Whitehall, SW1A 2AA.  

Bear 6

Head back down Whitehall toward Westminster Tube to see the sixth bear, Good News Bear, Great George Street, Parliament Square, SW1P 3AL.

You can take the tube home from Westminster for a 6 mile run or head back to Green Park tube for a 7 mile run.

OPTION 2

Monday 1 December – Hyde Park (5-8 miles)

Let’s work off that turkey with our ever versatile run to Hyde Park!

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—you’ll see a silver orb just inside the park.  

5 Milers:  Run straight when you enter the park and turn left when the path end.  Turn left again at Hyde Park Corner and head back along the eastern edge of the park before exiting at the Animals of War memorial and follow Upper Brook Street.  Turn left on Park Street which becomes Gloucester Place and then Park Road back to St. John’s Wood. 

6 Milers: Upon entering the park, turn right at the silver sphere and run until you meet N Carriage Road where you turn left.  Run down to the Serpentine, crossing over the bridge then left to run along the Serpentine. At the end of the Serpentine, turn left again and make your way to the eastern edge of the park before exiting at the Upper Brook St/Animals in War exit.  Continue along Upper Brook Street to Park Street, turn left, take it to Park Road and into SJW.

8 Milers: Follow the 6 mile run but do not turn left at No Carriage Rd, instead cross over [this is tricky, be careful] and follow until you reach the large broadwalk where you turn left.  Run past Kensington Palace (on your right) and take a left to run along the southern edge of the park towards Hyde Park Corner, then turn left on the eastern edge and exit at Upper Brook St/Animals in War exit as above.  Take Upper Brook Street to Park Street [left] to Park Road and home to SJW.

OPTION 1

Wednesday 3 December – Paddington Bear in Paddington (5 miles)

Bear 1

Start out the way we head to the Blomfield Street canal entrance, taking Circus Road, turn left on Grove End, right on St. John’s Wood Road, left on Cunningham Place and follow around until you cross Maida Vale.  Continue across to Blomfield Road and run past the canal entrance to Warwick Ave, turn left and enter the little park on the west side of Warwick Ave.  (You may need to use the zebra crossing further down on Warwick Ave to cross the street.)  You have reached our first bear, Love Paddington X, Rembrandt Gardens, Little Venice W2 1XB.

Bear 2

Head back to Blomfield Road and turn left until you get to the canal entrance at the Westbourne Terrace Road bridge.  Follow the canal path toward Paddington.  (This is the way we return from the Notting Hill loop, but we’re going in the opposite direction.)  The second bear is in the green open area in the middle of the office buildings at Sheldon Square, across from Itsu.  You’ve reached Texting Paddington, Sheldon Square, W2 6EZ.

Bear 3

Run along the canal and you’ll find the next bear just past Bishops Bridge Road.  You’ve reached The Mayor of Paddington, Canalside Plaza, W2 1LA.

Bear 4

Continue along the canal until you reach the entrance to Paddington underground station.  Run through the station until you find area between tracks 8 and 9.  You have reached the original Paddington, Platform 8 and 9 Paddington Station, W2 1AE.

Bear 5

From the platform, exit straight out of the station to London Street, stopping at Norfolk Square Gardens.   You’ve reached the next bear, Paddingtonscape, Norfolk Square Gardens, London Street, W2 1RU.

Bear 6

Continue on London Street and turn right on Sussex Gardens.  Follow Sussex Gardens until you enter Hyde Park at Lancaster Gate.   The next bear is near the Italian Gardens.  You’ve reached Paws Engage, Kensington Gardens, Lancaster Gate entrance, W2 3PS.

Bear 7

Exit Hyde Park and head back up Sussex Gardens until making a left on Norfolk Place and then right on Praed Street.  Turn left on Sale Place, you’re back at the Paddington Basin.  You need to be on the far side of the canal to see Futuristic Robot Bear, Merchant Square, Paddington Basin, W2 1JS.  

Bear 8

Continue along the canal to see on the right, Bearing Up, St. Mary’s Footbridge, Paddington Basin, W2 1AF.

Bear 9

Just a little further along on the right you’ll see Brick Bear, Canal Towpath, Paddington, W2 1AF.

Cross the footbridge to reach the other side of the canal and then return to St. John’s Wood along the canal in the same way that we started.  You’ve run 5 miles and saw 9 bears including the original Paddington!

