Author: wrwlondon

Running this week 31 Oct – 4 Nov 2011

Hello Runners!

You girls rock!  We’ve had some great runs this past week and such a good turn-out despite the ASL conferences.  We are a dedicated bunch!
Our route suggestions this week are:
Monday – Greenford (10 miles).  This route follows the canal west past Wormwood Scrubs, then over the North Circular, then past Alperton, then south to Greenford.  We’ll take the tube home (Central Line) so bring your Oyster cards.  There is no good coffee in Greenford, but at least it’s inexpensive (you may get change from a £ coin – seriously!).  This is a tough run because there are almost no street crossings – it’s just straight running.
If you are a mid-level runner and will be running on Wednesday, I would suggest you run the Hyde Park Serpentine route.  That run goes down to Hyde Park on Lisson Grove, then run west along the north border of the park until you reach the road which bisects Hyde Park.  Follow that road over the bridge then drop down to the Serpentine, run along the Lido, then cross over the Serpentine and head back past the US Embassy taking Baker Street to SJW.  That is a 6 mile route.
Tuesday – The “Ease Back into Running” group started last week with a bang.  We did 4 miles at a nice pace with lots of street crossings for some opportune breaks.  I know I said we’d do 2, maybe 3 miles, but these ladies can run!  We will do a similar pace and distance this week making sure we have transport options mid-run in case anyone doesn’t want to go 4 miles.  After this week, we will start to formulate a plan for the EBR group.  Some of these ladies want to use the group to “find their legs” and will then switch to the MWF runs.  Some ladies would prefer to train as a group until the Lisbon race doing their long runs together on Tuesday mornings.   So we’ll see what happens!  Bring your Oyster cards as we will probably do a destination run and tube/bus home.
Wednesday – The mid-level group will be running to Wembley.  We did 8+ miles last week and everyone did extremely well.  We will do 8 miles again this week, but all 8 mile routes are not created equal!  The route goes out the canal west (that’s why I’m suggesting a different route for you for Monday) and there are no red lights.  It’s just run, run, run for 7 miles then the last mile is uphill to the tube station.  It’s not easy, but it is good for us!  You know you can do 8 miles; you did it last week…. now we’ll just up the degree of difficulty a bit.  I’ll bring some tootsie rolls if that is at all enticing!
For the group who ran to Greenford on Monday, I would suggest one of the Hyde Park routes – either the Serpentine route (6.0 miles) or maybe the Hyde/Green Park route down to Hyde Park, under Wellington Arch, then a full loop around Green Park and back either through Mayfair (if you don’t mind the street running) or back through Hyde Park.  I have some new Wednesday routes for you as Notting Hill and The Wall were getting old.  I can explain/describe these if you are interested.
Thursday – Beginners Group.  This week we are doing 10 minute running intervals and they are nervous about it… big-time.  Please tell them it will be OK.  They can do it – I know it and you know it, but they don’t know it!
Friday – The heath, Hampstead, Kenwood House or any version of that – as long as you’re running up hills, you are making yourself stronger.
I understand our community experienced a couple of distressing and terribly sad incidents this week.  Let’s all be thankful for our good fortune.  We are a lucky bunch of women to have each other and to be able to run together.  After a week like this, it’s easy to keep things in perspective – a tight hamstring, an achy knee, sore hips, etc…  it’s minor….  nothing we can’t handle.
I look forward to seeing you out running this week,
Hugs from your “sole” sister,
Paula

