Hi everyone,

We’ve had a great start to the running season!  It was wonderful to see so many of you gathering in front of Barclays.   Did you notice that in a week with some bad weather we had beautiful sunshine for both our runs?  I think that is a good omen for the year!

To the new runners, we’re so glad you’ve joined us!  To the returning runners, thanks for being so friendly and welcoming to our new runners- keep it up!  We have more new runners starting this week.  To everyone, if the runs last week were too slow/fast or too short/long – Don’t give up!!  It often takes a few sessions to find the smaller group of women that run the right distance/pace for you.  (If you need some help/guidance linking up with someone, just let me know.)

This week we return to some of our favourite routes – Hyde Park, The Wall and The Heath.  In each route, there are lots of options for mileage.  As always, don’t be tempted to do too much, too soon.

T-Th Beginner Group

The first day for the new beginner group is this Thursday 4 September.  If you have any friends who are interested in joining, please have them email me.

Stay Tuned – Spring Half-Marathon Trip

We’re hard at work behind the scenes trying to find a great race for our spring half-marathon. Please remember that we have to balance many factors in choosing a race including timing, travel and finding a race that is appropriate for our beginner runners.  A few races have just been announced that may work for us.  We’re in the process of getting our questions answered.  We’ll be back to you as soon as we can with the details for the race.

Fall Half-Marathon?

Please let me know if you signed up for a fall half-marathon race and you are still planning to run.  We want to make sure that we have your longer runs built into the weekly routes.

Oyster Card

One last reminder, bring your Oyster card.  Sometimes our routes loop back home, but often we stop along the way and take the tube home.

Keep running,

Jane

ROUTES THIS WEEK

Monday 1 September – Hyde Park – always versatile! (2-8 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.

2 Milers:  After entering the park, turn right towards Speakers’ Corner, then finish at the Marble Arch Tube [or take the 82 bus] to head back home.

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] and follow until you reach the large broadwalk where you turn left.  Run past Kensington Palace (on your right) and take a left to run along the southern edge of the park towards Hyde Park Corner, then turn left on the eastern edge and exit at Upper Brook St/Animals in War exit as above.  Take Upper Brook Street to Park Street [left] to Park Road and home to SJW.

Wednesday 3 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 6 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

6-7miles:  The partial Heath route

8 miles:  The full Heath route

Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes.

______________________________________

Website:  https://womenrunningtheworld.commm

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

Email: [email protected]

Hi Everyone,

Thank you for making this year at WRW such a success! AND thanks to everyone who ran with us on Friday for The Sights of London run. What a beautiful day – we got to see London in all its glory! This is our last week of official routes until the autumn, but please keep running over the summer! The best way to keep your conditioning and avoid injury is to keep running.  

Since our run to Happening Bagel was rained out last Wednesday, we’re adding it as one of the runs for Monday. The other Monday option is to do a Hyde Park loop. Wednesday is the Camden/Regent’s Park loop and Friday is the Heath or a route of your choice.  

Summer running in London

There is usually a group that continues to run in London throughout the summer. We tend to meet at Starbucks at 8:30 MWF, but sometimes we start earlier if it looks like it will be a hot day. We just make up the route on the day. Please join us! Syma volunteered to be a contact person for the summer running, so you can check in with her if you are around and want to run with the group.  Her is email is [email protected].  

GOOD LUCK RACERS!

Good luck to Sonia, Gudny, Charlotte and Betsy who are running the Runner’s World Trailblazer Run (10K and Half Marathon) in Kent on June 7. We’re excited to hear about your trail running experience. I bet it is going to be a beautiful course. Good Luck!

Fall Half-Marathon Training Schedule

Signing up for a fall race is one of the best ways to make sure you run over the summer. In the next couple of days, we’re adding a training schedule to the WRW website for the Amsterdam Half Marathon on Sunday 19 October .  If you are doing a race on a different weekend you can adjust the schedule to fit your date.

Email List

Our policy is to keep you on our email list unless you ask to be removed.  So if you’re moving, or just taking a break, you’ll keep getting the emails.  Please let us know if you’d like to be removed – we won’t be offended, promise!

Wednesday August 27 will be our first day back after the summer.  I’m already looking forward to next year!   Have a fantastic summer.

