Hello Runners,

Here’s the latest on the hotel for the Bratislava trip….  we now will pay €100 per room per night for either a single or a double (so the single price hasn’t changed and the double price has been reduced by €10 per room per night).  We still are going to be committed to the hotel with quite strict cancellation terms.  I will be re-opening the Bratislava spreadsheet through the end of January so that you may update your information.  If you’ve decided to not join us on the trip, it would be best if I knew that by the end of January.  Thanks everyone!!!

Find-a-Race – One of our runners sent me a link to a race finding website – click here for the link.   If you’re looking for a challenge, it’s a great way to find a race.  Input the race distance you want, time period and location, then the site feeds back races which fit your criteria.  It’s handy!!!  On that same topic of racing, registration is now open for the Windsor Half marathon in September.  Several of our runners have already signed up for it – a few ladies from the group did it this past year and really enjoyed the race.  For the link to their website – click here.

The following runners have (or already have had!!!) birthdays in January:
4 – Lynn Gilbert
12 – Maureen Fossum
14 – Patricia Stracener
20 – Kathy McMahon
22 – Donna Butler
26 – Pam Wakoff

We’ll celebrate with cupcakes on Friday, 1 February after the run.

Routes this Week

Monday, 21 January
The weather forecast is for snow or freezing rain so we’ll do a route that keeps us closer in to London for all the groups on Monday.  

Marathon Trainees (12 mile long run on your schedule):

 

Western London route to Whole Foods (12 miles) – We will head to the canal and run west to Wood Lane (close to Wormwood Scrubs). We’ll come off the canal and run south on Wood Lane all the way to Hammersmith.  At that point the runners training for the half-marathon will run east but we will continue over the river.  Once on the south side of the Thames, we’ll run the embankment back to Putney then cross back over the river.  From there, we run up Fulham Road then begin to wind our way north to Kensington High St. for a post-run coffee at Whole Foods.  Whole Foods is a great place to finish as there is always space to sit together.  We often group up into taxis to get home but you could also take the tube or bus home.  We’ll be maintaining an approximate 9:45-10:30 pace so if you want to go much slower or much faster, study that map so you can run your own pace.

Half-marathon Trainees in the Fast group (8-9 mile long run on your schedule):
Western London route to Knightsbridge tube station (9 miles) – For this route, you will join the marathon trainees for the first 6 miles of their run.  At Hammersmith when the marathoners carry on towards the river, this group will head east on Kensington High Street and run all the way to Knightsbridge tube station.  The more aggressive half-marathon training schedule has a 9 mile long run this week; the medium program has 8 miles on the schedule.  If you want 8 miles instead of 9 miles, you could finish at Kensington High St tube station (you may need to run a bit past the station then turn around and retrace your steps to get a full 8 miles).

Half-marathon Trainees in the Mid-level I group (6 mile mid-pace or tempo run):
Sutherland Tempo/Speed loop (5.3 miles) – OK, I have a fun new game for you!  This is a suggested route for a new type of tempo run.  Give it a try.  Jog from Starbucks down Hall Rd, cross over Maida Vale Rd, and continue jogging until you pass the big round-about near the Warrington Pub.  After that round-about, run hard for 1 minute then jog for 3 minutes, run hard for 2 minutes then jog for 3 minutes, run hard for 3 minutes then jog for 3 minutes.  Then start dropping down to do 2 minutes of hard running and 3 minutes of jogging, 1 minute of hard running and 3 minutes of jogging.  Keep following the route – turn right on Harrow Rd. then left to cross over the canal at Ladbroke Grove.  Run along the canal back to Maida Vale.  Once you get to Maida Vale Rd./Edgeware Rd., jog slowly back to SJW.  This type of speed/tempo work is called pyramids.  It’s kind of fun.  Basically you follow this routine over and over from the Warrington Pub around to Maida Vale/Edware Rd.

1 min hard                3 min jogging recovery
2 min hard                3 min jogging recovery
3 min hard                3 min jogging recovery
2 min hard                3 min jogging recovery
1 min hard                3 min jogging recovery

If you need to extend the jogging recovery (particularly after the 3 min hard interval), that’s fine.  You could do a recovery up to twice the length of the hard interval (so after a 3 min hard interval you could jog up to 6 min to recover).