Running this week 24 – 28 Oct 2011

Hello everyone,

Exciting news!  The “Ease Back into Running” group is being revived and is scheduled to run on Tuesday mornings at 8:15am from Starbucks in SJW.  It looks as though we’ll have about 8-12 ladies joining us.  We will begin with a very gentle pace and will be doing about 3 miles (with lots of street crossings so hopefully we’ll have lots of breaks).  Some of these ladies are new to our running groups and some are familiar faces who may just be using this group temporarily to “find their running legs” again.  I have been worried for months that we are losing ladies who fall between the beginner and mid-level groups.  It’s a big jump between those two groups.  In fact, we probably need to quit calling it the mid-level group – who’s mid-level when they can run 7 miles straight up a hill?  So, if you know of anyone interested in the group – send them my way.  I don’t think we need to worry about having too many runners in the new EBR group.  I imagine many women will only use it to help them transition to one of our other groups.
Depressing news.  Our good-bye coffee for Randi is all arranged for Wednesday, 9 November.  We will be doing a London Highlights run that morning and finishing for coffee and pastries upstairs at Cafe Richoux at about 10:00.  Even if you can’t join us for the run, stop by for coffee.
Inspiring news?  Some of our runners take powerbag classes with Christian and rave about the work-out.  He is offering two new classes – one on Tuesday and one on Thursday morning.  If those times don’t work for you, get together a group of people and work with Christian on a time that suits you.  His contact info is:  Christian Hyslop, [email protected], 07970939797,  www.wellbeingandperformance.com
Now, our route suggestions for the week:
Monday – Battersea Park – This is a 10 mile route which heads down through Hyde Park to Sloane Square, over the river, then back to SJW.  I’m suggesting this route as there are endless options for people to shorten the distance.  If you are a mid-level runner and are planning on doing your long run on Wednesday, consider doing the Hyde Park piece then head home (5ish miles), or run to Sloane Square and home (6.5 miles), or most of the route but finishing at Green Park on the way back to SJW (8ish miles).  Some upcoming Monday routes….  Greenford then Kew/Richmond.  Fun times ahead!
Tuesday – The Ease Back into Running group will be doing a 3 mile loop at a gentle pace.  Come on ladies, no excuses!!!  I promise the hardest thing is coming out to run that first time.  Once you get there, you’ll be OK.  We’ll struggle through together.
Wednesday –
  • The fastest group could consider doing The Wall or if that’s getting old, maybe a Hyde Park+Green Park loop (7ish miles).  I promise I will come up with some new Wednesday routes for you girls.  I know Notting Hill and The Wall must be getting boring.  I’m trying to keep you on a route where you can push the pace without a lot of street crossings (so the canal works well).  Ideally, Wednesdays are a great day for tempo work.  That makes a nice program for you – Mons running long, Weds tempo work and Fris hills.
  • The mid-level group will be doing an interesting (and flat) 8 mile route through the city.  There are options every mile or so to shorten the distance.  My plan for this group is to get you comfortable with 7-8 mile routes over the next two months.  We’ll throw in the mix a couple of longer runs before mid-Dec then use the winter break as a recovery phase before building up for the half-marathon in the spring.  Next week we’ll be tackling another 8 mile route – one that’s a bit more challenging than this week’s plan.  So if you can make it out both weeks, you’ll be a uber-runner by the end of November!
Friday – Everyone to the heath!  Yeah!  I’ll be doing the new route but there are always people doing the old route or shortened versions of either run.  I know it’s tough getting up that hill, but think of how strong you are becoming.  When we get to Lisbon and we’re running flat, it’ll feel easy…..  OK, easier.
That’s it for now.  Have a great weekend.
I hope to see you out running this week,
Paula
PS – One of our beginner runners sent me this today.  I thought you may get a kick out of it.

Running this week 17-21 October 2011

Hello everyone,
I’m so happy to be back in London! It’s been nice seeing you this week and getting in some great runs. This week I’m suggesting everyone run basically the same routes, just shortened for those of you wanting less distance. Before we get to that, could I mention a few things?
Our beginner runners are doing their first destination run this week to Big Ben. You may remember the feeling of being terrified and excited at the same time. Please give them the thumbs-up when you see them this week – your encouragement means the world to them.
Another email will follow with the first bits of information on the Lisbon race. I will send that out to the combined beginner and regular runner email distributions. Let me know if I’ve missed someone on the list. Thanks!

If there is enough interest I will be starting a new group on Tuesday mornings (starting 25 October) somewhat like last year’s Ease Back into Running group. We have several runners who have been out with injuries, or have been out of running for months/years, or have just moved to London and are only interested in doing a few miles at a gentle pace. I would propose that we try this until the winter break in mid-December to see how it goes. The problem is this – we have been losing some runners over the past two months due to injuries but also a result of there not being a more gentle-paced group to join. Some of these ladies have tried running with the mid-level group but they miss out on the post-run camaraderie as they are stopping mid-run when they’ve done their distance. We all know why we run…. it’s for the post-run coffee, it has nothing to do with fitness! Please let me know if you are interested in this group and let me know if you know of other ladies not on our distribution who would be interested. I would hope this group would also run Fridays and either Monday or Wednesday. The Tuesday morning run would be with me and the other two runs would be with the main groups. I’m hoping the group will gel on Tuesdays so you’ll feel comfortable organizing yourselves into a “mini-pack” as part of the regular Mon/Wed/Fri runs.