Keep running,

Jane

ROUTES

Monday 9 June

Happening Bagel via Highgate and Finsbury Greenbelt – 7 miles

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

OR

Hyde Park – all distances

 

Since this is a busy week for everyone, we’ll head to Hyde Park where you can run whichever distance you choose.   All the routes are on the WRW website here.

 

 

Wednesday 11 June

Camden/Morningside Crescent/Regent’s Park Loop – 5 miles

 

We start out on the canal eastbound to Camden Market, where we exit the canal and turn right onto Camden High Street.  We’ll run down Camden High Street to Mornington Crescent Tube Station and veer right onto Hampstead Road, which we will take down to Euston road.  We’ll then go right on Euston to Park Square East, where we will enter Regent’s Park.  We make the first left onto Outer Circle and run around the loop to the Charlbert exit (where we enter for the canal). We’ll run up Charlbert to Allitsen, make a left, and head back to Starbucks.  

 

 

Friday 13 June

Today is ASL Graduation so we’ll take a ‘gradual’ run up to the Heath to celebrate!  This is also our last organized WRW run of the 2013-2014 term so extra celebrations are in order —  a double latte anyone???

 

The Heath

All of these routes are on the website.

 

4 miles:  A great way to ease into running the hill.   Run up to the Hampstead tube station and back.

5 miles: The Betsy Route

6-7 miles:  The partial Heath route

8 miles:  The full Heath route

 

Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes

______________________________________

Website:  https://womenrunningtheworld.commm

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

Email: [email protected]

To be removed from this list, send a request to the email above.

Hi everyone,

It’s hard to believe we’re almost at the end of the year. We have only two more weeks of routes. This week we’re doing an old stand-by, Notting Hill, on Monday and an old favourite, Happening Bagel via Highgate and the Finsbury Greenbelt, on Wednesday. Friday is the Sights of London Farewell Run and Leaver’s Coffee. Please come! More details are below.

The Friday Plan – Sights of London and Coffee

This is a great run!  Even if you haven’t run in a little while – come along!  We run as a (BIG!) group and we wait for everyone at the lights so we can stick together. The total distance is 4.5 miles and we stop often.

We’ll stop for group pictures at:

– Hyde Park Speaker’s Corner

– Buckingham Palace

– Big Ben

– Trafalgar Square

Then we’ll jump on the Tube and take the Bakerloo Line to the Maida Vale station. We’ll walk two blocks to my house at 144 Hamilton Terrace (between Marlborough Place and Carlton Hill) for coffee and nibbles. If you can’t run for any reason, please still come for coffee. I expect we’ll be there around 10 am.

Good Luck Yianna!

Yianna is competing in The World Triathlon on Sunday June 1 in London. She’s branching out from running to complete an Olympic distance triathlon of a 1.5km swim, a 40km bike and a 10km run.  GO YIANNA!

Collecting names for next year’s beginner group

If you have any friends that are interested in being part of the beginner group for next year, please tell them to email Vicky Timbers at [email protected] and Meg Stone at [email protected]. Thanks!

Keep running!

Jane

ROUTES

Monday 2 June

Notting Hill – 6.5 miles

Run out the canal to the west and exit at Ladbroke Grove.  Run 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.  Go back along the canal and out where you entered and back to Starbucks.

Wednesday 4 June

Happening Bagel via Highgate and Finsbury Greenbelt – 7 miles

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

Friday 6 June

Sights of London Farewell Run – 5 miles

This is a fun run.  We will start out the usual way to Hyde Park, where will sill stop at Speaker’s Corner for a photo.  We’ll then continue on along the ester edge of the park to Hyde Park Corner, where we will cross into Green Park and run down Constitution Hill to Buckingham Palace, where we will gather again for another photo. Then, we’ll run down The Mall and cross through St James Park to Birdcage Walk and on into Parliament Square, where we’ll take another photo in front of Big Ben. Finally, we’ll head down WhiteHall into Trafalgar Square, where we’ll take one last photo and then hop on the tube – Bakerloo to Maida Vale Station – and head to Jane’s house for the farewell coffee.

Hi everyone,

Thanks to everyone who has come out to run this week!  I know the end of the year is so busy.  We had a great run to Borough Market on Friday and came home with some goodies!  Monday is a Bank Holiday so we’ll meet at Barclays for a bit later start at 8:30.  The plan is to head down to Hyde Park and do a distance of your choice.  Wednesday we have our last run for the year to Canary Wharf for the dedicated distance runners.  If you’re not up for that long of a run, you can run to The Wall or choose another route of your choice.  Some of the groups have been doing a little “adventure” running – making up the route as they go along!  That is great – the most important thing is to run and have some fun at this time of the year.

