I’ve spent a bit of time looking at our schedule over the coming weeks leading up to the Dorking race and have some suggestions.  As always, feel free to do your own thing.  I thought it might be helpful to lay out some mileage/routes that you could each incorporate into your programs.   On the race route, there are 5 hills – none of them are awful, each are an approx 60ft elevation gain (about the elevation difference between Starbucks and half way up Fitzjohn’s in a bit shorter distance than that).  They each peak at somewhere around a 5% gradient (you could think about that like for each 20 feet you run, you would climb 1 ft higher in elevation).  So, not horrible, but definitely there.

All that being said, there are three Fridays between now and then (13th, 20th, 27th May) – I would recommend the heath for those of you who normally do it and are not injured (and currently avoiding hills).  There are also three Wednesdays (11th, 18th, 25th May) where many of you are going to be trying to do some sort of tempo/speed/pace work.  I realize it may be boring, but the best route for that work would be the canal west.  Anyone not interested in pace work could just do the regular Notting Hill route and the others could keep running out until they are half way done with the workout, then turn around and come back.  I know, I know…. kind of boring, but it would only be for 3 weeks.  Some of you will be doing pace progression and that should be done without street crossings/stoplights; others are trying to do 4-5-6 miles at a pushed, extremely consistent pace which is also best done on a long, straight stretch.

Mondays I would recommend the following:

• 16th May – possibly the embankment loop that goes down to Hyde Park, around Harvey Nics, down Sloane St. (like the Battersea route) but when you hit the river turn left and run along the embankment back to the House of Parliament.  Then head up to Trafalgar Square and Regent’s Street and Regent’s Park home.  Some of you will be wanting to do 9 miles and that would do it.  Some are shooting for 8 and you could come home by bus/tube, others are needing 6 miles and that would get you to Westminster tube station.
• 23rd May – Kew?  Some of you want 11 miles so you would need to either run past Kew a half mile or more, then turn around and come back, or instead of going diagonally across Hyde Park you could stay on the perimeter of the park (north or south side) which would bump the mileage up a bit.  Some of you are needing 9 miles (Kew falls somewhere between 9.5 and 9.85 depending on your path through Hyde Park) so you could either just do the whole thing and feel like Superwoman or you could walk in the last bit after you reach 9 miles.  Others are needing 6 miles so that might be some sort of Hyde Park loop along the Serpentine.
• 30th May – Maybe this route we could just decide later on.  We have different groups wanting to run 8, 6 and 5 miles that day so we’ll think of something (hopefully more interesting than Hyde Park).  A few undulating hills would be a good idea (possibly over by King’s Cross/Farringdon where we would go over Pentonville Rise???).

Thursdays I had these routes in mind for the Ease Back into Running group (I’m telling you now because no one has arms long enough to reach across the Atlantic and strangle me):

• 12th May – 7ish miles – maybe a slightly extended Notting Hill route?  Syma’s the boss – be nice to her!
• 19th May – 7.5 miles – Finsbury greenbelt.  This is a tough route as we have to go up to Hampstead then continue up to Highgate, but the greenbelt is gorgeous and our legs will start getting used to hills.  The prize at the finish is that fab bakery at Finsbury so everyone remember to bring your 80p to cover the cost of a cappucino, a pastry, a bottle of water, and some rugelach (sp?) to go.  We’ll do a little excursion in either Highgate (just to bring back those fond memories of the Highgate Incident) or maybe Finsbury Park near the finish of the route to bump the mileage up to 7.5 miles.
• 26th May – 9 miles – Wandsworth Common.  This is also not an easy route, but we’ll take it slow.  There are a number of street crossings so we’ll have some breaks.  The route takes us down to Battersea Park then up that nasty hill to the Wandsworth area.  It’s a tough one, but it’ll make Dorking look flat.  This is the train station that didn’t accept our Oyster cards before (maybe that’s all changed now with Boris?).  So, keep your savings from last week’s run to pay for the possible fine at Waterloo (or I guess we could just play by the rules and buy a train ticket???).

This schedule leaves Tuesdays free.  I’m always happy to run with whomever wasn’t able to get out on their regular day.  Just let me know and we’ll sort something out.  I hope all is well in London – let’s keep it our little secret, but I’m actually missing the London weather.  I’m running morning and/or evenings here in Texas and it’s sweltering.  I’m heading out now (5:00pm) and it’s still 94 degrees out there – yikes!!!

See you in a week or so,

Happy Running,

Paula

OK, it looks like somehow I’ve retained my job.  Becky Lindon, who must be the smartest of all of us, tried to get a little momentum behind getting me fired, but I managed to squelch that movement.  She and Jean Hughes have even more reason to fire me, but I don’t think I will share that tidbit of info – too embarrassing for me.