Monday:
Canary Wharf (9.5 miles) – yay! I love this route – it always feels like such an accomplishment. This route is a bit tricky; there are very few options to grab a bus/tube/taxi mid-run. In addition, sections of the canal are very isolated. This is not a run to do alone – if you are concerned that you can’t keep up, organize yourselves in pairs ahead of time with someone who goes your pace. For those wanting a shorter route, I would recommend:
Angel tube station (4 miles)
“The Wall” (6.0 miles)
Mile End (7 miles) – if this is your plan, find someone to run with you and bring a map so you know where to exit the canal. Hackney isn’t a great place to wander around alone.

Wednesday:
Notting Hill (6.7 miles). The mid-level runners went to Finsbury Park this past week and everyone did extremely well. The Notting Hill loop is a bit shorter than the Finsbury Park route and is mostly flat. My plan is to make this a recovery week for you before we bump up the mileage again. You may feel a bit deflated running Notting Hill after the challenge of Finsbury Park, but it will give your body a week to recover before we increase our mileage again. Ideally, I would like to have this group comfortably running 8 mile routes by end-November. For those of you in the group planning on doing a spring marathon (not the half), it is at this point (1 Dec) that your training will begin to differ from the rest of the group. For those of you in the mid-level group aiming for the half-marathon in Lisbon, if you’re interested in seeing your training program leading up to the race, I’m happy to share that with you. I also completely understand not wanting to know! Sometimes it’s easier to NOT think about those long runs ahead of time.

Friday:
Everyone runs up the hill – fun times! I’ll be out of town for the weekend so either do the old route or give the new route a try (could be an adventure!!!). As always, you have endless options to shorten this route.

I’ll look forward to seeing you this week,
Paula

Running this week 10 – 15 Oct 2011

Howdy! (that just seems appropriate as I’m sending this from Texas),

I’ve missed you all so much!  It’s been a productive trip here and the house is coming along well, but I’m ready to be back in London.  Many of you may be away for the ASL break, but I’ll be running.  I hope some of you are interested in joining me.  I realize also that some of you will have run the London Half-marathon on Sunday so may not be terribly interested in running again on Monday????  Think of coming by Starbucks for the post-run coffee – we would love to help you celebrate what I’m sure will be a fabulous race.
Monday (10 Oct) –  I need to do a 20-22 mile run on Monday or Tuesday.  Would you mind letting me know if you’re planning on running Monday?  I’ll come up a suitable route(s) when I know who will be out there.  I’ll be at Starbucks at the regular time – 8:15.  If we push back the time, it always seems that someone doesn’t get that message and they end up running solo.  I hope that’s OK with you.  I’m happy to push my long run back to Tuesday if that ends up working better – no worries.
Wednesday (12 Oct) –  
  • Fast Group – I’m not sure what you’ve been doing for your mid-distance run each week, so I’m hesitant to offer a suggestion.  You may be bored with the regular routes?  Notting Hill?  The Wall?
  • Mid-level Group –  I would encourage all of the mid-level runners to try the Finsbury greenbelt route.  It’s a 7 mile run with a good bakery at the finish.  For those of you who haven’t done this route, the greenbelt is an old, dismantled railway line – beautifully wooded and the path is dirt and gravel.  It’s a lovely, quiet spot in the middle of north London.  We do have to run up to Hampstead then on up to Highgate to get to the entrance of the greenbelt.  It’s a challenge getting up there, but well worth it.  We’ll tube home from Finsbury Park so bring your Oyster card.  Could someone from the “core” of the mid-level group let me know what you think about this?  If you don’t feel ready for a 7 mile run, we can come up with a different route idea.
Friday (14 Oct) –  
  • Fast Group – How about we try the new route in the heath?  Hopefully this time the gates will be open and we won’t have to trail-blaze.  I’ll throw my machete into the backpack just in case!!!
  • Middle-level Group – You may want to do something other than “the hill”, particularly if you ran the Finsbury greenbelt on Wednesday.  I would suggest a 5-6 mile flat route like the shortened Hyde Park route (run to the park, turn right/west and run to the road that divides the park, head south over the Serpentine bridge, run back/east along the Lido and wind your way back to SJW).
Good luck to everyone running the half-marathon tomorrow!  We’ll be thinking of you.
See you soon – yay!,
Paula

Running for the next two weeks – 26 Sept – 7 Oct 2011

Hello Runners!