OPTION 2

Wednesday 3 December – Notting Hill (4-6+ miles)

Start out by heading west on Circus Road, turn left on Grove End to St John’s Wood Road and go west, working your way to the canal entrance on Blomfield.  Enter the canal and run to the Ladbroke Grove exit then run down Ladbroke Grove to Elgin Crescent and make a left.  Continue to Ledbury and go right and then left at Westbourne Grove.  Run down Westbourne Grove over Bishop’s Bridge and down the steps into Sheldon Square [across from Paddington Station].  Go back along the canal and out where you entered, then run back to Starbucks.

You also have the option of a shorter run by not getting off the canal. Run half the distance you want, turn around and head home. As a rule of thumb, the two mile mark is the Westway overpass.

Friday 5 December – The Heath

It’s Friday again, so everyone up Fitzjohn’s.  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.

In addition, 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

6-7 miles:  The partial Heath route

8 miles:  The full Heath route

Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes.

______________________________________

Website:  https://womenrunningtheworld.commm

Facebook Group:  Women Running The World (request to join)

Email: [email protected]

Hi all,

Due to the American Thanksgiving holiday, many of our runners are out of town or unavailable to run on Wednesday and Friday so we’ll do one route for Monday this week. We’re running to the Happening Bagel Bakery (LOVE that name!) in Finsbury Park via Highgate and the Greenbelt.  This is one of my favourite routes and we don’t do it often because the first part takes us up the hill in Hampstead, which we usually do on Friday.  The first part is the hill, but the second part is beautiful as we run through Highgate and then a stretch of woodland.  If you’ve never done this route before I strongly encourage you to give it a try. (If I can’t twist your arm to try it, you could always do one of our other Heath routes.)  

We’re not setting routes for Wednesday and Friday.  If you want to run, show up for an 8:30 start and as a group you can decide where you would like to go.

Keep running,

Jane

ROUTES

Monday 24 November

Happening Bagel via Highgate and Finsbury Greenbelt – 7 miles

For this run we start up Fitzjohn’s like we’re going to the Heath, but pass the entrance and continue up Spaniards/Hampstead Lane to Highgate.  Cross the street at the big intersection and go down Southwood Lane and at the bottom of the hill veer to the right onto Jackson’s Lane. Continue down Jackson’s to Archway Road and make a right, then a relatively quick left onto Holmesdale Road.  Run a short distance on Holmesdale and the entrance to the Finsbury Greenbelt will be on your left.  Follow the path to Finsbury Park, cross over the train tracks, turn right and run along the western edge of the park and exit onto Seven Sister’s Road.  Happening Bagel is across the street and we will go to Costa for coffee. We will take the tube home from the Finsbury Park Station.

Wednesday 26th and Friday 28th November

Happy Thanksgiving to all celebrating this week!  We will not be setting routes during these ASL holidays but feel free to grab some friends and explore London.  You might want to run down to Borough Market to add to your Thanksgiving table.  The route is on the website: https://womenrunningtheworld.comm/Women_Running_the_World/Routes/Routes.html

Hi everyone,

Thanks for your flexibility with the route on Monday.  We had a few runners head out to Canary Wharf and many runners who took the route through Farringdon, but then headed east out to the Tower of London for a viewing of the Poppies.   It’s a good reminder to always bring your Oyster card because sometimes we do change plans on the day.  Sorry we didn’t advertise it ahead of time, but I took the good suggestion from others that morning.

Wednesday was a classic London day, pouring rain at 7:45 and sun by 8:45.  Friday was just straight pouring rain, but we still had a good turnout to run up the hill.  You never know what we’ll get from the London weather – just come out and run!

This week we head out to Putney Bridge on Monday, Kensal Rise on Wednesday and back up the Hill on Friday.   There’s a speaker at ASL on Wednesday so we’ll wait until early December to do our Paddington Bear run.

Good luck racers!

We have many current and former WRW members meeting in Las Vegas this weekend to run a half marathon.  Good luck from London to Molly Ashford, Susan Breeden, Colleen Crescenti, Kelly Ezickson, Peggy Ford, Christine Galiardo, Lynn Gilbert, Jill Granader, Lisa Hill, Georgine Hoffman, Lynne Hodge, Mindy Hollar, Francesca Howell, Colleen Kirkley, Betsy LaMaster, Mee Lee, Becky Lindon, Dorrie Marks, Kathy McMahon, Paula Mitchell, Carmine Najjar, Ariadne Petrucelli, Danya Roberts, Sue Rushmore, Diane Schlinkert, Pam Shields and Traci Tipple.  We hope you have a great race!