SAVE THE DATE – Friday 6 June 

Please join us for our annual “Sights of London” Run followed by our chance to say good-bye to our friends who are leaving London.   All the details will be included in next week’s email.  Can you let me know if you are moving so that we can properly say good-bye?  (We’ll miss you!)

Keep running,

Jane

ROUTES

Monday 26 May  Bank Holiday  

Hyde Park  8:30 am start!

 

Enjoy a few minutes extra sleep as we start a bit later at 8:30.  Since it is a Bank Holiday, we’ll head to Hyde Park and everyone runs whichever distance they want.    All the routes are on the WRW website here.

 

Wednesday 28 May  

Canary Wharf [~9 miles] –OR—The Wall [6 miles]

 

Since Monday was a Bank Holiday, we have a choice of long run [Canary Wharf] or a shorter run [The Wall] today.  We’ll all start out and do the first three miles together.

 

Option 1:  Canary Wharf

 

Section One – Canal to the Wall

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

Section Two – Angel Roads

We need to run through the Angel neighbourhood until we can re-enter the canal path.   At the wall follow the ramp up to Muriel Street.  (This is a good place to wait for your pace group.)  Take a right and then an almost immediate left up a path that winds between the apartment buildings.  See the picture below for the entrance to the path.  

Keep going straight on the path and it will become Maygood Street.  When you get to the intersection of a main road (Barnsbury Road) turn right.  Run until you make the second left onto Chapel Market.  (There is a metal archway saying Chapel Market and a zebra crossing at the intersection.)  Follow Chapel Market until the end.  (NB:  There is a public Ladies Room at the end of White Conduit Street, which intersects with Chapel Market at the euphorium bakery.)  Turn right at Liverpool Street to the major road Upper Street.  Cross Upper Street and turn left.  (NB:  Angel Tube Station is to your right if you are going home from here.)  Make your first right at Duncan Street (Jack Wills shop at the corner) and follow until the end.  The entrance to the canal path will be directly in front of you.  Go straight along the canal (NOT a sharp right turn.)

Section Three – Canal to Limehouse Basin

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

Section Four – Limehouse Basin to Canary Wharf

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

 

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

 

 

 

Option 2:  The Wall

 

Run South on Finchley/Wellington Road to the SJW Church Roundabout, follow the sidewalk to the left and cross Prince Albert Road at the crosswalk just beyond the SJW Church.  Continue east and enter the canal at the Charlbert entrance.  Run east [left], cutting through the Camden Lock Market until you run out of canal path at Islington.  Touch the canal boat tunnel wall—this is The Wall!—then turn around and re-trace your steps back to SJW.  When you come off the canal at Regents Park, take Charlbert to Allitsen to SJW High Street to Starbucks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday 30 May  The Heath!

 

It’s Friday again, so everyone up Fitzjohn’s.  You can pick your distance and whatever you choose, there will certainly be someone else interested in running that distance.  All of these routes are on the website.

In addition, every week there are a group of women who prefer to do a flat run.  We can help make sure that you find each other.  

 

4 miles:  A great way to ease into running the hill.   Run up to the Hampstead tube station and back.

5 miles: The Betsy Route

6-7 miles:  The partial Heath route

8 miles:  The full Heath route

______________________________________

Website:  https://womenrunningtheworld.commm

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

Email: [email protected]

Hi everyone,

I’m looking at the calendar and it’s hard to believe we only have 5 more weeks of official routes before our summer holiday.  I know this time of year is so busy, but try to give yourself a break from everyday stuff and schedule the time to run.  We have some fun runs on the calendar, join us!

Thanks to everyone who joined me to explore the Western Heath on Friday.  We only made a few wrong turns and it was fun to see a new part of the Heath.  Stay tuned for a new 6-mile Western Heath route for the group!  

This Monday we have a great run to Brick Lane Coffee and the Beigel Bake.  Great bagels and coffee in a funky, cool neighbourhood – what more could you ask for?  We’re doing an old favourite, Notting Hill, on Wednesday and back to the Heath on Friday. 