OK, how bossy can a person be????  I’m heading out of town tomorrow morning and will be away for the next two weeks, but am still telling you where I think you should run!  I promise you can do whatever you want to do – just push the delete button if you don’t want to hear the suggestions!  Not only am I going to tell you where to go, but I’m coming up with some pretty mundane routes so you’ll really miss me.  I’m thinking it may be a good idea for everyone to run some version of the same route for the next two weeks.  We have a number of new additions to the group who may still be figuring out where they belong in terms of pace.  If everyone is running in the same direction, then maybe we’ll see where those natural groupings occur.

Monday (26 Sept) – 
  • Fast Group –  Battersea Park.  I know we just did this route a couple of weeks ago, but it’s the perfect distance (10 miles) for those of you doing the half-marathon on 9 October and most of us know the route.
  • Front of the mid-level Group –  Those of you wanting to try to make the transition to the fast group – go for it!  This is a great route for you to push yourself.  If you don’t think you can do 10 miles at a strong pace, then consider running the first 7.5 miles of the route at finish at Green Park tube station or do the 10 miles just trying to keep those girls in sight.  If you prefer a loop, you could run down with the group to Sloane Square then turn around and retrace your steps (that’s also about 7.5 miles round-trip).
  • Core of the mid-level Group – You girls have been amazing.  Your distances are getting longer and you’re cracking me up with the “Oh, we only ran 6.5 miles yesterday” attitude.  If you’ve been steadily increasing your mileage, I’d shoot for 7.5 miles.  That would give you lots of options – you could do either of the 7.5 mile suggestions above or you could do a loop around Hyde Park instead (8 miles which you can shorten to about 7.6 miles by cutting off the end of the park – just turn south on the broadwalk by the Peter Pan playground instead of going behind and in front of Kensington Palace).
Wednesday (28 Sept) –
Everyone to “The Wall” (6 miles round-trip) – it’s the canal east to Islington for new-comers (it’s an out and back route – someone will show you the way).  For those of you wanting to get a bit faster, think about timing this run and making note of how long it took you to do it.  It’s great to have a “baseline” to work from.  If you are interested in timing yourself, I would recommend shooting for a negative split (run to the wall, make note of your time and come back a bit faster than you went).  Some of us when doing this sort of tempo work run really hard initially then get slower and slower.  What happens mentally is you finish the run feeling like you completely ran out of steam.  If the last half is faster than your first half, you finish feeling pretty proud of yourself (thankfully I’ll be in the US and won’t have to witness the “victory dances” at Starbucks).
Friday (30 Sept) – 
Everyone to the heath/Hampstead.  I think you all know the routine now – we all head up to Hampstead and whoever wants a long run heads into the heath.  Each group seems to have a routine they like and everyone runs whatever distance they chose.  Unless someone feels ready to lead the new route, the old route works just fine.
Monday (3 Oct) – 
Some version of the three parks (Hyde, Green, St. James).  For those of you running the upcoming half, you may want to just run the 8 mile loop around the perimeter of Hyde Park.  For anyone wanting more distance you could run around Hyde Park, go into Green Park or even St. James then back to St. John’s Wood.  The full 3 parks is about 11 miles round-trip.  You could always tailor it to whatever distance you want by grabbing a tube/bus/taxi home.  This is a perfect route for everyone.  For those of you wanting 4 miles, head down with the group to Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park then turn around and run home.  If you want something more like 6 miles, go down to Hyde Park and turn south before the road that cuts through the center of the park, come back along the Serpentine and head back up to Speaker’s Corner then home.
Wednesday (5 Oct) –
Notting Hill or Notting Hill in reverse.  If you loved that tempo work on the canal east to Islington last week, then consider doing Notting Hill in reverse.  You’ll have a great opportunity to stretch your legs once you hit the canal and are heading back to SJW.  Notting Hill in the regular direction is always fun also.  The full route is between 6.5 and 7 miles.  Anyone wanting less mileage could either run out the canal and turn around and run home or follow the group into Notting Hill but stop running at Paddington station (about 5.25 miles).
Friday (7 Oct) – 
Everyone to the heath/Hampstead.  Same routine as last week.
I’ll go ahead and tell you the plan for Monday, 10 October, for those planners amongst us.  I’m going to be running very long out the canal east to Victoria Park then north along the River Lea toward or just past the M25.  The first 6-7 miles of that run is our regular route to Canary Wharf so people could either join me for as many miles as you want (you’d get to see the Olympic site along the way) or carry on to Canary Wharf.  That’s always a fun run!
The last thing – remember we have some moms with K1 children in the group.  They get over to Starbucks between 8:15 and 8:20.
See you in a couple of weeks!
Happy running,
Paula