Training Plans

We’ve posted two training plans on the website for the April 19 half marathon in Italy.  There’s our standard training plan and also a gradual plan for runners who don’t want to tackle as many miles as part of training.

Foam Roller Exercises

In case you missed it on our Facebook page, here’s a link to Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop website that did a post on different exercises and stretches using a foam roller, complete with photos.

Feedback on shirts

We’re starting to plan the WRW shirt for this year and we’d love to get some feedback from you.  We can’t take everyone’s suggestion but we’d love to hear your preferences.  How do you feel about no-sleeve, short-sleeve, or long-sleeve, maybe with a half zip?  Any color requests?  Any great ideas for a slogan?

Finally, here’s part of Friday’s very wet group in front of the Hampstead tube station.

Keep running,

Jane

ROUTES

Monday 17 November – Putney High Street (7.75 miles)

We’ll start out with our usual trek to Hyde Park, turning right along the southern path until we get to the One Hyde Park complex where we’ll turn left, passing through to Sloane Street and running south all the way to the Thames [keep an eye out for some great window shopping!].  Turn right and run along the north side of the river on Embankment/Cheyne Walk.  Just before Lots Road, turn right onto Cremorne Road which becomes Ashburnham Road.  Turn left onto Kings Road and run through Chelsea, Parsons Green, all the way to its end at Fulham High Street.  Turn left, crossing the Putney Bridge and run to the Starbucks on the left hand side of the street [past Fulham Bridge Road].  Stop, stretch and stay for a coffee!  We’ll take the train home from the Putney Station to Waterloo, then transfer to the Jubilee Line to SJW.

***If you want to have a 3.5 mile option, run to the Sloane Square Tube station and take the Tube home.***

Wednesday 19 November – Kensal Rise (6 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, working your way to the canal entrance on Blomfield.  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.

 

Friday 21 November – The Heath

It’s Friday again, so everyone up Fitzjohn’s.  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.

In addition, 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

6-7 miles:  The partial Heath route

8 miles:  The full Heath route

Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes.

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for all the great feedback about our Monday run through the Brompton Cemetery.  We had a large group run to Whole Foods and many women stayed for coffee.  Great fun!  I wish we had a big empty Whole Foods on the St. John’s Wood high street so we could meet there every week.

Building distance in our training

This week we have our first long destination run on the schedule – Canary Wharf at 9 miles.  Please note that the standard training program has a base of 7-8 mile long runs in November-December with a suggestion that you try a 9-10 mile run if you are feeling strong.  The gradual training program has a base of 5-6 mile long runs.  I would suggest that if you haven’t run 7-8 miles a few times this year, then don’t be tempted to jump to the 9 mile run.  There are options to run shorter distances.  One easy option is to run with the group to The Wall and then loop back.  Another option is to run to The Wall and then follow the Farringdon/Embankment/Green Park route that we did a few weeks ago.  The maps for all routes are listed in the routes section.

Save the Date – Upcoming runs

17 November – Putney High Street (7.75 miles)

24 November – Finsbury Happening Bagel, via the Greenbelt (7 miles)

1 December – Hyde Park (as we recover from Thanksgiving!)

8 December – Wembley Park (7-9 miles)

15 December – Sloane Square, Westminster, Green Park (7 miles)

There are usually options to shorten the mileage on all these routes.

Paddington Bear Trail

Paddington Bear has come to London and there are 50 statues of the famous bear throughout the city from now until 30 December.  We’re going to create a few routes, probably for Wednesday runs, for those who might like to run to see the bears.  Stay tuned – we should have the first route for next week.

Feedback on shirts

The last two years we’ve created a WRW shirt and they’ve been a big hit.  I’m sure you’ve seen women wearing the “Run Like a Girl” and “We Run London” shirts.  We’re starting to plan for the shirt for this year and we’d love to get some feedback from you.  We can’t take everyone’s suggestion but we’d love to hear your preferences.  How do you feel about no-sleeve, short-sleeve, or long-sleeve, maybe with a half zip?  Any color requests?  Any great ideas for a slogan?