Half-marathon Trainees in the Mid-level II group (8-9 mile long run on your schedule):
Western London route to Knightsbridge tube station (9 miles) – This is the same route that the Fast group will do (see route description above). The route goes out the canal to Wood Lane.  You can identify the exit off the canal by looking for railroad tracks going over the canal.  You’ll run under a bridge then go up some steps to reach Wood Lane.  Run south on Wood Lane past the Shepherd’s Bush triangle down to Hammersmith.  Turn left onto Hammersmith Rd (which is the same as Kensington High Street).  There are options along the way to shorten this run (Wood Lane tube station 5.2 miles, Shepherd’s Bush 5.7 miles, Hammersmith 6.2 miles or Kensington High St 7.7 miles).

Wednesday, 23 January
The weather forecast is for freezing rain so we’ll do a route that keeps us closer in to London for all the groups on Wednesday. 

Marathon Trainees and Half-marathon Trainees in the Fast group (6 mile mid-pace or tempo run):
Sutherland Tempo/Speed loop (5.3 miles) – How about a new type of speed/tempo work? See the description on Monday’s Mid-level I run above.  Give it a try!  It’s kind of fun in a weird sort of way.  If everyone decides to do it, you might consider rotating the time-keeping role so one person isn’t stuck looking at their watch the whole run.

Half-marathon Trainees in the Mid-level I group (8-9 mile long run on your schedule):
Camden, Euston, 3 parks loop (9 miles) –This route is a big loop taking us through Camden via Elsworthy, Adelaide and Chalk Farm Road.  We’ll run south on Hampstead Rd. past Marylebone Rd., Oxford St, through Trafalgar Square then down to Westminster tube station. From there we’ll head back north through St. James, Green and Hyde Park.  Depending on the program you are following, you have either 8 or 9 miles on your schedule this week.  If you prefer to do 8 miles, you could take the tube/bus home from the Baker St. area.

Half-marathon Trainees in the Mid-level II group (6 mile mid-pace or tempo run):

 

Hyde/Regents Park loop (5.3 miles) – This is a nice loop for your mid-distance run.  The weather is supposed to be freezing rain so this loop will get you back to SJW and into the dry/warm Starbucks as efficiently as possible.  Run down to Hyde Park via Lisson Grove/Seymour like we normally run.  Cut across by the US Embassy on Brook St all the way to Regent St.  Then run north to Regents Park following along the SW edge by the boating lake.  Most of this group do not want to do speed/tempo work so this should be a mid-pace run.  If you are wanting to incorporate speed/tempo work into your regime, let me know.  We’ll come up with a plan for you.

Friday, 25 January
On Fridays, everyone goes up the hill to Hampstead and/or the Heath.  There are groups doing all distances (4-8 miles) and all paces.  Last week we had a beautiful (but cold) run in the snow.  Have fun and remember…..  if you’re doing intensive tempo work during the week, there is no need to push the pace on the Friday hill run.

 

Happy Running,

Paula

Hello Runners,
After nearly losing my job last week, I’m happy to say I think I’m back on track. We had so much fun running this week. We proved how well we multi-task – we managed to run, drink coffee, and shop all in one fun-filled session on Monday then repeated the routine again on Wednesday. Our runs were well-paced and we barely got lost. Well done everyone!

Last chance….. Bonnie, Patti, Syma, and Betsy are collecting money for the Starbucks staff holiday tip fund. There are 15 people at Starbucks who will be splitting our tip. Most of our runners are contributing £5, some more, some less. If you want to donate, get your money to one of our collectors by Thursday this week. The money will be given to the staff on Friday morning before we run. We will also be giving a basket of homemade cookies with the money envelope. If anyone is willing to bake cookies, let me know. Most of the staff at Starbucks are not from London and will not be going back to their home countries over the holidays so we thought homemade cookies might be a nice touch.

As a reminder, I have the running group t-shirts in the boot of my car. I would love to get them all passed out before the break! If you don’t have your shirt yet, find me after a run.