Running this week 19 – 23 Sept 2011

Hello everyone,

Apologies in advance, I keep messing with things just a little here and there to get our groups just perfect.  I thought it may be helpful to give more specific suggestions to the mid-level runners as there is a very wide range of pace in that group.  I hope I’m not just confusing the situation.  Let me know if you’re not sure where/with whom you should be running.  For the new ladies this week, we’ll sort it out over the coming weeks – no worries.  Could someone please forward this to Chris and Margo?  I don’t have emails for them yet.

 Monday
  • Fast Group – To Kew (10 miles) – yay!  I love this run.  We’ll head down via Hyde Park then west out Kensington High Street to Hammersmith crossing over the bridge to the south side of the river then off we go.  I’ll be running on to Richmond (13 miles) to get a few more miles, but please feel free to do whatever you want.
  • Front of the mid-level Group – For those of you pushing the pace in the mid-level group, I would suggest you give Kew a try.  The first five miles to the river is a lot of stop and start so you’ll probably catch up with the fastest girls at the lights.  Once we hit the river you’ll definitely be on your own as the fast girls start to fly but all you’ll have to worry about at that point is when to turn off the river path to head to Kew.  Once you get to Kew, head to Starbucks and I imagine you’ll run into some of quicker-paced runners.  If you’re interested in this, it would be ideal to group yourself up with someone else who wants to give it a try.  If you don’t like that idea, how about running to Hammersmith and back (10 miles) or part way back (Green Park would be about 7.5 miles) or doing a loop around Hyde Park (8 miles).
  • Core of the mid-level Group – I know you have been creating some 4-5 mile routes that are great.  Here’s a couple of other ideas:  you could run down to Big Ben the normal way but then cross over Westminster Bridge go along the river past the London Eye go back over the river on the bridge to Embankment Station (5 miles) or onto Westminster Station (about 5.3 miles).  Another idea is the shopping route through Regents Park, down Marylebone High Street, Oxford St to Bond St then down to Piccadilly and west to Green Park station (3 miles) carrying on to Hyde Park Corner (3.6 miles) then up through Hyde Park to Marble Arch (4.5 miles) or all the way back to SJW (6.3 miles).

Wednesday –

  • Fast Group – What do you think about doing Notting Hill in reverse?  Once you get on the canal coming back to SJW you could do some tempo work on that stretch.  Fun, huh?
  • Front of the mid-level Group – The route this week is going to be a great run (see the next section), but I’m expecting it to be very fluid as we have new people joining us who won’t be sure where they fit into the group pace-wise.  Also the route has a lot of turns (it’s worth it, believe me), so if you are wanting to push the pace and run super-hard then please do that on Monday.  If you’re out in front of me, we will get separated.
  • Core of the mid-level Group – This week we are expecting several runners who are new to the group to join us.  We may be taking off just a bit late as a couple of them have kindergarten drop-off at school.  They are doing their speed work dashing over to Starbucks from ASL, but even at rocket speed they can’t get there until just after 8:15.  Goodness, I think we can all remember how stressful that was!  So, we’ll be heading out about 8:20 and doing a fabulous route running along the canal only to Paddington then cutting through the edge of Notting Hill to Hyde Park.  We’ll head across the park then down to Fulham Road, west out to Brompton Cemetery then back up to Kensington High Street finishing at Whole Foods Market.  For those of you who haven’t run through Brompton Cemetery, try to hang in there so you get to see it.  It’s an amazing place in the heart of London.  If you do the entire route back to Whole Foods, it’s 6.5-7.0 miles, but new girls…. don’t let that scare you.  We’ll have tube/taxi/bus options every mile or so along the way.  Everyone bring your Oyster card as we’ll all be taking a tube or bus home no matter how far you end up running.