A group of friends

A small reminder to everyone that WRW is really just a group of friends who like to run together.  We have a lot of knowledge in the group from the experience of running, but none of us (especially me!) are professional experts.  We tend to offer general wisdom about training such as it’s important to gradually add mileage and it’s important to properly stretch.  It’s crucial that if something is bothering you, little or big, that you seek out professional advice from an expert.  Or if you are new to running or new to running longer distances, you may want to see an expert to make sure that you are healthy and OK to tackle this challenge.  We have the names of some experts listed on our website.

Padua trip update

On Thursday, I sent an update email to all the people who are attending the Padua half-marathon trip.  If you didn’t receive the email and you’re planning to attend the trip, please let me know so we can make sure that our records are correct.

Upcoming races

Thanks to Yianna who suggested the following upcoming races:

Regents Park 10K for After Adoption

Sunday 16 November 2014 at 10:00am

Cancer Research London Winter Run – 10K

Sunday 1 February 2015 at 9:45am

That’s all for now!

Keep running,

Jane

ROUTES

Monday 10 November

Canary Wharf [~9 miles] –OR—The Wall [6 miles] – OR Farringdon/Embankment/Green Park (6-7miles)

Okay, ready for one of our iconic destination runs?  Today, we have a choice of long run [Canary Wharf] or a shorter run [The Wall] or a shorter destination to Green Park via the Embankment..  Either way, we’ll all start out and do the first three miles together.

Option 1:  Canary Wharf

Section One – Canal to the Wall

The route starts out as the Wall.  Run along Prince Albert Road to join the canal at Charlbert Street.  Run along the canal for approximately 3 miles until the canal pathway ends at the famous “Wall.”

Section Two – Angel Roads

We need to run through the Angel neighbourhood until we can re-enter the canal path.   At the Wall follow the ramp up to Muriel Street.  (This is a good place to wait for your pace group.)  Take a right and then an almost immediate left up a path that winds between the apartment buildings.  See the picture below for 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.  (NB:  There is a public Ladies Room at the end of White Conduit Street, which intersects with Chapel Market at the Euphorium Bakery.)  Turn right at Liverpool Street to the major road Upper Street.  Cross Upper Street and turn left.  (NB:  Angel Tube Station is to your right if you are going home from here.)  Make your first right at Duncan Street (Jack Wills shop at the corner) and follow until the end.  The entrance to the canal path will be directly in front of you.  Go straight along the canal (NOT a sharp right turn.)

Section Three – Canal to Limehouse Basin

We run for about 4 miles following the canal path to the Limehouse Basin.  We exit the canal path at the wire looking bridge – see picture below – and take the brown brick steps up to the left.

Section Four – Limehouse Basin to Canary Wharf

At the top of the brick steps, go straight.  At the Limehouse Gallery and Bronze Age shop turn right.  Run along the water until you reach the second metal foot-bridge leading to a park.  Cross the bridge and run through the park.  (You’ll see that the way we have gone in the past is blocked so we need to make a slight detour.)  When you reach the road (Narrow St.), turn left and run past the Dunbar Wharf and make your first right on Three Colt Street.  Run until you hit the water again and turn left.  Run with the water on your right until you see the long flight of steps next to Royal China – see picture below.  You’re almost there!  Only a third of a mile remaining!

 Run up the steps and straight ahead, through the small park to India Drive and then veer slightly right along Cabot Square.  You’re heading for the big sky-scraper building in front of you.  Stop when you see the sign for the Canary Wharf DLR Station at the ‘mall’ entrance on the South Colonnade.  We’ll meet at the Starbucks inside the building on the right, next to the DLR station.  After a much earned coffee, we’ll head to the Canary Wharf Tube station [Jubilee Line] and tube it home to SJW.  Congratulations!

 

Option 2:  The Wall

Enter the canal at the Charlbert entrance.  Run east [left], cutting through the Camden Lock Market until you run out of canal path at Islington.  Touch the canal boat tunnel wall—this is The Wall!—then turn around and re-trace your steps back to SJW.  When you come off the canal at Regents Park, take Charlbert to Allitsen to SJW High Street to Starbucks.

Option 3:  Canal/Farringdon/Embankment/Green Park (6-7+ miles)

Head out the canal to “The Wall”.  Exit the canal and turn right at the top of the exit onto Muriel/Rodney Street.  This will turn into Penton Rise, then King’s Cross and eventually Farringdon Street. 

4.5 milers:  Continue along Farringdon Street until Clerkenwell Road.  Turn left onto Clerkenwell and then right onto Turnmill Street.  Farringdon tube will be on the right – you’re done.