There is still some confusion about which groups run which day and at which pace. Hopefully the table below will make it more clear. If you don’t know which group you are in, call or email me. I’ll tell you which group I think is a good fit for you. Please feel free to join a different group if you have a scheduling problem, just remember to keep your pace within the range of the group you are joining. Thanks! One other note about running with different groups – it’s not a good idea to do multiple long runs in one week. As a one-off it’s no big deal but running long regularly can lead to injury.

We have basically two weeks of training before the holidays. If you are following the medium progression half-marathon program, long runs scheduled for the next few
weeks are detailed in the table. “Maintenance” means do what you can to stay on a regular running routine. Even getting out 2-3 times a week for 30 minutes is better than nothing. For those of you heading to spots where you will not be able to run at all, consider slightly lengthening the long run this week or next week. Some of our runners who know they are not able to run much over the break will be doing 9 miles next week instead of 7 miles. Join us if you’re interested, but also feel free to stick to the 7 miles particularly if you’ll be running consistently over the break.

Routes this Week

Monday, 10 December
There is no school today at ASL. We’ll do a loop back to Starbucks to make the run as efficient as possible. Half-marathoners: If you want one more really long run before the break, join the 9 mile route – otherwise you have 7 miles on your schedule this week.
Kensal Rise Cemetery and canal (9, 8, 5.25 or 3.25 miles) – This is not the most scenic route, but if you want 9 miles this works. It’s a loop back to Starbucks. The route takes Hall Rd (then Sutherland) to Harrow Rd. where we turn right. Follow Harrow Rd for about 1-1.25 miles until you see the Kensal Rise cemetery on the left (just past Ladbrook Grove). Enter the cemetery and do a large loop (see map). Exit the cemetery and turn left on Harrow Rd. Run about a mile then turn left on Wood Lane. Once you cross over the canal, turn right and take the stairs down to the canal’s edge. Then we’ll run along the canal back to SJW.
The 8 mile option

Anyone wanting 8 miles could run the same route but eliminate the loop in the Kensal Rise cemetery.
The 5.25 mile option – If you are in the Mid-level II group but don’t feel ready to run 8-9 miles, consider this route. You would start with the main group but turn at Ladbrook Grove to go over the canal. Then drop down to the canal and follow the canal towpath back to SJW.

 

 

The 3.25 mile option – If you are just joining the Mid-level II group and trying to get back into running, consider this route. It’s a nice loop. You’ll start with the main group but take Harrow Rd. over the canal at about 1.3 miles then follow the canal back to SJW.

The Mid-level I group could do either a mid-distance average pace run or incorporate some tempo work into this route:
The Wall (6 miles) – I think you know the routine by now – we drop down to the canal and start running east to Islington. It’s 3 miles to “The Wall” which is a place where the canal path is blocked and you have to go up to street level to get around it. We turn around there and run back to SJW. You have the option of doing this run at a medium pace or do a tempo run. If you decide on the tempo run, jog slowly to the canal, then gradually pick up your pace until you are running hard (can’t really carry on a conversation). You can do this tempo work to and from the wall or just one way.

Wednesday, 12 December
Notting Hill, Holland Park, Brompton back to Starbucks (9, 8, 6.6, 6.3, 5.5, 4.75, or 3 miles) – Let’s do a tour of Notting Hill, Holland Park, and South Kensington.  This loop will give us endless distance options. The full route is 9 miles (for those of you wanting one last very long run before the holidays). We’ll run to the canal in Little Venice then cut across towards Paddington to reach Bishop’s Bridge Rd. We’ll run SW through Westbourne Grove then run up to Holland Park, do a little loop, and exit the park on Kensington High Street. We’ll continue south to Cromwell Rd then turn left (or east) funning back up to Hyde Park Corner. We’ll come home via Gloucester Rd then Park Rd. To do a 7 mile route, finish around Marble Arch/Oxford St and tube/bus/taxi home. There will also be options to tube home from Holland Park (3 miles), Kensington High St (4.75 miles), South Kensington (5.5 miles), Knightsbridge (6.3 miles), Green Park (6.6 miles) or Baker St. (8 miles).
The Monday fast group and the Monday Mid-Level II group could do either a mid-distance average pace run or incorporate some tempo work into this route:
The Wall (6 miles) – I think you know the routine by now – we drop down to the canal and start running east to Islington. It’s 3 miles to “The Wall” which is a place where the canal path is blocked and you have to go up to street level to get around it. We turn around there and run back to SJW. You have the option of doing this run at a medium pace or do a tempo run. If you decide on the tempo run, jog slowly to the canal, then gradually pick up your pace until you are running hard (can’t really carry on a conversation). You can do this tempo work to and from the wall or just one way.