Friday –

  • Fast Group – OK, how about we make a plan to try the new route in the heath?  I’ll hang with this group to show you the way if you’re interested in giving it a try.  Otherwise, the old route is always good fun.
  • Front of the mid-level Group – Some of you in this group did the new heath route with me on Friday which was a blast.  Thanks for that run – I loved it.  So for this week, you could try the new route on your own or do some version of the old route.  If you decide to run to Kew on Monday you may want to give yourself a break on Friday and do a shortened version of either route.
  • Core of the mid-level Group – These ladies have been doing all sorts of cool routes like up to Hampstead then down through Belsize winding back to SJW or other shortened versions of “the hill”.  It’s great.  The pace has been solid (don’t let them fool you, they say they’ve been running slow but it’s just not true) and you’re getting in some fabulous hill training.  Well done!
If you aren’t sure in which group you belong, let’s chat.  Also, there’s nothing wrong with floating between groups depending on the routes for the week.
Hope to see you out running this week,
Paula

Running this week 12 – 16 Sept 2011

Hello everyone,

Before we start talking about routes, could I mention a few things?
  1. As a group we probably aren’t doing a great job of stretching after we run.  Some of us touch a toe or two or stand on one leg doing a quad stretch while we’re in line for coffee at Starbucks, but it’s much less than what we should be doing.  So…. we’ve had a brilliant suggestion that we finish our run somewhere short of Starbucks (if we’re doing a loop run) so we don’t have to bend over in front of people trying desperately to drink their coffee in peace at the counter seat in Starbucks.  The suggestion is that if we are returning to SJW from the south we could stop at the church park at the bottom of the high street.  There are grassy spots and nice paved areas and plenty of room to spread out without disturbing anyone.  If we’re coming back from the heath, we could stop at the intersection of Acacia and Kingsmill Terrace (small grassy area).  You may have some other suggestions – so just group up wherever you prefer, but please encourage everyone to stretch somewhere.  I’m hopeful that if we do this for a few weeks, it will become a habit – one that keeps injuries at bay.
  2. Several of you have mentioned that you would like to do some local races of varying distances.  Almost every weekend there is a race somewhere in or around London.  Please do it (I know some of you already do)!  There are event listings in Runners World magazine and flyers at all running and biking shops in town.  I had hoped to organize one or two races for us in the fall, but I’ve gotten a bit lazy about it.  Personally, I have zero interest in running 5k/10k races which may have something to do with why I haven’t managed to get something together.  So please don’t let my preferences influence you!  If you know of a race that you would like to do, I’m more than happy to “advertise” it in this weekly running email for you.
  3. Our favorite running shop closed last month, but we have managed to secure our 10% discount at Runners Need in Camden.  They prefer we have membership cards to present (it’s not absolutely necessary) so I have ordered another lot of those cards we had last year for the Lago Maggiore race.  When I get them (hopefully at the end of this week), I’ll pass them around so everyone has one.  Also, at the Holborn location of Runners Need they are beginning a new, free physiotherapy service every other Monday beginning 12 September from 12-2.  There is a bit more information on their website if you are interested.
Routes for the week:
Monday – I told some of you we would be doing Kew, but I’m thinking now the Battersea Loop may be a better idea with the weather forecast.  The storm/hurricane coming in on Sunday night is expected to hit the northern regions of the UK, but they are forecasting rain and strong winds in the south.  I don’t know…. some of you may consider it less than fun to run to Kew in the rain and sit on a train soaking wet back into the city.  So, let’s try the Battersea Loop.  The full route is 10 miles, but you have the option of running to Sloane Square and back (7.5 miles) or Green Park tube and back (5ish miles) or most of the route over the river and back up Sloane St. but grabbing a bus or tube around Park Lane (Green Park or Marble Arch) which would be 8-8.5 miles.  Don’t forget to stop at the St. John’s Wood Church Gardens on your way back to stretch!
Wednesday – The mid-level group will do an interesting route along the canal east to the wall then down by Farringdon tube station (4.5 miles) to the river passing Embankment station (5.8 miles), then Westminster tube (6.3 miles), then Green Park (7.5 miles).  As noted, there are many distance options so bring your Oyster card.  This is a nice route through a different part of town and I find it very satisfying as you feel as though you’ve been everywhere when you finish (no matter where that is along the route).
Friday – Up to the Heath.
Lastly, it looks like the Lisbon Half-Marathon on Sunday, 25 March, will be our group race in the spring.  It falls on the same weekend as the ASL International Festival and I apologize for that.  Believe me, I’ve searched for other options but nothing else works.  Please know I tried to avoid all conflicts – it’s just impossible.  I’ll send out further information about hotels/flights/race info within the next few weeks.
I hope to see you out running this week,
Paula