6 milers:  Stay on Farringdon Street all the way to the river.  Once you hit the Thames, turn right and run along the embankment.  When you reach Embankment tube station, take the tube home. 

7.5 milers:  Continue along the embankment until Westminster.  (If you take the tube from Westminster, you’ll have run 6.5 miles)  Turn right onto Westminster Bridge Road and continue onto Birdcage Walk.  Cut through St James Park towards The Mall.  Turn left onto The Mall and then right onto the path just past Clarence House.  Run the path up and then take the tube home from Green Park.

 

Wednesday 12 November

Notting Hill 4-6+miles

Keep your eyes open as this is often a celebrity spotting route!

Start out by heading west on Circus Road, turn left on Grove End to St John’s Wood Road and go west, working your way to the canal entrance on Blomfield.  Enter the canal and run to the Ladbroke Grove exit then run down Ladbroke Grove to Elgin Crescent and make a left.  Continue to Ledbury and go right and then left at Westbourne Grove.  Run down Westbourne Grove over Bishop’s Bridge and down the steps into Sheldon Square [across from Paddington Station].  Go back along the canal and out where you entered, then run back to Starbucks.

You also have the option of a shorter run by not getting off the canal. Run half the distance you want, turn around and head home. As a rule of thumb, the two mile mark is the Westway overpass.

Friday 14 November

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. 

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

6-7miles:  The partial Heath route

8 miles:  The full Heath route

Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes.

______________________________________

Website:  https://womenrunningtheworld.commm

Facebook Group:  Women Running The World (request to join)

Email: [email protected]

Hi everyone,

I hope you had a Happy Halloween!  I loved your running “costumes” on Friday.  Great fun! 

On Monday, we head to the Whole Foods on the Kensington High Street via the Brompton Cemetery.  This is a good route for many reasons.  First, this is one of the first long routes that the beginner group tackles.  For all the ex-beginners, you can compare what it feels like to run 6.5 miles this year as compared to last year.  Second, we get to see the Brompton Cemetery, which is a hidden London gem.  The Brompton Cemetery opened in 1840 and is regarded as one of the finest Victorian Metropolitan cemeteries in the country.  Third, we end at Whole Foods for a gourmet coffee or treat or a chance to do a little shopping.  Finally, we’re building to running more than 6 miles in a fun way!  Please take a look at the map because we haven’t been this direction in a while.

On Wednesday we head out to The Wall.  The last time we ran to The Wall, I remembered what an important training run this is because it is one of the few times that we run for a long stretch with no stops, no traffic lights.  It can be difficult, but it’s great for your fitness.  Friday we’re back up the hill!

Keep running,

Jane

ROUTES

Monday 3 November – Whole Foods via Brompton Cemetery (6.5+ miles)

Today we’ll earn our post-run treat by ending at Whole Foods on the Kensington High Street!  Bring your shopping list if you want.

We start out the normal way to Hyde Park.  Once you enter the park, turn left and run along the east side of the park.  At Hyde Park Corner turn right and run along the south side exiting at the gate at Sloane Street.  Cross the street, take a right.  Turn left at Brompton Road (just past the tube) and take Brompton all the way (admiring Harrods as you pass) until Fulham Road.  Turn left on Fulham and continue to Brompton Cemetery.  Turn right to enter the park at the cemetery.  Run through the cemetery and turn right onto Old Brompton Road.  Turn left onto Earls Court Road. Turn right onto Cromwell Road and then turn left onto Marloes Road. Continue north on Marloes making your way through the streets to Kensington High Street.  Whole Foods will be to your right.  

Wednesday 5 November – The Wall (3 to 6 miles)

We head down towards Regents Park, then enter the canal at the Charlbert entrance and run east [left] cutting through Camden Lock Market until we run out of canal path at Islington and hit “The Wall”.  At The Wall, we turn around and head back to St. John’s Wood.  This is a great route to do a tempo run because there are no traffic lights.  But please be careful and aware of the bikes on the path.

If you run all the way to The Wall and back it is 6 miles.  But it is very easy to run half the distance if you want and turn around and head home.  As a marker, if you run to the Camden market (where we have to exit the canal path and run past the food stalls for a minute) and return home it is a 3 mile round trip.

Friday 7 November – 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. 

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

6-7miles:  The partial Heath route

8 miles:  The full Heath route

Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes.

