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.

______________________________________

Website:  https://womenrunningtheworld.commm

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

Email: [email protected]

Hi everyone,

Another great week of running! Keep up the good work! This week we return to some of our classic routes that offer lots of options in terms of mileage. Monday is Hyde Park, Wednesday is The Wall and Friday is the The Heath.  

Good Luck Racers

Good luck to Sonia, Alyse, Peg and Stefhanie who are running the Richmond Kew Gardens 10K on Sunday! We hope you have a fantastic day!

Aches and Pains

If you’re getting back into running and starting to notice a few aches and pains, please try to see an expert. Often with proper stretching or strengthening exercises you can address something that is bothering you and prevent an injury. You also may consider a sports massage, which can be an excellent way to deal with tight muscles. We have recommendations of who to see under the “Our Experts” tab on the website.

Why Should Long Runs Be Slower?

Thanks to Lisa Noel for this great Runner’s World article that gives a clear, concise summary of the science behind training with a slower, long run.  We’ll return to this concept a few times throughout the year.  When you tackle a new distance, your mile pace should be 45 – 90 seconds slower than your race pace.   “When we overload the body in gradual, incremental increases, it responds positively by becoming stronger.  If we overload the body too rapidly or too heavily too soon, it doesn’t have time to adapt and we risk poor performance, injury, illness and/or mental burnout.”  Right now during the early fall, we’re not worrying too much about race pace and training pace.  The most important thing is to run, build up your fitness, get to know the people in the group and have fun!  In general, you should be running at a pace that enables you to comfortably chat and have a conversation.  Next week we’ll be sharing more information about the pace groups.  The pace groups will play an important role in our training schedule when we start to gradually tick up the mileage and when we’ll be doing our long slower runs.

Barclays Sidewalk

When we meet in front of Barclays in the morning, try to gather in the plaza and not the sidewalk.  We’re such a large group and we want to be good citizens and not block the sidewalk for people walking by.

Keep running,

Jane

ROUTES

Monday 22 September – Hyde Park – always versatile! (3-8 miles)

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.  After entering the Park, turn right and run towards Speaker’s Corner.

3 Milers:  Continue south through Hyde Park, past the Serpentine and at the Carriage drive, make a left and head back toward Hyde Park Corner.  Take the Hyde Park Corner tube home.

5 Milers:  At Hyde Park Corner continue back up/north on the carriage drive.  Exit the park at the Animals in 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 of the traffic] and follow until you reach the large broad walk 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.

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.  Since the canal is blocked here, we call it “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 26 September – 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.

______________________________________

Website:  https://womenrunningtheworld.commm

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

Email: [email protected]

Hello everyone,

Another great week of running! I’ve really enjoyed meeting the new runners – thanks for joining us!  If you’re just getting back into running, and you’ve struggled a bit, don’t give up – Keep running! I promise with each run it will get easier and you will feel stronger.

We have some great routes this week with many distance options. Monday we head to Sloane Square/Westminster/Green Park and you can pick anything from 4-10 miles. (10 miles is for the women doing a fall half marathon.) You’ll see all the options listed below.  Wednesday we head west out the canal and return to St. John’s Wood through Kensal Rise. And as always, Friday we’re up the hill!

2015 HALF MARATHON

I sent out an email Thursday night announcing that the group will be travelling to Padua, Italy to run the Maratona Sant Antonio on Sunday 19 April 2015. Thanks for all the positive feedback. We’re really excited about this race. If you didn’t receive the email, it may have bounced to SPAM. If not, please let me know so I can check the distribution.  Registration for the race has not opened yet. We’ll be back to you soon with more details about the flights, hotel and race registration.

General Training and Pace Groups

In the next couple of weeks, we’ll be posting more detailed information about the training schedule to prepare for the spring half marathon. In general, each week we run a long/slower run, a shorter/faster run and a hill run. The Pace Groups will make it easier for folks to find each other and will be especially important for our long runs. We follow the training principle that your long run should be at a pace slower than your race pace.  If you are new to the “race pace” concept, don’t worry!  We can help you figure out where you should be.

Maps

Just a reminder that by Sunday evening, this email is posted on our website www.womenrunningtheworld.com. On the website, you can zoom in on the maps and see the street names. If you need to brush up on any of the routes or if you are new to running in London, please take a look at the maps before we set out.

Be Careful

I know we are all tempted to dash across the street to stay with the group.  Please be careful!  In the past, we had a runner hit by a motorcycle and we also had a runner hit by a car (on a weekend run). They were both OK, thank goodness, but I’m reminding you that in London you can’t depend on the traffic to stop for you.  Also be mindful of pedestrians and bikes.  We are a big group and we’re often running on narrow sidewalks.

Keep running,

Jane

ROUTES

Monday 15 September  – 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! 

NOTE – if your middle schooler is leaving for his or her trip too late to run with the group, some will meet to run later at 9:40 am.

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 17 September – Kensal Rise 4-6 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. 

(The two mile mark is at the point on the canal when the Westway highway is over our heads.)

Friday 19 September – The Heath (4-8 miles)

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.

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.

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.

MARATONA SANT ANTONIO

Padova (Padua), Italy

Sunday 19 April 2015

Follow the steps that Saint Anthony of Padua walked in 1231 through the ancient towns of the Venetian Plain, 25 miles west of Venice. The race begins in the village of Camposampiero and finishes at Padua’s magnificent Prato della Valle – one of Europe’s largest town squares.  

The race receives excellent reviews for its flat course, enthusiastic crowds and beautiful scenery. Padua hosts both a half and full marathon that day and both races share a finish line. This means there will be no time restriction for the half marathon. The race organisers have not opened registration yet. We expect registration to begin in mid October.  

One very important note – the half marathon trip is for runners only.  No husbands, no partners, no kids, no non-runners.  This weekend is all about you and the women in the running group.  If you want to talk about this, just let me know.

A gigantic “thank you” to Chris Roberts for all her work to organise this trip!  Please let us know if you’d like to help Chris – we’d love your help!

We’ll come back to you soon with more details regarding our flight arrangements, travel plans and directions for how to register for the race.

At the moment all you need to do is mark your calendar and keep running!

Jane