Running this week 6 – 10 June 2011

Hello everyone,

We’ve just returned from a fabulous weekend in Dorking.  The race was a huge success – our “team” did so well.  We had several personal best times which is truly an accomplishment considering the difficulty of the course.  The hills were major and they are just getting bigger and bigger as we retell our stories of the race!  I know I may embarrass some girls or overlook others, but a few of the highlights were Lynne Hodge coming in third in her age group running a 7:30 pace (and coming home with a trophy!), Stephanie completing with a sub-9:00/mile pace, Randi rocking Dorking with a 1:51, Sue and Syma finishing at sub-10:00/mile pace and Pam burning up her first race of such a long distance.  As I said, we all had a great race, everyone did extremely well – I could brag about each of our runners and I will if you give me any sort of chance to do so!
As for running this week, we’ll stick to the regular schedule.  Each day meeting at 8:15 at Starbucks.  Monday we’ll do something around 8 miles (route to be determined – I’ll come up with a few ideas and we can decide in the morning), Tuesday will be 6-7 miles at a medium pace to some interesting destination (bring your Oyster cards), Wednesday I’m heading out of town for a couple of weeks but I know people are planning on running, Thursday the Ease Back into Running group will be out there, and Friday could be the heath or we could talk Leanne into leading the group on her super-cool, Pergola/West Hampstead route.
I’m guessing we have one more week (after this one) of “regular” running before people start scattering for the summer.  I’ll still be out of town, but could I throw out a few ideas?  Many of you have said you would love one more Canary Wharf run before the summer and some of the runners moving this summer are very interested in doing a “Sights of London Farewell Run”.  Any volunteers to organize that route/run????
I might not get to see some of you before you leave for the summer.  Please let me know if you need advice/suggestions/training programs for the summer months. I’ll be in Italy for a couple of weeks and will have time to put something together for you, so just let me know.  It’s not a problem at all – I love doing it, so call or email me.  We have quite a few people running in London over the summer so keep plugged into that group to not miss out.  We will probably start doing the more regularly scheduled routine the week of 22 August as people are returning to the UK.  The week of 29 August is definitely a go.  The beginner group will start that week on Thursday, 1 September.  I’m back to London on 11 August and will be putting in some serious mileage – let me know if you’re in town…. I would love some company for those runs.
That’s it for now.  Again, a huge congratulations to all of our Dorking runners.  Well done!
Hope to see you out running,
Paula

