Author: wrwlondon

6 – 10 May 2013 Running Info…

Stratford Half 27 April 2013

Hello Runners,

Plans for next year are coming together beautifully.  The running group will be better than ever!  Lynn is pulling together a team of people to help with different aspects of the group.  Next year, there will be runners providing nutritional tips, finding and promoting races, helping set routes, selecting and organising the group half-marathon, updating the website, and keeping the group fun with social activities.  It’s going to be fabulous!  I think by spreading out “jobs” everyone will feel more ownership of the WRW.  Thank you so much for keeping the group going.  It means the world to me.  Knowing that WRW will continue makes me very happy.  Thank you Lynn for agreeing to coordinate the group!

Syma will be leading a beginner group for next year.  If you know of anyone who is interested, please have them contact Syma.  As in the past, it is best if the ladies in the group are truly beginners.  If someone can run a bit, they are better suited for the regular MWF group.  You could help Syma and Lynn by encouraging new WRW runners to find the right group.

Attached to this email are training programs for Ealing or Windsor half-marathons on 29 September and the 17 November San Antonio half-marathon.  Amy Grace will put these on the website so you’ll have easier access to them.  When I finish the program for the Spring 2014 group half-marathon and a spring full marathon, I’ll forward those to Amy for the website.  All of these programs are just suggestions.  Use them as a basic guideline and adjust them to suit your schedule or your specific training needs.

If you are moving from London this summer, please let Lynn know.  She will be organising a “leavers” get-together probably around the first week of June.  Speaking of leaving, please stop by Cafe Richoux on Friday after the run (around 9:30-9:45am).  I would love to have a chance to tell you goodbye.  It will be very casual.  Pop in for a quick coffee/tea or stay for the whole time.

That’s it from me.  Next week’s email will come from Lynn.  Please keep on running!!!!  If you need some inspiration, listen to the song written specifically for the Trans-alpine Race in this video – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJxHFmsQz8w  It says keep on running, keep on fighting while you’re broken, keep on laughing while you’re crying, ‘cuz you’ll make it any way.  I loved that race and I love that song.  It’s true – running can be hard but you just have to keep putting one step in front of the other.  You can do it!  Thanks a million for all the fun times we’ve had together.  I’ll miss everyone!!!!  Keep on running…..

Routes this Week

Monday, 6 May
Monday is a bank holiday so we’ll probably have a small group.  Some of the ex-beginners want to run the hill to Hampstead.  Join them or consider running this route.  We will be meeting at 8:15am as normal.  Some of the runners with small children want to run then get back home to family.  

 Hyde Park Serpentine Loop (6.25 miles) – This is an efficient, 6+ mile route down to Hyde Park.  hydeparkserpentinerunTake Lisson/Seymour to enter the park at the NE corner.  Run west along the northern edge of the park crossing over Carriage Rd.  At the Italian fountains, turn left and run south following the water’s edge.  Run under Carriage Rd, pass by the Lido cafe, then cross over the Serpentine bridge at the eastern edge of the water.  From there, take a diagonal path towards the park exit at Brook St.  The map to the left shows the route following Upper Grosvenor but we normally take Brook St by the US Embassy.  Run back to Starbucks in SJW via Baker St. or Gloucester Place.

 


Tuesday, 7 May
Some of the ex-beginners will be doing a 45-60 minute run – route of their choice.

Wednesday, 9 May
Whole Foods Cafe on Glasshouse St. and Choccywoccydoodah (7 miles) – wholefoodscafe-choccyw4Why not????  Let’s run to the Whole Foods Cafe on Glasshouse St (near Piccadilly Circus).  That location has some tables outside.  Hopefully the weather will be nice and we can have coffee al fresco.  After coffee, I’m walking up to Choccywoccydoodah – it’s about a 5 minute walk up to Foubert’s Place.  Have a look at this website (http://www.choccywoccydoodah.com) and you’ll be tempted to come with me.  They are famous for their cafes and chocolates.  The route goes out the canal to “the wall” then down Farringdon to the river Thames.  We’ll follow the Embankment towards Westminster then turn right at Northumberland.  After running through

wholefoodscafe-choccyw3Trafalgar Square, we’ll take Haymarket up to Piccadilly Circus.  Just north of Piccadilly Circus, there is a little cut-through to reach Glasshouse St. (see map below left). The Whole Foods Cafe is on that street.  After having wholefoodscafe-choccyw1coffee, I’ll walk up Lower John and Carnaby St to reach Choccywoccydoodah.  Join me if you wholefoodscafe-choccyw2have time.  It’ll be worth the walk – I promise!

