Hello Runners,

Thank you a million times for the fantastic weekend in Germany.  I’ll say again how proud I am of everyone for finishing the race.  You all did excellent on a very beautiful, but difficult course.  This week is about enjoying your success and doing a bit of running if you are up for it.  Wednesday is a slow, easy 4-mile loop in the neighbourhood.  It might feel good to get your legs moving again and shake out some of the post-race rust.  Friday we’re running one of our standard flat routes – the 6-mile Notting Hill route.  (If you would prefer to run 4 miles, you can follow the first part of the course along the canal until you get to the part where you are under the highway overpass and turn around and head back to St. Johns Wood.)

For the ex-beginners (love that new name!) you are welcome to join us on Wed and Friday or you are welcome to run together on Thursday if you like.  Or some mix of both.  Feel free to email each other and plan something that works for you.  We’re not going to worry too much about getting you in the right pace group yet.  You can run together and follow our route on whatever day works for you.  When we’re back in mid-April after the ASL break, we’ll be more organised about getting everyone into the right group.  This week, just have fun with the runs.  (For Wed and Fri, we meet in front of Barclays between 8:00-8:20 and we start running at 8:20.)

For the MWF group, remember to be super welcoming to our ex-beginner runners and keep an eye out for them on the routes.  They won’t be as familiar with our standard routes and will appreciate your guidance and direction.

After this week, WRW will be taking a two-week April break and we won’t be sending out routes.  If you’re going to be in London during this time, feel free to organise amongst yourselves and keep running.  Our first run back will be on Wednesday 23 April.

Keep running,

Jane

Click here for this weeks’ routes on the website

ROUTES

FYI – for ex-Beginners, the routes are available on the website in interactive form (you can zoom in and out) and there are some pages with some of our regular routes you can use if you are looking for a route over the break

Wednesday 2 April – Regents Park – 4 miles

We’ll ease back into our London running with this easy loop.  Head down Grove End Road as though going to Hyde Park BUT at Marylebone Road, turn left and follow Marylebone Road, past Madame Tussauds, then turn left at York Bridge and right at the Outer Circle.  Follow the Outer Circle counter clockwise, all the way to the crosswalk by the US Ambassador’s House. Cross out of the Park and head to Starbucks.

 

Friday 4 April – Notting Hill – 6 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.

Hi Everyone,

This is our last week of training before many of us leave for the race in Germany.  We have a 7-mile loop on Monday and a 5-mile loop on Wednesday.  Yesterday, I sent out an email to all the trip participants with our final update, the itinerary and the bus lists.  Please let me know if you didn’t receive it for some reason.  (You may want to check your spam folder first.)  The next weekly email will go out on Monday or Tuesday next week after the race.  If you’re not going to the race, you can decide together on your own favourite route for Monday 31 March.  

Mat Pilates Class Update

Angela has worked out a sign up system for the Thursday 10am Mat Pilates class at Pizza Express that we announced last week.  Follow this LINK to get to the google docs sign up page.  If you have any questions you can email her at [email protected].

Keep running,

Jane

ROUTES

Monday 24 March

LONG RUN – 7 miles 

Head to Hyde Park the usual way and run along the eastern edge of the park to Hyde Park Corner.  Cross under the Wellington Arch and run down Constitution Hill to The Mall.  Run a short distance down The Mall, turn left and run along the eastern edge of Green Park to Piccadilly.  Turn left on Piccadilly and run along the northern edge of Green Park back to Hyde Park Corner.  Cross back into Hyde Park and run back up the eastern edge of the park to the Upper Brook Street exit and back to SJW via the normal route.

 

Wednesday, 12 March

SHORT RUN – 5 miles – This is an easy-paced run

Camden/Morningside Crescent/Regent’s Park Loop

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 Hempstead 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 28 March

For those running in Bad Durkheim, we are off to the races! No scheduled run today.  

For those not heading to Germany…

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

NO ROUTE 

Monday 31 March

Most of the group will be returning from Germany.  If you are not travelling, meet as usual at Barclays and pick your favourite route!