Running this week 30 May – 3 June 2011

Hello everyone,

The Dorking race is a week away so we have some gentle runs planned for the next few days.  That must be great news for those of you who have been doing speed work leading up to the race.  You’re done with that!  Yeah!  Could I take this opportunity to just say congratulations to you?  I know that type of training is a new thing for some of you and you’ve done it well.  It’s hard, but it does pay off.  It’s also less social.  Normally we get to chat and run, but that’s kind of difficult when you can’t breathe.  So anyway, that’s behind us but let me know if you would like to incorporate tempo/speed training into your schedules for next year.  I’m happy to help you think through how you could continue pace work on a regular basis or write periodized training programs for specific events.
Monday is a holiday but for anyone available/interested in running we will be doing about 8 miles.  Originally I was thinking we could do some fun and different route, but with it being a day off of school/work, we’ll probably do a loop that gets people back to Starbucks at a reasonable time.
Tuesday is the “open day” of the week.  So far, I know Randi wants to run so we’ll be doing 6 miles together – join us if want!
Wednesday is 6 miles of easy running.  I’m getting kind of tired of Notting Hill and the Wall so was thinking of doing more of a fun destination run with a coffee finish away from SJW.  So if you’re interested, bring your Oyster card.  If you have a busy day and need to get back to SJW, feel free to do one of the regular routes.
Thursday is going to be a lovely 3-4 mile gentle pace route for the Ease Back into Running group.  Last Thursday we went to Wandsworth Commons and had such a nice run.  We all agreed we must go back there sometime and finish at Jamie Oliver’s Recipease for a cooking class.  I’ll bring more tootsie rolls this week, but I’m thinking they won’t be needed!
Friday should be about 4 miles of pretty easy running for those of you doing the Dorking race.  Would anyone be interested in a delayed start (10:00am) for a 5 mile run down to Borough Market?  I’ll be at Starbucks at 8:15 for a 4ish mile run then will probably hang around for an hour or so and head down to Borough Market at 10:00.  Let me know if you’re interested in the 10:00 run so I’ll know who to be looking/waiting for.
The school-year is winding down and I’m starting to think about our schedule for next year.  I will be starting a new beginner’s running group on Thursday, 1 September.  Please let me know if you have any friends who might would be interested.  I have 5-6 ladies who are somewhat curious about running.  I usually start these groups with 10-12 and a few fall out over the first month or so.  The criteria is simple – they must be non-runners.  “Closet runners” who can do a few miles on their own are demotivating for those girls struggling to jog 60 seconds.  I’m thinking of starting a regular Tuesday morning run for mid-level runners (the “closet runners” may fit perfectly into this group).  Do you think that would work – would people be interested in doing that?  Lastly, I’ll definitely be planning another half-marathon for next year but am thinking of throwing in a few more races of varying distances.  We’ll see how the Dorking 10-miler goes.  Maybe some of you would like to do some more local 10k races or 8-10 milers????  I think it’s nice to have some different goals.  What do you think?  Any feedback would be most appreciated!
 
Hope to see you this week,
Happy Running,
Paula

Running this week 20 – 27 May 2011

Hello everyone,

I can’t wait for next week!  We’ve got a great program going for our last big training week leading up to the Dorking race.  It’s going to be fun – I promise.  Here’s what we have scheduled:
Monday – to Kew (10 miles) – yeah!  I love this route.  Some of you have more than 10 miles on the schedule and if so I’ve probably already had a chat with you about how this could be done.  Some options:  you could run the north side of Hyde Park instead of the diagonal or what may work out better is to do an up and back once we get on the river or go past Kew and turn around and come back.  Most of you who have 11 miles on your schedule are our faster runners so and up and back may work very well.  All that means is once we hit the river and you start to edge ahead of the group (probably at about 6 miles into the run) then check your distance, run another 1/2 mile, turn around and run back 1/2 mile (probably seeing some of our runners on your way back), then turn around and carry on running to Kew.  This way we all sort of stay together (not exactly because you will pass people again after you’ve added the extra mile), but at least we get to see each other and our middle-pack runners can cheer you on as you are running.  Those of you needing less mileage can walk in the last mile or so, do the 10 miles anyway or you can always take the tube home from Hammersmith or the train from Barnes or do some sort of Hyde Park loop.
Tuesday – I’ll probably be running at 8:15 from Starbucks with whomever can’t run on their regular day.  So let me know if you want to run and we’ll come up with something fun.
Wednesday – many of you are doing some sort of tempo/speed work on Wednesdays.  I’m probably going to do Notting Hill again at my steady pace.  For you tempo-runners, the canal is a perfect place to do these sessions.  You can jog down to the canal, then do your tempo work out 2.5 miles, turn around, tempo back for 2.5 miles, then jog back to SJW.  It’s a straight 5 miles that way without having to worry about street crossings and such.
Thursday –  to Wandsworth Commons with the Ease Back into Running group.  Fun, fun!  This is a tough route, but the window shopping stretch just before we reach the commons is excellent.  One of these days we’re going to have to call it quits there and finish with lunch/shopping on that high street.  Please come out and run with us.  For those of you not doing Dorking, don’t be put off by the route or distance.  You said you wanted to train as though you were going to do the 10 mile race – so let’s do it.  The pace will be gentle, there are plenty of street crossings, and it’s something fun and different to go to this area.
Friday – the Heath
As always, feel free to join us, do your own thing or start with us and break off to do your own training.  No worries.
I’ll be sending out another email early next week about our Dorking plans.  One more thing, could someone forward this to Francesca?  I thought I had her email address but I can’t find it.
Hope to see you out running next week,
Paula