Save the Date

Friday, May 23 – Borough Market (9:00am Start)

Wednesday, May 28 – Canary Wharf (or The Wall)

Wednesday, June 4 – Happening Bagel and Greenway

Friday, June 6 – Sights of London run and Leavers Coffee

Keep running!

Jane

ROUTES

Monday May 12  

Brick Lane Coffee/Beigel Bake  5.7 miles

 

This is a fun and funky destination run!  We will head out in the same way as though we are running to The Wall and Canary Wharf. [Canal east to the Wall—go up ramp to Muriel Street, take a right and then an almost immediate left up a path that winds between the apartment buildings.  Keep going straight on the path and it will become Maygood Street.  When you get to the intersection of a main road (Barnsbury Road) turn right.  Run until you make the second left onto Chapel Market.  (There is a metal archway saying Chapel Market and a zebra crossing at the intersection.)  Follow Chapel Market until the end.   Turn right at Liverpool Street to the major road Upper Street.  Cross Upper Street and turn RIGHT  (NB:  Angel Tube Station is to your right if you are going home from here.)]  Go past Angel Tube Station and then go LEFT on City Road.  We will take City Road all the way into Shoreditch, going past the Old Street Tube [the Silicon Roundabout for those of you techies!], heading onto Great Eastern Street from the Roundabout and then crossing Shoreditch High Street to get to Bethnal Green Road before turning right on Brick Lane.  Brick Lane Coffee and Beigel Bake are both on your right.  They are FUNKY so bring your cool attitudes!

Wednesday 14 May  

Notting Hill 6 miles

 

Channel your inner Hugh Grant/Julia Roberts as we head to Notting Hill.  Run out the canal to the west and exit at Ladbroke Grove.  Run 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.  Go back along the canal and out where you entered and back to Starbucks.

 

 

 

Friday May 16 

The Heath!

 

It’s Friday [again!], so everyone up Fitzjohn’s.  You can pick your distance and whatever you choose, there will certainly be someone else interested in running that distance.  All of these routes are on the website.

 

4 miles:  A great way to ease into running the hill.   Run up to the Hampstead tube station and back.

5 miles: The Betsy Route

6-7 miles:  The partial Heath route

8 miles:  The full Heath route

 

Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes

Hi Everyone,

I’m looking forward to running with you this week! Since Monday is a Bank Holiday we’ll start out just slightly later at 8:30 and head to Hyde Park for a distance of your choice.  We have another threatened tube strike on Wednesday so we have two route options.   Plan A is a fun destination run to the Picadilly Whole Food and the chocolate store extravaganza Choccywoccydoodah.   (Yes, that’s really the name!)  In case of tube strike, we’ll go with Plan B, which is to run along the canal to The Wall and back.  On Friday, we’re up the hill again but a few of us are going to try to learn the Western Heath route.  Let me know Friday morning if you want to join us.   (Be prepared that we’ll likely get lost!)

Save the Date

We have some fun routes on the schedule coming up:

Monday May 12 – Brick Lane Coffee

Friday May 23 – Borough Market (9:00am Start)

Wednesday May 28 – One last time to Canary Wharf…

Wednesday June 4 – Happening Bagel via the Greenway

Friday June 6 – “Sights of London” run and Leavers Coffee

Amsterdam Half Marathon

We have a growing group of women who have signed up for the Amsterdam Half Marathon on Sunday 19 October.  Check it out at http://www.tcsamsterdammarathon.nl/en/  I can guarantee it will be flat!

Keep running!

Jane

ROUTES

Monday 5 May – Bank Holiday (8:30 START)

Hyde Park – 4-8 miles 

This is a bank holiday, so we’ll make it easy for everyone.  Hyde Park, any distance you wish.  All the routes are on the WRW website here.

Wednesday 7 May

There is a planned tube strike that may interfere with our running plans (THE NERVE!). So, there are two route options for today.  The first, is to Whole Foods Picadilly.  We’ll do this route if there is no strike, since we’ll have to take the tube home.  If there is a strike, we go to plan B, which is “The Wall.”