______________________________________

Website:  https://womenrunningtheworld.commm

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

Email: [email protected]

Hi Everyone,

Spring has arrived!  It was so nice to run in short sleeves last week.  We’ve made it to our longest training run of the season – 11 miles to Kew Gardens.  Don’t forget your Oyster card, water and gels.  (We had some of our 11s run to Kew last week and they said the route was great.)

Pilates Mat Class

Angela has arranged a Pilates Mat Class on Thursdays at 10am in the upstairs room of Pizza Express on Abbey Road.  The class is great for stretching and core work and is taught by Ricardo who also teaches at Virgin Active.  The plan is to have 15 people each week so the cost would be £10 each.  Angela is trying to get a sense of interest and then she’ll create a sign-up system.  If you’re interested please email her at [email protected].

Keep running,

Jane

ROUTES

CONDITIONING LONG RUN  Kew

Monday 17 March

Bring your Oyster card!

You’ll be feeling the luck of the Irish today as we do our 11 mile run to the cute ‘village’ of Kew.  We start out the normal way running to Hyde Park.  Once in the Park, we’ll turn to the left and run down the main walkway as we regularly do, to parallel Park Lane.  At the end of the walk, turn right to follow the main cross route in the park—beware of the bike lane!  When this ends at West Carriage Drive, cross the road at the crossing and continue on the pathway towards the bottom right corner of Hyde/Kensington Park.  We’ll run out of the Park at the Broadwalk, turning right onto Kensington High Street and continue for about two miles until we reach the Hammersmith Tube gyratory.  Run counter clockwise towards the left, ending up on Queen Caroline Street which gets you to St. Paul’s Church green.  Run along the Green to the right, heading to and crossing over Hammersmith Bridge. Exit Hammersmith Bridge Road to your left and run under it onto the Thames footpath.  Now it’s time to enjoy the view as we run along the Thames for almost four miles—it’s beautiful!  Exit the footpath just after going under Kew Bridge, heading left from the Thames; run along this road [Kew Road] for about a third of a mile, veering left on Mortlake Road, then shortly thereafter turn right on Cumberland Road, which will merge into Kew Gardens Road. You’ll do a turn to the left onto Station Approach [follow the Kew Gardens Station signs].  There is a Starbucks around the small bend where we’ll all meet up to congratulate ourselves on such a great run!

 

 

TEMPO RUN  The Wall

Wednesday 19 March

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.

HILL RUN  The Heath

Friday 21 March

 

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]

Hi Runners,

A massive CONGRATULATIONS to our Beginner group who ran to Canary Wharf on Thursday.  They started this journey in September by running one minute and walking two and in a few weeks they’ll run a half marathon!  I’m looking forward to celebrating together.  THANK YOU to their coaches Syma, Betsy and Bonnie!

We’ll done to everyone for getting in the 10-mile run last week. I know many of you had conflicts on Monday so you ran on Sunday or modified the route to loop back. That’s great.  The most important thing is to clock the mileage. For those of us who ran to Greenford, we were rewarded by running along a beautiful stretch of the canal. Once you pass the Wembley exit, it feels like you’re in the English countryside.

This week our long run is the Big Ben loop.  Remember, good training means not continually adding mileage. We’ll step back to 8 miles this week.  We ran this route in the fall and many of us took the tube home from Westminster.  I hope you’re proud of how far we’ve come this year!  We’re also done with our Speed training for the year. Wednesday we return to our standard tempo training with the Kensal Rise loop.  You should be running faster than the Monday long-run pace, but not as fast as our speed work.

Video Filming

Thanks for all your work to contribute to our annual video.  If you haven’t had a chance to be involved, we’ll be filming on Wed and Friday mornings.  Please join us- we want as many women as possible to be a part of the video so filming on those days will focus on those who have not attended a filming session yet. The video directors promise this will be easy, just wear normal running clothes.  Wednesday we will be filming as part of the normal run along the canal at the Puppet Barge.  Friday we need to do a few scenes at Starbucks before we start our run.  Thanks again for all your help!