Friday, 7 December
On Fridays, everyone goes up the hill. There are groups doing all distances (4-8 miles) and all paces. Have fun and remember….. if you’re doing intensive tempo work during the week, there is no need to push the pace on the Friday hill run.

Happy Running,
Paula

Hello Runners,
Oh my goodness, last week I messed up too many times! I completely forgot to announce the birthdays, I kept the pace of the Wednesday Mid-Level group too slow, we finished that run at a bakery that basically refused to serve us and then I made a bunch of ladies run through icy puddles in the heath on Friday. Yikes! Please don’t fire me! You’re never supposed to “let someone go” just before the holidays!!! OK, here’s the plan to improve my performance…..

• We’ll celebrate our November and December birthdays this Friday, 7 December. Kelli is organising cupcakes for us (thanks Kelli!!!).
• I’ll never route us to Cocomaya again (but really and truly, go back some day – they’re not nice at all but their pastries, cakes and chocolates are beyond belief).
• The ice in the heath… well, I don’t think I can do anything about that. It was kind of fun, wasn’t it????
• About the pace of the Wednesday run, that will be the approximate pace of our new Monday Mid-Level II group.

First let’s talk about this new group. Our current Wednesday Mid-Level group (we’ll call this Mid-level I) are supposed to do their long run at approximately 10:45 – 11:30. This week we averaged about 12:00 which was completely my fault. So sorry about that! If you liked the pace on Wednesday, you’ll love the new Monday Mid-level II group. The new Monday run pace (Mid-level II) will be approximately 11:15 – 12:15 (so basically what we did this week on Wednesday). Notice the overlap in pace ranges between these two groups. I will continue to lead the Wednesday long run (and will try to get the pace right next week); the Monday (Mid-level II) run will be group led. Detailed route maps will be in the weekly email.

In addition to which group to run with, there is still some confusion regarding half-marathon training, the different types of runs, what pace to run, etc. If you are training for the half-marathon in March, here are the basics:

You need to run three times a week – one long run, one mid-distance run and one hill run. If you have no major aches/pains, it is fine to add in a weekend run but make sure you have at least one day a week that is a rest day (no exercise of any type).

Weekly long run – I’ll keep repeating this until it becomes our mantra…. the long run is the most important run of the week. Skip all other work-outs and runs before you miss the long run. In addition, we all need to remember to go slow. I know this is counter-intuitive, but I promise it works. Think about this…. you know I will do anything to make each of you better runners, all I want is for each of you to do as well as you are capable of, to keep fit, to run well, to stay healthy and to enjoy running so you’ll keep coming out. If long, slow, training runs weren’t the right way to train, why would I be harping on about it? If you don’t believe me, pick up any running magazine and skim through it. The Runners World UK magazine this month mentions the power of long, slow, endurance training about a half dozen times. Ultra-fit magazine dedicated 4 pages of their magazine a few months ago to reaping the benefits of LSD (I promise that’s not the drug – it’s long, slow distance training). To the left is a  table which details finishing times (and their corresponding race paces – notice how much faster race pace is versus long run training pace), the long run training pace to target that finishing time, the day you should be doing your long run and the number of our runners who finished in each pace category at last year’s half-marathon in Lisbon. For those of you who are unfamiliar with half-marathon race times, this will give you an indication of how difficult it is to maintain a strong pace over 13.1 miles. We have some very strong runners in our group (as we did last year). Despite that, only 10-15 of our runners had finishing times which would indicate that they should have been doing their long run on Mondays. According to these finishing times, 12-22 of our group would have been doing their long runs on Wednesdays with the Mid-Level I group and if you remove our beginner runners from the table, 15-20 women would have been doing their long runs on Mondays with the new Mid-level II group.