Monday – We’ll be doing the 10 mile run to Battersea Park from Starbucks at 8:15 (despite it being a holiday).  For those of you who haven’t done it, it’s a loop down through Hyde Park then down Sloane St, through Sloane Square, over the river, along the park, then back to Starbucks in SJW.  Tracey, Kathy and myself are doing a “dress rehearsal” running with fully loaded packs at a specific HR/pace.  So for all of our fast girls, please run ahead – we’ll see you at Starbucks at the finish.  For anyone running a slower pace, we cannot slow down or wait for anyone so please have a look at a map or run beside someone who knows the way.  Thanks a million – starting next week this will all be more friendly again!

Wednesday – The regular 6-7 mile run without speed work this week.  Probably Notting Hill or the Wall.

Thursday – The Ease Back into Running group will be doing 6.5 miles hopefully seeing some of the highlights from the wedding run Kathy led us on this past Friday.  We’ll be doing our regular (approx. 12min/mile) pace with lots of street crossings – lots of stops and starts.  If this group keeps running like they have been, we’re going to have to rename it.  Any ideas????

Friday – I hope you will all go do the heath.  I’ll be doing a 3-4 mile “stretch the legs” run so may see you at Starbucks when you finish.  Some of the group may not be running as it’s Wedding Day!

The following Monday, 2 May, I was thinking people may be interested in doing a Hyde Park loop or Green Park/St. James Park loop.  Before Tracey and Kathy agreed to run the Pony Express, we had to negotiate terms (Kathy is an attorney after-all).  The contract states specifically that they get to sit at Starbucks drinking coffee on the Monday after the race and DON’T have to run?!?!?!?  So we won’t be joining you except for the best part – coffee!

We’re going to have a great week of running all being inspired by the London marathon running today!  All of those runners must be down there already with sweaty palms anxiously awaiting the start.  We also have Dinae running the Nice half marathon today and Rachel running the 10k there.  Here’s to our runners – good luck!  It’s a big day!

 

This is what we have to look forward to this week:

 

Monday – Canary Wharf – I love this route, but I know it can be a bit problematic for anyone wanting a shorter distance.  There is always the option to run to “The Wall” and back (6 miles round-trip) or run to Mile End (about 7-7.5 miles).  For Mile End, we pass Victoria Park, run another mile or so then on your left there is Mile End Park.  The tube station sits just on the other side of the park.  Not to be too motherly, but if you decide on that route make sure you have someone doing it with you who is committed to running your pace.  Mile End is a rough part of town.  Kathy, Tracey and myself will be breaking off at Victoria Park to run up to Stansted Airport (just kidding – we’re only running to Broxbourne) so I won’t be around to show you where Mile End is.  I think we have all decided that as long as you know the way, running along the canal to Canary Wharf is fine solo (may not be the most fun way to run it, but it’s safe enough).  The canal is so busy that time of day with people biking to work.

 

Tuesday – I’m having a rest day, but I think some of the “Ease Back into Running” group will be heading out from Starbucks at 8:15.  That group has a range of paces from about 11:00/mile to 12:30/mile.  They may be our most adventurous group – they are always running interesting routes.  So show up if you’re interested in that pace range.

 

Wednesday – We will take a break from our tempo/speed work this week and run the Notting Hill route instead.  There is a group of our runners who are sort of falling between groups pace-wise.  For those ladies, if you decide to not run all the way to Canary Wharf on Monday, I’m happy to lead you on an extended Notting Hill route so you can get in a long run.  What I had in mind was doing something around an 11:00-11:15 pace, breaking off from the pack around Westbourne Grove to go into Hyde Park.  We would end up with about 7.5-8.5 miles depending on who joined us and how far they want to go.  We would end up back at Starbucks for the most important part of the run – COFFEE!

 

Thursday – Our “EBR” group will be doing 6 miles at an approximate 12:00-12:30/mile pace.  We are purposely running routes through the city, on the streets, avoiding pedestrians, and longing for “red men” at the street crossings.  It’s a lot of stop and start, but I have found over the years that this is the easiest way to extend distance relatively stress-free particularly for people who have it in them, they’ve done these distances before.  We will be very gradually increasing our distances up to 9 miles to prepared anyone interested for the Dorking 10 mile race.  Over the weeks we will move our routes to parks/canals where we can get more steady running.  No worries – I’ll bring my earplugs on those runs so I can’t hear the complaining.

 

Friday – We’ll be running the heath, getting in some hills, enjoying the glorious views.  It should be an approximate 8 mile run with many options to shorten that distance.  If you want to put in more mileage on the day, just follow Randi and Michelle.  They’ll lead you on a much more interesting and challenging route!  (Just kidding!).

 

For the Dorking race, yes, it’s 10 MILES, not 10K.  That’s why I love the idea of it.  It’s long enough to be a big challenge and reason enough to travel down there and spend a night, but not so long that we’ll get hurt trying to extend our mileage too quickly.  I’ve done nothing in terms of research this week on the race/hotel/train/etc, but am planning on doing that this week.  Let me know if you are interested in going.  You don’t have to commit – it would just be helpful to know if we’re looking for a hotel that can handle a sizable group or if it will just be 3-4 of us.  I’m definitely, 100% going – even if it’s just me.

 

Good luck Dinae and Rachel!  Run well!

 

Hope to see you out running this week,

Paula