Race Numbers

The race confirmation letters were emailed on Thursday by the race director. You need to print this letter and bring it with you.  If you didn’t receive it, check your SPAM folder.

Keep running,

Jane

ROUTES

LONG RUN – 8 miles

Monday 10 March

Big Ben and back

For this run we head to Hyde Park via the usual route and run along the eastern edge of the park to Hyde Park Corner, under the arch and down Constitution Hill.  Run passed 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, then turn around and run the same route back to Starbucks.

SHORT RUN – 6 miles – This is a regular-paced run, there will be no more speed work leading up to the half-marathon

Wednesday, 12 March

Kensal Rise

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.)

HILL RUN  The Heath

Friday 14 March

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]

Hi Everyone,

I hope you had a good recovery week.  I’m looking forward to seeing everyone and getting back to running.  We’ve only five weeks to the half marathon!  This week our long run is the Battersea Park Loop.  The entire loop is 10 miles but there are many options to do a shorter loop or take a tube home if you are not up for the full 10 miles after our recovery week.  As a reminder, looking ahead we have the following long runs:

Feb. 24 – Battersea Loop, 8-10 miles

March 3 – Canal west to Greenford destination, 10 miles

March 10 – Big Ben loop, 8 miles

March 17 – Kew Gardens destination, 11 miles

March 24 – Green Park loop, 6-7 miles

March 30 – RACE DAY

New Running Shoes

If you’re thinking about getting a new pair of shoes for the race, now’s the time to do it.  You want to make sure you can run in the shoes at least a few times before the actual race.  The same applies for the clothes you’ll wear on race day.  Make sure you test everything first.  You don’t want to get to the middle of the race and realise that something is rubbing or annoying you.  Who knows what the weather will be on race day – it could be warm, mild or cold.  That’s Europe in the spring!  Plan to bring race clothes for all temperatures and we’ll decide that morning!

Spring Races

Some of the women in our group are signing up for some fun races this spring.  

The Color Run – London.  This looks like a super fun 3-mile run in Wembley Park on Sunday June 1st, 2014 at 3pm. Jen Cohen is putting together a team – email her at [email protected] if you are interested in joining the team.  Click here to check out the website.

We Own the Night.  This is a women’s 10K run, Saturday 10th May 2014 after dark.  Some of our runner’s ran the race last year and said it was a great experience.  Click here to check out the website.

Keep running!

Jane

Click here for the interactive routes on our web.

ROUTES

LONG RUN – 10 miles – remember this is your slower paced run

Monday 24 February

Battersea Loop

We head out to Hyde Park, along the eastern edge of the park, and down Sloane Street to Sloane Square the usual way.  We continue through Sloane Square, down Chelsea Bridge Road, and over the Chelsea Bridge to the south bank of the Thames.  We will then turn right into Battersea Park and run along the south side of the Thames to the Albert Bridge, where will will cross back over the Thames.  WE will turn right again and run along the north side of the river back to Chelsea Bridge Road, where we will turn left and run back up through Sloane Square and back to Hyde Park.  We will turn right and run down Knightsbridge to Hyde Park Corner, then left long the eastern edge of the park to the exit at Upper Brook Street and back to Starbucks the usual way.

TEMPO RUN

Wednesday 26 February

Regent’s Park Tempo Diamonds

We are continuing with our focused tempo running on Wednesdays.  This week we will do ‘diamonds’—they are fast but also fast to be done with so give them a try!

 

Head over to Regent’s Park, the normal way [down Wellington Road, left at the SJW Church roundabout, cross the zebra crossing before the High Street and enter Park at the Charlbert Entrance].  Enter the Park and veer to the left path.  When you reach the first intersection with the other sidewalk, it is time to turn on your running jets.  You will run hard for 1 minute, then recover by running slowly for 3 minutes; then run hard for 2 minutes and recover by running slowly for 3 minutes; then run hard for 3 minutes, recover run slowly for 3 minutes; run hard for 2 minutes, recover run slowly for 3 minutes and finally run hard for 1 minutes, recover run slowly for 3 minutes.