Hi all,

Welcome to the new runners that just joined the group this week.  We’re thrilled for you to join us!  A reminder to everyone who joined this year – if you’re finding your group a bit too fast or slow, just email me and I can introduce you to a group that may be more your speed.  Most days we have a large group of runners so there will be someone running close to your pace.  

Thanks for all the photos and the good feedback about last Monday’s run to Westminster via Farringdon.  One of the fun things about building our mileage is that we can branch out and explore London!  

ASL is off on Monday for an all-school parent conference day so we’ll start at 8:30am. We kept it simple with the Hyde Park routes for Monday – feel free to pick your distance.  Wednesday we return to the familiar Kensal Rise loop and Friday is HALLOWEEN!  Let’s dress up for Halloween – nothing too elaborate because you still have to run – but be creative!  A crazy hat?  A Halloween top?  Your favourite English fascinator?  I challenge you – and promise fame and fortune to the woman with the best running “costume.”

Travel to Italy

We’ve updated the website with the travel information for our Padua race in April. Once you make your hotel and flight reservations, please email Patricia Shelton ([email protected]) with the specifics so we can keep track of our numbers.  

Nutrition

Nutrition is a hot topic these days and it seems every day there is a new expert with a new view.  How do you sort it all out?  Over the next few months, we’re going to tap into the experience and knowledge of our group and offer some guidance on nutrition topics for runners.  See below for our first tips on post run food options.

Eating after the run

Below is some advice from Paula Mitchell.  I love hearing her voice in the words so I kept her exact quotes.  Paula has a lot of experience with running, but also coaching other runners. 

“Within 30 minutes after you run, I would suggest the following:

•50g carbohydrates

•10g protein

•2g fat

The protein piece is critical as is the timing of this food.  Again, a nutritionist/scientist would cringe at how I try to explain this, but here we go… when you exercise your muscles are agitated/traumatised.  The cell membranes temporarily become more porous (instead of a wall, it’s more like a mesh allowing the flow of nutrients easy passage).  Some post-run ideas would be a latte and yogurt, a latte and a piece of fruit or a latte and half a skinny muffin.  Basically a tall, skinny latte has 15g of carbs, 10g of protein and 0g fat – so you’re looking for another 35g of carbs in addition to the latte.  This would apply to longer runs and what qualifies as a long run is different from runner to runner.  You’re probably just fine eating whatever you normally consume until about mid-end November when our runs lengthen.”

That’s all for now! 

Keep running,

Jane

ROUTES

Monday 27 October–No ASL–Hyde Park

Monday is an all school day off at ASL, so we’ll make it easy for those who can make it out by heading to Hyde Park.  All the routes are on the WRW website link here so grab some buddies and run whichever distance you prefer!

Wednesday 29 October – Kensal Rise 4-6 miles

This week we’ll head west along the canal. Remember to be aware of bikes and boat mooring posts along the way!

Start out heading west on Circus Road, turn left on Grove End to St John’s Wood Road and go west, working your way to the canal entrance on Blomfield.  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 31 October – Boo!  The “Haunted” Heath (4-8 miles)

Nothing to be scared of here as we do our traditional run up the hill on Fridays.  It may feel hard but your reward is the extra Halloween candy you can munch on tonight!  Dress up if you dare!

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

6-7 miles:  The partial Heath route

8 miles:  The full Heath route

Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes.

Hi everyone,

Thanks for another good week of running!  Over the next month we have some interesting routes to get comfortable with a 6-7 mile distance so that by mid- November to mid- December we can build to 8 miles.  (As always, we’ll have ways to shorten or lengthen most of our runs.)  In general, always bring your Oyster card.  It takes a bit longer to do a destination run, but it’s fun and much more interesting than always looping back to St. Johns Wood.   

On Monday, we head out the canal to the (famous) Wall but then we exit the canal and run through Farringdon all the way to the Embankment.  We follow the river to the Embankment tube (6 miles), Westminster tube (6.5 miles) or to Green Park tube (7.5 miles). Wednesday we do our classic Notting Hill run and Friday we’re back up the hill.  (Amy, our fantastic webmaster, is running in Amsterdam so this email won’t be on the website until early next week.  Let me know if you have questions about the Monday route and I can send you a more detailed map.)

Good Luck Racers!