 

Thursday, 9 May

I will not be running on Thursday but here’s an interesting route to try – it’s something different.  You could shorten it by running back down Finchley Road to SJW instead of NW on Hendon Way.

West End Lane and Shoot-up Hill (6.5 miles) –
westendlanerouteFrom Starbucks, head north of St. Ann’s Terrace then turn left on Acacia running by the SJW tube station. Carry on across Wellington Rd and at Abbey Rd turn right.  Run up Abbey Rd/West End Lane to Finchley Rd. where you will turn left.  At Hendon Way, veer left then after about 1/3 mile turn left on Cricklewood Lane.  Run about 2/3 mile to Shoot-up Hill.  Turn left and run down about 1.5 miles to Quex Rd.  Turn left to cut across to Abbey/West End then retrace your steps to Starbucks in SJW.

Friday, 10 May
On Friday, I won’t be running but I’ll join you for coffee/pastries at Cafe Richoux around 9:30-9:45am.

heatholdrouteThe Heath – old route (8 miles) – It’s hard to give directions as most of this run is in the heath.  The route is on the map to the left but you’ll probably need to follow other runners if you don’t know the way.

The Heath – Western route (8 miles) – heathwesternrouteThis is the route we did yesterday. Again, it’s difficult to give directions in the heath (turn at the 2nd big tree on the left????) but hopefully seeing this map will help give you an idea of where we were.

The Darcy route (6-7 miles) – We probably need to quit calling this one the Darcy route because she rarely does it anymore.  If you need details about the route, Darcy can explain it to you.

The Betsy route (5 miles) – bestyrouteBetsy is out of town but this is the route she was doing in the fall.  It’s lovely.  Ex-beginners – this is basically what we did together in our hill running “lesson” (see map to the right).

Hampstead tube station (4 miles) – This is a great route to do if you’re short on time or are new to running “the hill”.  Head up to the Hampstead tube station with the group then turn around and head back home.  That’s it!

Happy Running,

Paula

25 29 April 3 May Running Info…

 
 