 

The ‘diamond’ looks like this:

            1 minute hard                      3 minutes jogging recovery

            2 minutes hard                    3 minutes jogging recovery

            3 minutes hard                    3 minutes jogging recovery

            2 minutes hard                    3 minutes jogging recovery

            1 minute hard                      3 minutes jogging recovery

 

If you need to extend the amount of time for the jogging recovery, that’s fine, you can jog up to twice the amount of the hard run time [so 6 minutes max recovery jog for the 3 min hard run]

 

This type of running is best down within the park so you don’t have to contend with driveways etc.  If you find you need more mileage in Regent’s Park, just keep looping however you see fit.

HILL RUN  The Heath

Friday 28 February

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]

Hi Runners,

It’s recovery week!  Yeah!  Everyone gets a little mini-break from running next week.  It’s important to “clock your vacation time” from running.  Giving your body a week to rest and recover has huge pay-offs.  Psychologically you’ll be itching to run the following week (hopefully!) and your body will thank you for the break.  If you are not able to run at all next week – no worries.  It will be OK.  If you have access to a treadmill, try to get in 2-3 runs of no more than an hour.  If you are staying in London, come out and run with the group.  There are other people in town and wanting to run.  Email Kathy McMahon, [email protected], she is organising the London group next week.  Run no farther than 6 miles or no longer than 60 minutes (whichever comes first.)  Ideally you would run 6 miles (or 60 mins) once next week then add in another 2 runs of shorter distances 3-5 miles.  Avoid speed/tempo work and consider running flat on Friday.  We’ll leave the route selection up to you, but consider going somewhere fun!

Have a fabulous break and I look forward to seeing you Monday 24 February!

XO

Jane

Hi everyone,

It’s been another rough weather week in London, but we managed to sneak in our runs before the afternoon rain.  That’s some good incentive to get out and run at 8:15 because you never know what the rest of the day will bring.  Monday was an especially good day because we had a fantastic turn-out for the 9-mile Embankment loop.  For a few runners, that was the first time they had ever run 9 miles – well done!

This week we have the famous 9-mile run to Canary Wharf.  It looks like most of the group has migrated to doing the long run on Monday.  This is an important training run because most of the run is non-stop along the canal.  Remember to watch your pace – don’t be tempted to go too fast.  There are two tricky sections when we’re off the canal but I’ve added detailed description below and pictures so all the groups should feel comfortable doing the route.  Plus, there are great bragging rights that come from telling your family and friends that you just ran to Canary Wharf!  (For those of you who know the route well, please note that I simplified the route in Angel.  Make sure to take a look at that section.)

On Wednesday, we’re going to try a new type of tempo workout – Fartleks!  Make sure you read the description below.

Keep up the good work everyone! and keep running!

Jane

ROUTES

Monday, 10 February—Base Conditioning Run

Canary Wharf!  9.3 miles (with shorter options)

Section One – Canal to the Wall

(The route starts out as the The Wall route – if you need a shorter run consider running to the Wall and returning which is a 6-mile route.)

A few of you have said that you hate running down Wellington Road, so lets run past Panzers and turn right down Cochrane Street to the High Street and cross Prince Albert Road at the SJW zebra crossing.  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!

 

Wednesday, 12 February—Tempo Track Sprinting and Fartleks

Time for more tempo training—this week we incorporate Fartleks, which are short sprint bursts interspersed into the run.

Head down to the Regents Park Outer Circle the normal way [down Wellington, left at roundabout, cross zebra before the High Street, enter outer park at Charlbert] but do not go into the park, instead turn left on the outer circle and run slowly to the track.  Run ONE lap at the track, gradually increasing your speed.  Now, time to really run!

Do a timed one mile on the track [4 laps in the middle lane is pretty close] or you can set your watch to give you a one mile interval. Run this mile at about 80-85% of your maximum capacity.  If it were a scale of 1-20 [where 20 is a level of intensity that you could do for 1-2 seconds before you collapse], your timed mile should be a 16-17 [yikes!].  After your timed mile, jog another lap, slowly, around the track to recover, then continue to run slowly over the Regents Park.