Weekly mid-distance run – If you are wanting to push your pace on race day, the mid-distance run should include tempo/speed work. There are usually suggestions/guidelines/recommendations in the route section of the weekly email. If you don’t like those ideas, the track always is a great option for speedwork.

Weekly hill run – Our hill run is working out fabulously! Everyone seems to do whatever works for them on the day. As for pace, if you are doing intensive speed/tempo work earlier in the week, then take it easy on the hills. There is no need for two high-intensity sessions in one week. If you are not doing speed/tempo work, feel free to push yourself on the hills. Even if you are “taking it easy” on the hills, it’s still a good cardio work-out and the inclines are fabulous for building leg strength. I’ll quote from Runners World magazine:
“Run easy most of the time. About 80% of your runs should be done at an easy pace that’s about 60-90 seconds per mile slower than goal race pace. This should feel comfortable enough for you to chat while you run. If you’re using a heartrate monitor, you want to be at 65-70% of your maximum heartrate. If you’re huffing and puffing, you’re going too fast. These miles build muscles, improve endurance, burn fat and boost blood volume.”

OK, enough of that, let’s talk technology or lack thereof…. Here’s a challenge for you – try running without your watch from time to time. Some of us are addicted to our watches at the expense of taking in body cues. Take Wednesday’s run for example – I kept checking my watch and the pace number was jumping all over the place then sort of settled around 11:15. I remember thinking the pace felt too slow for that group but my watch said we were OK. Instead of listening to my body, I choose to believe my watch which ended up giving me an accurate number in the end but I should have ignored it mid-run. It’s fun to have a good running watch but try not to rely too heavily on it. It’s better to learn to “feel” a pace or “feel” an exertion level otherwise we run the risk of believing “objective” data from a watch (which may be very precise but isn’t always very accurate) over true and accurate information the body is providing. Try shutting the watch off and listening to your body. To read more about the benefits of “listening to your body cues”, have a look at this online article – click here for the link.

Routes this Week

Monday, 3 December
Marathoners have 10 miles on their schedule. Half-marathoners have 8 miles on their schedule this week. If you are not training for a marathon, please don’t feel pressured to run 10 miles. We’ll be running by the finish spot at 8 miles and can drop you there. The marathoners will do a 2 mile loop and finish at the same spot.
Westfield Mall White City (8 or 10 miles) – This route will take us to Camden along the  canal. We’ll come up at the market and run south eventually taking Hampstead Rd. (which then changes names to Tottenham Court Rd) over Marylebone Rd to Oxford St. Run west to Regent St. then drop south (turn left) to Brook St. Run west along Brook St. until you reach Hyde Park. Then we’ll enter the park drop slightly south running towards Carriage Rd. We’ll follow the Italian fountains up to the north border of the park then head west along Bayswater to Shepherd’s Bush. At the 8 mile mark we’ll pass the entrance to the mall. Anyone wanting or needing an additional 2 miles will do a loop then return to the mall entrance. We can all meet up at the Starbucks in the center of the mall. They have heaps of seating and it will be warm in there. We will come home from the Shepherd’s Bush tube station (Central line to Bond St. then Jubilee back to SJW). interesting than the Hyde Park loop.
The Wednesday Mid-level I group could do either a mid-distance average pace run or incorporate some tempo work into this route:
Hyde Park tempo work (5-7 miles) – Head down to Hyde Park via Lisson/Seymour at a very gentle pace. Once you reach the park, pick up the pace of your jog around Speaker’s Corner then run very fast down to the SE corner of the park. Jog around that corner trying to bring your heart-rate down then run hard to Carriage Rd. along the bike path. Jog over the bridge trying to reach a “recovered” state before doing the last hard run back to Speaker’s Corner on a diagonal. From this map you are jogging the blue parts and running hard on the red parts. Jog very slowly back to SJW or preferably take a bus/tube home from Marble Arch/Oxford St.. DO NOT continue to run at a strong pace all the way back to Starbucks in SJW. If you aren’t doing tempo work, run this route at a comfortable pace either finishing at Marble Arch/Oxford St., Baker St. or feel free to run all the way back to SJW (but that will be about 7 miles in total – probably more than you need).