We have a big group running in Amsterdam this weekend.  Julie Clark, Darcy Fautz, Maureen Fossumm, Amy Grace, Poornima Guruprasad, Mee Lee, Holly Bell Stevens and Meg Stone are running a half marathon.  Lesley Gallagher and Stacey Towfighi are running an 8K.  Good luck everyone!

Congratulations Paula!

Paula Mitchell finished the 250 Km Atacama Crossing with flying colors!  She was the 6th woman and 45th overall finisher out of 160 runners who started the race.   The first 5 women finishers were in their 20ies and 30ies so Paula also won her age group as well.   The mileage was nothing compared to the harsh conditions – heat in the day, freezing at night, running on sand, and up steep sand dunes, through rivers and over salt flats that we so sharp they could cut through your shoes.  WOW!  Paula, we are SO PROUD of you!  What a triumph!

Congratulations Tammie!

Tammie Perdue ran the Royal Parks half marathon last weekend and had a great race.  Well done Tammie!

Need some inspiration?

I read the following short article by Mara Yamauchi, who is known as the second-fastest British woman runner behind Paula Radcliffe and took 2nd place in the 2009 London marathon.  She talks about ten benefits of running – it is a simple list but a good one.  I love this quote, “You always feel better after a run than before you set out.”  Click here for the article.

Keep running,

Jane

ROUTES THIS WEEK

Monday 20 October

Canal/Farringdon/Embankment/Green Park(6-7+ miles)

Again this Monday, choose your distance as this route has options.  Everybody head out the canal to “The Wall”.  Exit the canal and turn right at the top of the exit onto Muriel/Rodney Street.  This will turn into Penton Rise, then King’s Cross and eventually Farringdon Street. 

4.5 milers:  Continue along Farringdon Street until Clerkenwell Road.  Turn left onto Clerkenwell and then right onto Turnmill Street.  Farringdon tube will be on the right – you’re done.

6 milers:  Stay on Farringdon Street all the way to the river.  Once you hit the Thames, turn right and run along the embankment.  When you reach Embankment tube station,  take the tube home. 

7.5 milers:  Continue along the embankment until Westminster.  (If you take the tube from Westminster, you’ll have run 6.5 miles)  Turn right onto Westminster Bridge Road and continue onto Birdcage Walk.  Cut through St James Park towards The Mall.  Turn left onto The Mall and then right onto the path just past Clarence House.  Run the path up and then take the tube home from Green Park.

Wednesday 22 October

Notting Hill (4-6+ miles)

Start out by heading west on Circus Road, turn left on Grove End to St John’s Wood Road and go west, working your way to the canal entrance on Blomfield.  Enter the canal and run to the Ladbroke Grove exit then run down Ladbroke Grove to Elgin Crescent and make a left.  Continue to Ledbury and go right and then left at Westbourne Grove.  Run down Westbourne Grove over Bishop’s Bridge and down the steps into Sheldon Square [across from Paddington Station].  Go back along the canal and out where you entered, then run back to Starbucks. 

You also have the option of a shorter run by not getting off the canal. Run half the distance you want, turn around and head home. As a rule of thumb, the two mile mark is the Westway overpass.

Friday 24 October – 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

6-7 miles:  The partial Heath route

8 miles:  The full Heath route

Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes.

Hi everyone,

Another great week of running!  I’m especially proud of the runners who are joining the group after some time off.  We all know how difficult those first runs back can be!  Keep at it, each day will be easier!

If you’ve been busy and missed a run or two, please come join us again!  If you can run consistently, it is best for your fitness/training and will help you avoid injury.  Besides it’s fun!  (Well, at least the coffee part is fun…)

Bring your Oyster card on Monday because we’re heading down to Sloane Square and the Embankment.  There are a few options for taking the tube home.

Goals

Over these next few weeks, think about your goals for the year.  Would you like to participate in the half-marathon in the spring?  If so, would you like to target a certain finish time or just plan to run a strong race regardless of time?  We’ll have training tips to help you reach your goals.

Stretching

We all know how important it is to stretch and we all know that we could stretch more than we do.  Don’t finish running at the Starbucks counter and go straight to sitting with a cup of coffee!  Consider walking the last bit of the run and then spend some time to properly stretch.  I’m realising that we may be too big of a group to stretch outside of Starbucks because we block the sidewalk.  Maybe consider stretching at the park at the end of the High Street or even back at the plaza in front of Barclays or at one of the other quieter corners in town?  (If someone does say something nasty to you, try to reply with kindness.  This is also a reminder to me since there is nothing that makes my blood boil more than when people are nasty to us when we’re doing nothing wrong!)