Now, we’ll do about a 15-20 minute group Fartlek session.  This is how it works:  break into groups of 3-5 runners based on your sprint pace—the fastest group needs to be in front.  Separate each group by a couple of minutes before you start running again.  Someone in each group identifies the ‘run-to’ point [a bench, a rubbish can, a particular tree, etc] then counts down 3,2,1, ‘GO!’  Everyone in that group runs as hard as possible to the established ‘run-to’ point.  The distance of each fartlek should be different—mix up longer legs [maybe 200 meters] with shorter legs [maybe 20 meters].  You can do the loop outlined in the map below or just pick your own path until you’ve done about 15-20 minutes of fartleks.

Now, jog back over to the track and do ANOTHER timed mile to try to meet or better the time you had from your first timed mile.

Run, walk or crawl back to Starbucks and enjoy a much-earned coffee and chat!

Here’s an interesting tidbit—supposedly you can take a timed mile trial number and multiply by 14 to get a predicted half-marathon time.  We’ll test that theory out at the end of March!

Friday, 14 February—Happy Valentine’s Day!!!

No ASL today

It’s time to LOVE the Heath!

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]

Hi Everyone,

It’s official!  The Met Office has announced that southeast England had the wettest January in 100 years!  I think the majority of that rain fell during our tempo run last Wednesday!   Thanks to all of you for being so dedicated to running even in all this bad weather.   I know it’s hard.  We’re in the crucial part of our training – only 8 weeks to the race.  Try to block out the time in your calendar to run.  Even if the weather is bad, I promise you’ll feel good when you finish!

This week for our long run we have a 9-mile loop east along the canal through Farringdon to the Embankment and back to St. Johns Wood.  There are a few points along the route where you can tube home if you would like to do a shorter distance and build to our 9-mile run to Canary Wharf next week. We’ll be back in Hyde Park for tempo work as well.  

Looking ahead – Remember the long runs are KEY!  

Feb. 3 – Canal, Farringdon, Embankment loop, 9 miles

Feb. 10 – Canary Wharf destination, 9 miles

Feb. 17 – ASL break (4-6 miles)

Feb. 24 – Battersea loop, 8-10 miles

March 3 – Canal west to Greenford destination, 10 miles

March 10 – Big Ben loop, 8 miles

March 17 – Kew Gardens destination, 11 miles

March 24 – Green Park loop, 6-7 miles

MARCH 30 – RACE DAY!

GERMAN RACE UPDATE

Hills during the race?  There seems to be some rumours going around about the hill profile during the German race.  The best way to describe the course is that it’s rolling hills, gradually up and down, with 3 medium hills at 3km (1.8 miles), 11km (6.8 miles), and 18 km (11 miles).  From looking at the route map, our estimate is that for each medium hill there is a climb is 30-40M over 1KM.  

So what does that mean?  From Swiss Cottage Library to Lyndhurst Road is a 32M climb over 1KM with an average 3% gradient.  We believe this is the best example for the 3 medium hills during the course.  From Belsize Lane (near the flower shop at the base of hill) to the Hampstead Tube is a 45M climb over 1KM, which we believe is a bit more difficult than the 3 hills on the course.  If you’ve been running every Friday up to the Hampstead Tube stop or all the way up the hill to the Heath you’ll have had lots of practice doing hills that are more difficult than the race course.  

PLEASE NOTE!  There is a hill map on the race website but it is very confusing because the half-marathon route is on the same map as the marathon route.  If you take a look at it, the top dark blue line is the marathon route (which does have a few huge hills).  The lower light blue line is for the half-marathon.  The good news is that after the hill at 18km (11 miles) the last part of the race is basically downhill.    Please know that we studied the hills before we chose this as our race for the year and we have complete confidence that the course is not too difficult for our group or the beginner group.  

Tips for Hill Running:  Many people tend to look down and hunch over when running uphill.  Try to resist this urge because you won’t be able to breathe efficiently.  One tip from Paula is to turn your palms upward when running uphill.  Turning your palms upward forces your shoulders back (which opens the breathing passages) and brings the body into a more compact position (instead of flailing arms.) 