Wednesday, 5 December
Westfield Mall White City (8 miles) – Yay! We get to go to Westfield Mall too! We will follow  a different route from the Monday run. We’ll head out the canal past Notting Hill exiting at Wood Lane. We’ll run south for a couple of miles until we reach the Hammersmith round-about. At the round-about run east up Kensington High St. (called Hammersmith Rd at that point) then turn left (or north) on Holland Rd. The entrance to the mall is near the Shepherd’s Bush tube station. There is a Starbucks in the center of the mall. They have heaps of seating and it will be warm in there. We will come home from the Shepherd’s Bush tube station (Central line to Bond St. then Jubilee back to SJW).
The Monday fast group and the Monday Mid-Level II group could do either a mid-distance average pace run or incorporate some tempo work into this route:
Hyde Park tempo work (5-7 miles) – Head down to Hyde Park via Lisson/Seymour at a very gentle pace. Once you reach the park, pick up the pace of your jog around Speaker’s Corner then run very fast down to the SE corner of the park. Jog around that corner trying to bring your heart-rate down then run hard to Carriage Rd. along the bike path. Jog over the bridge trying to reach a “recovered” state before doing the last hard run back to Speaker’s Corner on a diagonal. From this map you are jogging the blue parts and running hard on the red parts. Jog very slowly back to SJW or preferably take a bus/tube home from Marble Arch/Oxford St.. DO NOT continue to run at a strong pace all the way back to Starbucks in SJW.
If you aren’t doing tempo work (most of the Mid-level II group doesn’t do tempo/speed work), run this route at a comfortable pace either finishing at Marble Arch/Oxford St., Baker St. or feel free to run all the way back to SJW (but that will be about 7 miles in total – probably more than you need).

Friday, 7 December
Fridays are working out beautifully. I think everyone knows the route options now. There are groups doing all distances (4-8 miles) and all paces. Have fun and remember….. if you’re doing intensive tempo work during the week, there is no need to push hard on the Friday hill run.

Happy Running,
Paula

Hello Runners,

I’ve just come in from our mid-paced run to Beigel Bake and I’m on cloud 9. Wow! We had several ladies who had never run that far before, we had several ladies who were worried they couldn’t keep up but they did, and we had several ladies purposely slowing down their pace to work on “finding their long run pace”. It was a huge success! To our faster girls who joined the run, thank you so much for not pushing the pace. You were all brilliant! Thanks a million and congratulations to everyone who reached some new milestone in their running. The Beigel Bake was a big hit. We’ll have to do that run again sometime.

Running Group T-shirts:
Our t-shirt order is in. The shirts are so cute – I can’t wait to see everyone wearing them! I’m horrible at being a money-collector, so this is it – if you haven’t paid me yet this is your last reminder. I am out of town from Thursday, 25 Oct through Sunday, 4 November) so it might be easiest to mail me a check: 8 Pindock Mews, London W9 2PY. There are a couple of people who did not confirm that they wanted a shirt and had not paid so those orders were not placed. Sorry!

Birthday Celebrations:
We’ll celebrate our October birthdays on Friday, 2 November. Happy Birthday to our November birthday ladies!!! We’ll celebrate these birthdays on Friday, 30 November.
Stacey Towfighi – 19 Nov
Bonnie Bandeen – 23 Nov
Donna Vos – 30 Nov
Ninita Agarval – Nov (no date specified)

Routes this Week

Yes, I am that bossy!!! I’m suggesting routes for the group even though I’ll be out of town. Let’s take this opportunity to repeat some of our most popular routes (translation – I’ll recommend the boring routes so you’ll really miss me while I’m away!!!). Seriously, run whatever routes you want to do. If there’s something we’ve done lately that you enjoyed, group up with a few other runners and do it. Here are some suggestions:

Monday, 29 October
Mondays are long run day for our faster runners. The Hyde Park loop will give you an opportunity to test that slower pace concept. Many of you have less mileage on your program this week than last week. It’ll be tempting to run quickly around Hyde Park and be done with it. Try to resist that temptation and slow yourself down just a bit.