Hello Runners, We have so much to talk about this week. As most of you know, I’m leaving London in a couple of weeks. Lynn Gilbert has agreed to coordinate the running group after I leave. She is putting together a team of people to help with routes, trip planning, the website, social activities, the beginner group, etc. There will be more information forthcoming about the new “team” of coordinators. If you are interested in helping out with any aspect of the group next year, please contact Lynn. On Sunday, Amy Grace, Vicky Timbers, Donna Vos and Nisa Geller are running the Stratford-upon-Avon marathon. We have a group of ladies going out to watch them run. We’ll be driving because it’s near impossible to get out there by train for the race start. If you are interested in joining me, let me know immediately. Currently our numbers are hovering between one car and two cars so I need a headcount asap. We’ll be leaving London at 7:30am and should be back around 4:30-5:00pm. It’s going to be fun! We’ll see the girls at miles 7, 14, and 24 and hike on country trails between those “viewings”. There are several races coming up or being planned. The Nike 10k night run will be held on Saturday, 18 May. Please contact Angela Shaw (shaws96@hotmail.com) if you have any questions about that event. I’ve heard we have quite a group wanting to run it - should be fun. On 29 September, there are half-marathons in Windsor and Ealing. We have people interested in both races. For a quick comparison, Windsor has some tough hills, an earlier start with more complicated transport on the day but will be much more beautiful than Ealing. Ealing is easy to get to and is less hilly but won’t be as scenic as Windsor. For further info about the Ealing race, you could contact Tess Gomm (tessgomm@gmail.com). For further information about the Windsor race, you could contact Darcy Fautz (darcy_fautz@me.com). The Windsor route profile is below:  There is also some interest in the Amsterdam half-marathon on 20 October. For further details, contact Holly Bell Stevens (brooksholly@yahoo.com). I’ll be organising a weekend in San Antonio, Texas to run the Rock-n-Roll Half-marathon on 17 November. I’m hoping we’ll have a good turn-out of “alumni” WRW runners who are currently living in the US, but those of you living here are most welcome to join us too! If you are interested, let me know so I can add you to the distribution for future correspondence regarding that race. Please join me after the run on Friday, 10 May, at Cafe Richoux around 9:45am for coffee/tea/pastries. The movers are packing the house the following week and I’ll be flying out on Thursday, 16th, so this will probably be the last day I run with the group (there’s a chance I’ll squeeze in a run on Wed, 15 May). Gifts are not allowed!!!! I’m serious about that. I just want to see you and have a chance to say good-bye. Routes this Week Monday, 29 April On Monday, we’ll do a loop so we can get back to Starbucks and toast the Stratford-upon-Avon marathon runners. Is anyone interested in a longer run? I’m happy to do the 9 mile version if anyone is interested. Kensal Rise Cemetery loop (9 miles) – We can make this route almost anydistance. Some of you have said you’d like a longer run thrown in every now and then - so here’s your chance. The route heads down Hall Rd/Sutherland to Harrow Rd where we’ll turn right. Once we cross over Kilburn Ln, the cemetery sits on the left hand side. We’ll do a loop in the cemetery then continue on Harrow Rd. to Scrubs Lane. After crossing over the canal, we’ll drop down to the towpath and follow it all the way back to Little Venice then up to Starbucks in SJW. If you want a shorter route, eliminate the loop in the cemetery (7.5 miles) or drop down to the canal at Kilburn Ln and follow the canal back to SJW (5-5.5 miles). Tuesday, 30 April Some of the ex-beginners will be doing a 45-60 minute run - route of their choice. Wednesday, 1 May Cocomaya (Brompton Rd location) and/or the biggest Starbucks in London (7 miles) - This should be a nice route with lots of distance options. The destination is Cocomaya and/or Starbucks on Brompton Rd. My plan is to finish at Cocomaya, buy some pastries and walk up to Starbucks for coffee (about a 2-3 min walk). Cocomaya isn’t a great place for us all to sit together post-run but this Starbucks will be perfect! They say it’s the largest Starbucks in London. The route heads out the canal west towards Notting Hill. We’ll exit the canal and run south along Great Western Rd then continue south on Chepstow Rd. and Pembridge Villas to reach the Notting Hill tube station. From there, we’ll run down Kensington Church Street, cross over Kensington High St. and continue south along Wrights Ln and Marloes Rd. to Cromwell. We’ll take a nice little short-cut over to Earl’s Ct. Rd. then run through the Brompton Cemetery exiting onto Fulham Rd. Cocomaya is near the intersection of Brompton and Fulham Rd. If you want to shorten this route, there are transport options every mile or so. If you want to lengthen this route, consider running back to SJW from Brompton Rd. If you are going to do the full loop (about 10 miles), I would suggest NOT stopping at Cocomaya and eating pastries then carrying on with your run. Aren’t you glad you have a trainer giving you all of this well-informed advice???? Thursday, 2 May Hello Ex-beginners, Please let me know whether or not you want to continue running on Thursdays. I know some of this group wants to move over to MWF beginning this week. I am happy to join you for a run on 2 May and 9 May if you want to keep running on Thursdays. Let me know what you’re thinking about which days you’ll be running and if you want a Thursday run, let me know how far you want to run (then I’ll come up with a good route). Friday, 3 May On Friday, several of our ex-beginner runners will be joining us for this run so I’ll go through the main routes for them: The Heath – old route (8 miles) – It’s hard to give directions as most of this run is in the heath. The route is on the map to the left but you’ll probably need to follow other runners if you don’t know the way. The Heath – western route (8 miles) – This route is even prettier than the old route but to me it seems a bit harder. We head into Golders Hill Park and the western side of the heath instead of running in the Parliament Hill area. It’s gorgeous. If I’m able to run on Friday, I’ll be doing this route. The Darcy route (6-7 miles) – We probably need to quit calling this one the Darcy route because she rarely does it anymore. If you need details about the route, Darcy can explain it to you. The Betsy route (5 miles) – Betsy is out of town but this is the route she was doing in the fall. It’s lovely. Ex-beginners - this is basically what we did together last Thursday (see map to the right). Hampstead tube station (4 miles) – This is a great route to do if you’re short on time or are new to running “the hill”. Head up to the Hampstead tube station with the group then turn around and head back home. That’s it! Happy Running, Paula

mailto:shaws96@hotmail.com mailto:tessgomm@gmail.com mailto:darcy_fautz@me.com mailto:brooksholly@yahoo.com

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On Wednesday, we ran to the Happening Bagel Bakery in Finsbury.  It was great.  They were actually making bagels right there in the shop. 

29 April – 3 May Running Info…

Thursday, 25 April 2013