Tips for Breathing:  Maureen Fossum has some tips for breathing during our tempo and speed work.  When you’re working hard, remember to focus on your breathing and try to maintain fewer deep breaths instead of taking many shallow breaths.  Maureen suggested using your steps as a guide.  For example, try breathing in for 4 steps and out for 4 steps.  If you are working hard, you may need to breathe more often, maybe breathe in for 2 steps and out for 2 steps, or even 1 step each.  By focusing on deep breathing you’ll give yourself more oxygen but you can also distract yourself from how you’re feeling.  (Your mind is a powerful tool during the difficult parts!)

That’s all for now!  

Keep running!

Jane

ROUTES

LONG RUN

Monday 3 February or Wednesday 5 February

Canal/Farringdon/Embankment Loop – 9 miles (remember this is your slower paced run)

Head out the canal to “The Wall” and exit the canal.  Turn right at the top of the exit onto Muriel/Rodney Street, which will turn into Penton Rise, then King’s Cross and, eventually Farringdon Street.  Stay on Farringdon Street until you reach the Embankment, turn right on the Embankment and run along the Thames for about a mile.  When you reach Northumberland Avenue (At Embankment Tube Station) make a right and run up through Trafalgar Square, onto Cockspur Street and then onto Haymarket. Take this to Picadilly Circus and turn right onto Regent Street.  Run on Regent Street, which turns onto Portland Place, to Marylebone Road.  Run on Marylebone to Allsop and make a right, Which turns into Park Road.  Follow Park Road along the west side of Regent’s Park back to Starbucks the usual way.

TEMPO RUN

Monday 3 February or Wednesday 5 February

Hyde Park Tempo Triangle

Head down to Hyde Park the usual way at a very gentle pace.  Once you reach the park pick up the pace a bit around Speaker’s Corner, and then run very fast down to the SE corner of the park. Jog slowly around the corner while you try to bring your heart rate back down to a recovered rate. Once you reach the straightaway, run hard again to Carriage Road.  Slow down to a recover rate again as you cross over the bridge and up to the path, where you will turn right and run hard along the diagonal back to Speaker’s Corner.  Jog very slowly back to SJW or, even better, hop on the bus or tube from Marble Arch. If you are not doing tempo work, you can do this run at a regular pace (if you go back to SJW it is about 6.5 miles).

HILL RUN  The Heath

Friday 7 February

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]

Hi all!

Looking forward to another great week of running with you.  This week for our long run we have a 8-mile loop south through Hyde Park and then following Sloane Street to Pimlico and back home.  (There’s also a 6-mile option.)  We’re continuing our tempo work and this week we have a “diamond” run in Regents Park on the schedule.  Make sure you read the description below in the route section.  Remember that a tempo run will be shorter in time – tempo runs should last 45-60 minutes and the speed work sessions should be 25-40 minutes.  Less is more!  I know that speed work can be difficult, so try to stick together as a group and cheer each other on.  It really does help!

German Trip Update-

I’m getting very excited about our upcoming trip!  We’re continuing to finalise the details for all aspects of the weekend and make commitments based on our current numbers.  If for whatever reason your plans have changed and you’re not going to be able to join us, please let me know as soon as possible.  Thanks so much!

ENERGY GELS for training and the race-

Looking ahead to our longest training runs, it is time to start to think about what type of gel or fueling you’ll use during the race.  Fueling is different for each runner but I’ll give you some of Paula’s general guidelines.  The rule of thumb is that after about 80-90 minutes of running you’ll have used up natural fuel sources and you’ll need to top up the tank with something.  (That is based on our type of running, if someone is running a marathon at a 6 min/mile pace, their fueling needs will be different!)  Most of the women in the group use some sort of sports gel.  If you have never used a sports gel before it is crucial that you try it out during some of our long training runs.  The gels are very concentrated so a brand that might work well for one person could make another person feel sick.  Below are some recommendations from members of the group.  It is worth stocking up now so you’ll have them for our longest runs.  You can go to a Runner’s Need store or order them on the internet.  Amazon also has a good stock.  (If you have some leftovers at home, make sure to check the expiration date because they don’t last forever.)