Hyde Park loop (8 miles) – Run down Lisson Grove then Seymour to enter at the NE corner of the park then turn right or west to run along the northern boundary, turn left or south to reach Kensington Palace, then continue to follow the full perimeter of Hyde Park and return to St. John’s Wood via Baker Street or Gloucester Road.
If you’re doing your long run on Monday, but are having trouble maintaining a strong pace over long distances, either drop behind the group above when you get tired or shorten your run to the following:

Serpentine loop (6 miles) – run with the group to Hyde Park but when they cross over Carriage Rd – you turn left or south at Carriage Rd then run over the bridge. Immediately after the bridge, turn left to follow the waters edge back towards Wellington Arch. Then run back towards Speaker’s Corner and home via Baker Street or Gloucester Road. On Monday, mid-paced runners should do a tempo run (if you’re working on pace) or a mid-distance regular paced run.

The Wall (6 miles) – Consider doing this route as a tempo run (or just at a comfortable pace – your choice!!!). If you’re doing it as a tempo run, your warm-up and cool-down could be the jog to/from the canal. You could also to “The Wall” at a regular pace, then run back from “The Wall” to where we exit from the canal at a very strong pace. If you decide to try that, make note of how long it takes you to run only that leg (Wall to turn-off).

Wednesday, 31 October
Mid-paced runners should do the following route:

Hyde Park loop (8 miles) – Run down Lisson Grove then Seymour to enter at the NE corner of the park then turn right or west to run along the northern boundary, turn left or south to reach Kensington Palace, then continue to follow the full perimeter of Hyde Park and return to St. John’s Wood via Baker Street or Gloucester Road.

Mid-paced runners not wanting 8 miles could do the following route:

Serpentine loop (6 miles) – run with the group to Hyde Park but when they cross over Carriage Rd – you turn left or south at Carriage Rd then run over the bridge. Immediately after the bridge, turn left to follow the waters edge back towards Wellington Arch. Then run back towards Speaker’s Corner and home via Baker Street or Gloucester Road.

Our faster runners might enjoy (?) the following route for a regular-paced mid-distance run or a tempo run:

Notting Hill (6.5 miles) – I think most of you know this route now. If you’re not familiar with it, have a look under the “Routes” tab to make sure you know where you’re going.

Notting Hill (6.5 miles) partial tempo run – If you want to try a bit of tempo work, but love the Notting Hill route – then do both!!! Jog to the canal, once you get there, run hard until the Ladbrook Grove turn-off (where we exit off the canal). From there, run a steady pace for the rest of the route and enjoy the window shopping in Notting Hill.

Western canal tempo run (any distance) – If you want a more intense tempo work-out than the one above, jog down to the canal, do your tempo work on the canal, turn around and do tempo work on the canal back to Maida Vale. From there, jog back to Starbucks in SJW to cool-down.

Friday, 2 November
We will celebrate our October birthdays after the run today. Kelli will be organizing post-run cupcakes.

The Heath – old route (8 miles) – The old route.

The 6-7 mile route – follow the group doing the full 8 mile route. At parliament hill instead of turning left towards Kenwood House, turn right and run past the track. Exit the heath, run past Royal Free Hospital and head home through Belsize Park.

The Betsy route (5 miles) – I think Betsy is now doing a longer route on Fridays, but her namesake run is a great route. Anyone wanting this distance ask around as we are running up the hill to Hampstead and someone will explain to you how to do it.

Hampstead tube station (4 miles)– this is a great route to do if you’re short on time or are new to running “the hill”. Head up to the Hampstead tube station with the group then turn around and head back home. For a change of scenery, run up to Hampstead tube station then run back to Starbucks in SJW via the Hampstead high street, then Belsize Park, then down St. John’s Wood Park Rd.