Facebook Group

If you haven’t yet, please join our Facebook group, Women Running The World.  (You will need to request to join.)  It is a great way to share fun running and non-running photos, updates and information.

That’s all for now!

Keep running,

Jane

Monday 13 October  – Sloane Sq/Westminster/Green Park–3.75 to 7.5/10 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 exit by the tall shiny new ‘One Hyde Park’ complex, cross over Knightsbridge and continue ahead on 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!

7.5’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 10 miles.

Wednesday 15 October – The Wall 4-6 miles

Wednesday 24 September – The Wall (3 to 6 miles)

We head down towards Regents Park, then enter the canal at the Charlbert entrance and run east [left] cutting through Camden Lock Market until we run out of canal path at Islington and hit “The Wall.”  [Don’t forget to touch The Wall or else your run doesn’t count :p ].  At The Wall, we turn around and head back to St. John’s Wood.  This is a great route to do a tempo run because there are no traffic lights.  But please be careful and aware of the bikes on the path.

If you run all the way to The Wall and back it is 6 miles.  But it is very easy to run half the distance if you want and turn around and head home.  As a marker, if you run to the Camden market (where we have to exit the canal path and run past the food stalls for a minute) and return home it is a 3 mile round trip.

 

Friday 17 October – 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

6-7 miles:  The partial Heath route

8 miles:  The full Heath route

Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes.

Hi all,

Since there is no school at ASL on Friday, we’ll still be running but it may be a smaller group.  Plan to meet at Barclays for a slightly later start at 8:30.  

Good Luck Runners in the Windsor Half

On Sunday, Micki Heskett, Leah Neenan and Erin Roth are running the Windsor Half Marathon.  Good luck!  We hope you have a great race!

Good Luck Paula!!

For the new folks, Paula Mitchell is the woman who founded Women Running the World and was its talented and inspirational leader for many years.  Over the years she has completed many ULTRA races but this year she may be tackling her most difficult one yet.  On October 5, she begins the Atacama Challenge, a 250km, 6-stage, week-long, self-supported race across the Atacama Desert in Chile.  The Atacama is the driest desert in the world – 50 times more arid than California’s Death Valley.  Runners must prepare for daytime high temperatures of 103-104 degrees and freezing temperatures at night.  A self-supported race means that each participant must carry everything they will need for the WEEK on their back including food, sports drink powder, gels, sleeping bags, clothes, medical supplies etc.  The race website says that the average backpack weighs 20 lbs.  The race only provides water at check points and sets up tents for the racers (8-10 people to a tent – think about that for a minute!)  Paula would never ask, but I wanted to let you know that as part of this challenge she is raising money for the Kendall County Womens Shelter that provides a safe place for victims of abuse.  If you’re interested, click here for the fundraising page.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Sonia, Stefhanie, Alyse and Peg who completed the Kew Gardens 10K last weekend!  

Keep running,

Jane

ROUTES

Monday 29 September – Big Ben 4 – 8 miles

This is such a fun route!  We run right through the heart of London and stop at the famous Big Ben for a 4 mile option.  You can extend the run by looping back to Green Park Tube [5.5 mi] or all the way back to SJW [8 mi].  

 

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 the 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.  Those running four miles will take the tube back to SJW from here and those running eight will turn around and follow the same route back.

Wednesday 1 October – Notting Hill (4-6+ miles)

Keep your eyes open as this is often a celebrity spotting route! 

Start out by heading west on Circus Road, turn left on Grove End to St John’s Wood Road and go west, working your way to the canal entrance on Blomfield.  Enter the canal and run to the Ladbroke Grove exit then run down Ladbroke Grove to Elgin Crescent and make a left.  Continue to Ledbury and go right and then left at Westbourne Grove.  Run down Westbourne Grove over Bishop’s Bridge and down the steps into Sheldon Square [across from Paddington Station].  Go back along the canal and out where you entered, then run back to Starbucks.

You also have the option of a shorter run by not getting off the canal. Run half the distance you want, turn around and head home. As a rule of thumb, the two mile mark is the Westway overpass.

Friday 3 October – 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

6-7 miles:  The partial Heath route

8 miles:  The full Heath route

Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes.

______________________________________

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Facebook Group:  Women Running The World (request to join)

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