Amy – GU Energy, Tri-Berry

Jen – GU Energy, Mint Chocolate

Syma – TORQ, Forest Fruits

Linda – GU Roctane (has caffeine), Blueberry Pomegranate

Vicky – Clif Shot Bloks, Berry or Orange

We’ll review this again before our longest runs, but in general during a race you would take a gel somewhere between 7-8 miles and then don’t take another one for 35-45 mins.  (Don’t be tempted to take more than one gel in 30 mins! – you’ll need to keep an eye on your watch.)  If you don’t want to get into too much of the science of it all, Paula recommends that you take a gel at 8 miles during the race if you’re running at a medium pace for you (not as compared to anyone else) or 7 miles if you’re running fast for you.  For me, during training, I will take a gel around 7-8 mile mark of a 10-mile run.  Even if I don’t feel that I desperately need it at that point, it helps me feel better at the end of run, and helps me practice taking a gel.  If you are interested in learning more about fueling, gels and the different brands, CLICK HERE to read Paula’s full note from last year.

Keep running!

Jane

ROUTES

Monday, 27 January  Base Conditioning Run

8 Miles:  Sloane St/Victoria Stn Loop

Head the normal way to Hyde Park and along the east [left] side to Hyde Park Corner.  Turn left on the Carriage Drive and exit left out of the park, across Knightsbridge and head right to Sloane Street.  Follow Sloane St south to Pimlico Street and make a left.  Continue left onto Buckingham Palace Road, then left again on Grosvenor Gardens [near Victoria Stn].  Head back up to Hyde Park, exit at the Animal War Memorial onto Upper Brook Street, then left on Park Street and follow this home as it changes names, all the way to SJW Starbucks.

Alternative:  6 Miles:  Hyde Park/Bond Street Shopping

Start with the full group and run to Hyde Park, following the east path to Hyde Park Corner.  Cross through Wellington Arch into Green Park and run across the northern edge of Green Park, exit the park and continue on Piccadilly to New Bond Street, where you turn left.  Take New Bond Street to Oxford Street, then zig zag left then right onto Marylebone Lane.  Take this until it meets with Marylebone High Street and continue to Marylebone Road, make a left, then a right at the light [York Bridge] and enter left into Regents Park just beyond the Ring Road.  Follow the path along the lake, then exit by the Mosque onto Park Road, take a right and head to Starbucks.

Wednesday, 29 January  Tempo ‘Diamond’ Run

We are continuing with our focused tempo running on Wednesdays.  This week we will do ‘diamonds’—they are fast but also fast to be done with so give them a try!

Head over to Regents Park, the normal way [down Wellington Road, left at the SJW Church roundabout, cross the zebra crossing before the High Street and enter Park at the Charlbert Entrance].  Enter the Park and veer to the left path.  When you reach the first intersection with the other sidewalk, it is time to turn on your running jets.  You will run hard for 1 minute, then recover by running slowly for 3 minutes; then run hard for 2 minutes and recover by running slowly for 3 minutes; then run hard for 3 minutes, recover run slowly for 3 minutes; run hard for 2 minutes, recover run slowly for 3 minutes and finally run hard for 1 minutes, recover run slowly for 3 minutes.

The ‘diamond’ looks like this:

            1 minute hard                      3 minutes jogging recovery

            2 minutes hard                    3 minutes jogging recovery

            3 minutes hard                    3 minutes jogging recovery

            2 minutes hard                    3 minutes jogging recovery

            1 minute hard                      3 minutes jogging recovery

If you need to extend the amount of time for the jogging recovery, that’s fine, you can jog up to twice the amount of the hard run time [so 6 minutes max recovery jog for the 3 min hard run]

This type of running is best down within the park so you don’t have to contend with driveways etc.  If you find you need more mileage in Regents Park, just keep looping however you see fit.

Friday 31 January – 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]