Monday, 5 November
The following is a great route for a long run (mid-paced runners will do this route on Wednesday, 7 November).

Sloane/Pimlico loop (8 miles) – Run down Lisson Grove then Seymour to Hyde Park. Carry on as
though you’re doing the Battersea loop but before you get to the river turn left on Pimlico Road. Take Buckingham Palace Road to Victoria Station then Grosvenor back to Hyde Park Corner. Run back to SJW via Baker St or Gloucester Rd. This is a new route for many of you – here’s a snapshot of the route. If you are struggling to maintain a strong pace over long distances, either drop behind the group above when you get tired or shorten your run by going home from Bond St or Baker St tube stations.

Mid-paced runners could do a tempo run or a mid-distance regular-paced run using the following route:

Notting Hill (6.5 miles) – I think most of you know this route now. If you’re not familiar with it, have a look under the “Routes” tab to make sure you know where you’re going.

Notting Hill (6.5 miles) partial tempo run – If you want to try a bit of tempo work, but love the Notting Hill route – then do both!!! Jog to the canal, once you get there, run hard until the Ladbrook Grove turn-off (where we exit off the canal). From there, run a steady pace for the rest of the route and enjoy the window shopping in Notting Hill.

Western canal tempo run (any distance) – If you want a more intense tempo work-out than the one above, jog down to the canal, do your tempo work on the canal, turn around and do tempo work on the canal back to Maida Vale. From there, jog back to Starbucks in SJW to cool-down.

Wednesday, 7 November
Mid-paced runners should do the following route for their long run:

Sloane/Pimlico loop (8 miles) – See route description and map above. If you are struggling to maintain a strong pace over long distances, either drop behind the group above when you get tired or shorten your run by going home from Bond St or Baker St tube stations.

Our faster runners could do the following tempo run:

The Wall (6 miles) – If you are doing your long run on Monday, consider doing this route as a tempo run (or just at a comfortable pace – your choice!!!). Your warm-up and cool-down could be the jog to/from the canal. or If you want to try something different, jog over to the track in Regents Park and try one of the following workouts: Yasso 800s simplified – run two laps hard (make note of your 2-lap time) then jog until you’ve recovered. Repeat another 3-4 times (so you’ll do a hard 2-lap interval 4-5 times in total). See if you can maintain your time or slightly improve it over the repetitions. Make sure that you are fully warmed up before you do this. Pyramids – run 1/4 lap hard then jog to recover, run 1/2 lap hard then jog to recover, run 3/4 lap hard then jog to recover, run 1 lap hard then jog to recover, run 3/4 lap hard then jog to recover, run 1/2 lap hard then jog to recover, run 1/4 lap hard then jog to recover. Repeat that entire routine until you’ve been doing track work for about 35 minutes. Then jog back to SJW or have someone piggy-back you.

Friday, 9 November
The Heath – old or new route (8 miles) – If I’m up for it, I think I’ll run the new route (Western route) at a medium pace. Join me if you’re interested in learning that route! There are always people running the old route, so you’ll have someone to run with whichever route you choose.

The 6-7 mile route – follow the group doing the full 8 mile old route. At parliament hill instead of turning left towards Kenwood House, turn right and run past the track. Exit the heath, run past Royal Free Hospital and head home through Belsize Park. If you want to do the new route but don’t want 8 miles, follow me and I’ll show you where to turn off to do a 6 mile run.

The Betsy route (5 miles) – I think Betsy is now doing a longer route on Fridays, but her namesake run is a great route. Anyone wanting this distance ask around as we are running up the hill to Hampstead and someone will explain to you how to do it.

Hampstead tube station (4 miles)– this is a great route to do if you’re short on time or are new to running “the hill”. Head up to the Hampstead tube station with the group then turn around and head back home. For a change of scenery, run up to Hampstead tube station then run back to Starbucks in SJW via the Hampstead high street, then Belsize Park, then down St. John’s Wood Park Rd.

That’s it! I’ll look forward to hearing about how all of the runs have gone when I’m back. I’ll miss you all!!!!

Happy Running,

Paula