Whole Foods Picadilly – 6.5 miles

This is always a fun route.  We start out heading east on the canal and run to the Wall.  We’ll exit the canal there and turn right onto Rodney, which will turn into Penton Rise, then King’s Coss Road, and eventually Farringdon, which we will stay on until we reach the embankment.  We then turn right and run along Victoria Embankment to Northumberland (just past Embankment Tube Station).  Turn Right onto Northumberland and run through Trafalgar Square onto Cockspur and then turn right onto Haymarket.  Take Haymarket into Picadilly Circus and turn left onto Coventry. Run through Picadilly Circus, across the street and onto Glasshouse Street, where you will see Whole Foods.

Plan B – The Wall – 6 miles

You all know the drill on this one.  Out the canal east to “the Wall” and back.

Friday 9 May

The Heath!

It’s Friday [again!], so everyone up Fitzjohn’s.  You can pick your distance and whatever you choose, there will certainly be someone else interested in running that distance.  All of these routes are on the website.

4 miles:  A great way to ease into running the hill.   Run up to the Hampstead tube station and back.

5 miles: The Betsy Route

6-7 miles:  The partial Heath route

8 miles:  The full Heath route

Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes

______________________________________

Website:  https://womenrunningtheworld.commm

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

Email: [email protected]

Hello Everyone,

It was great to see so many runners on Wednesday.  I know it is hard to get back to it after some time off but it’s worth it.   This week there’s a threatened Tube Strike, so all our routes loop back home.  We’re doing the Kensal Rise loop on Monday and the Camden/Regents Park loop on Wednesday.   Friday is the Hampstead Hill.  If you’re new to the hill, don’t worry.  You can build up to it.  One option is to run up to the Hampstead tube stop and then turn around and run back down.  That’s a little less than a 4-mile run.  The payoff of the hill training is being able to run in Hampstead Heath.  For me, I hate the hills, but I love the Heath.  It’s one of my favourite places in London.  It’s so wild and remote that you quickly leave the cars and the craziness of London behind.

Helping with the Beginner Group?

We’re looking for volunteers to help with next year’s beginner group.  You can be any level/speed of runner and you don’t need to have been a beginner yourself.   You can respond to this email or email me directly at [email protected].

Save The Date

Our annual “Sights of London” run and Leavers Coffee will be on Friday June 6.  We’ll run as one big group and stop at a few key sights for photos.  It’s great fun.  If you’re moving away from London, please let us know so we can properly say good-bye.  (We’ll miss you!)

Trail Race June 7

Sonia is looking for some women to join her in the Runner’s World Trailblazer run (10K or half) on Saturday June 7 in Kent.  It’s a trail race and looks like an absolutely beautiful run.  Check out the website at www.rwtrailblazer.co.uk and email Sonia at [email protected].

Health News

Thanks to Donna and Erin for mentioning an article in the NY Times yesterday reporting that scientists found that exercise has tremendous benefits for our skin.  People who exercise (at least 3 hours per week) were able to reduce or reverse the normal ageing process of skin.   The results were so dramatic that active 60 year olds had skin that was closer to the skin of 20-30 year olds.   (They tested skin that was not exposed to the sun from subject’s butts!)  Just another example that exercise is great for you!

Keep running!

Jane

Monday, 28th April

Kensal Rise–6 miles

The beginning of this run takes us along the canal to the west.  Please be aware of bikes along the canal and move into single file whenever you hear a ‘bike!’ shout.

Start out heading west on Circus Road, turn left on Grove End to St John’s Wood Road and go west, working your way to the canal entrance on Blomfield.  Enter the canal heading west and run to the Ladbroke Grove exit.  Here we turn right and run over the bridge along Chamberlayne Road to Harvist Road. Turn right on Harvist, which turns into Brondesbury Road, and take that to Kilburn High Road/Maida Vale.  Turn right and follow Maida Vale to Hall Road where you turn left and run back to Starbucks. If you want to shorten this route, run west on the canal and turn back at your desired half-way point. 

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

Wednesday, 30th April  

Camden/Morningside Crescent/Regent’s Park Loop—5 miles

We start out on the canal eastbound to Camden Market, where we exit the canal and turn right onto Camden High Street.  We’ll run down Camden High Street to Mornington Crescent Tube Station and veer right onto Hampstead Road, which we will take down to Euston road.  We’ll then go right on Euston to Park Square East, where we will enter Regent’s Park.  We make the first left onto Outer Circle and run around the loop to the Charlbert exit (where we enter for the canal). We’ll run up Charlbert to Allitsen, make a left, and head back to Starbucks.  

 

 

Friday, 2nd May 

The Heath!

It’s Friday [again!], so everyone up Fitzjohn’s.  You can pick your distance and whatever you choose, there will certainly be someone else interested in running that distance.  All of these routes are on the website.

4 miles:  A great way to ease into running the hill.   Run up to the Hampstead tube station and back.

5 miles: The Betsy Route

6-7 miles:  The partial Heath route

8 miles:  The full Heath route

Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes

______________________________________

Website:  https://womenrunningtheworld.commm

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

Email: [email protected]

Hi Everyone,

 Welcome back!  I hope you had a great two weeks whether you were travelling or enjoying some spring weather in London.  

 On Wednesday we have one of our favourite London routes – 4 or 5 miles to Big Ben.  The 4-mile route takes you straight to the Westminster tube stop but if you’re up for a bit more running and a few beautiful views, we have a short loop over the Westminster and Hungerford bridges and then back to the tube stop.  Remember to bring your tube card.  If you have been consistently running over the break, you can run back to St Johns Wood.  But if you’ve taken some time off these last few weeks, it’s better to take it easier these first few runs back.  Remember to take time to stretch and gradually build back the mileage. 

 On Friday we are back up the hill to Hampstead.  Once again, consider taking a shorter route if you haven’t been running.  Or feel free to follow a flat route of your choice if you’re not up for the hill quite yet.

Keep Running

I know it’s tempting now that our big race has finished to take a break from running.   Especially as life gets increasingly busy as the end of the school year approaches.  However, the best thing you could do for yourself is to keep running over these last few months of the year and over the summer.  You’ll hang on to the fitness level you built for the race and you’ll start the fall ready to run. 

Spring, Summer or Fall race?

One of the best ways to keep running is to sign up for a race.  Having that race on your calendar will motivate you to train.  Even a short local race can make a difference.  Or you may want to consider signing up for a half-marathon in the fall.  We usually have a group of women who run the Windsor Half Marathon, which is scheduled for Sunday 28 September.   It is supposed to be a beautiful but (true confessions) hilly course.  As of today they were still taking entries, the race closes at 6,000 runners.www.runwindsor.com

Welcome to Ex-Beginners!

We’re excited to have the ex-beginners join our MWF group!  As a reminder, we have four pace groups (9s, 10s, 11s, and 12s) but the groups are really just a simple way to organise folks who run at roughly the same pace.  As I mentioned at the race dinner, Syma usually runs in the 11s and Betsy runs in the 12s.  I think Bonnie runs a bit in both groups.  I run with the 10s and sometimes the 11s.   There is such a big group of ex-beginners, so wherever you end up there will be other ex-beginners with you.   We all know that joining the big group can be intimidating at first, but please know that the first day is the hardest.  Everyone is so friendly that you will quickly fit right in.  (It’s easier to join the MWF group in the spring, because in the fall there are many new runners that just moved to London.)   As a reminder we meet at Barclays at 8:15, and we try to start running at 8:20.  Let me know if you have any questions about the pace groups or the MWF group. 

I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone!

Jane

ROUTES

Wednesday 23 April

Big Ben plus Embankment Loop (4 or 5.3 miles)

We have no scheduled run for Easter Monday, 21 April, So we start this week’s routes on Wednesday 23 April with a modified Big Ben Route.  We’ll head down to Big Ben the usual way, to Hyde Park and then 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.  You can take the Westminster Tube from here for a 4-mile run or continue down to the Thames and across Westminster Bridge, where we’ll turn left and run along the south embankment to the Hungerford Bridge and left along Victoria Embankment to Big Ben, where we’ll head home on the tube from Westminster Tube Station.

Friday 25 April (seriously 25 April!!)

HILL RUN  The Heath

 

It’s Friday again, so everyone up Fitzjohn’s.  You can pick your distance and whatever you choose, there will certainly be someone else interested in running that distance.  All of these routes are on the website.

In addition, every week there are a group of women who prefer to do a flat run.  We can help make sure that you find each other.  

 

4 miles:  A great way to ease into running the hill.   Run up to the Hampstead tube station and back.

5 miles: The Betsy Route

6-7 miles:  The partial Heath route

8 miles:  The full Heath route

 

Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes

 

______________________________________

Website:  https://womenrunningtheworld.commm

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

Email: [email protected]