Tonight 17 fantabulous runners trotted off to the Samye Foundation Centre to help their ongoing renovation of 3 flats above the centre. We welcome one new face - hello Sophie! - one returning face - welcome back Andie! - and say goodbye to one departing face - adieu Tom at least for a little while - it was fun while it lasted!

Twist and Shout

So the group was headed up by a new leader tonight - little ol' me - with welcome assistance from Ben and Darren. Our warm up included an added twist: a side-stepping, hip-flexing, sashay movement which everyone appeared to like bar one runner who shall not be named (Sue), who promptly shouted she did not like it one bit! So we headed off towards the Samye, and on the way took advantage of the lighter evening to do some fittening work. Darren led us on a great timed out-and-back run up along the Taff, with runners pushing themselves a bit more than normal to go out as far as possible in 7 minutes, then turning around and heading back to the starting point. It will be interesting to see how far we get to next time.

Stuff of legends!

Once at the Samye, we were welcomed by Lorraine who was as jolly as ever, telling us of her exciting trip to Nepal recently. Then we got stuck in. The description of the task included 'moving stuff' and boy did we move a lot of 'stuff'!. Fridges were going upstairs, boxes were going downstairs, and on the way we passed microwaves, wall panels, curtain poles and carpet tiles going goodness knows where! Aimee, Lucy and Sophie stuck into painting the walls of the front flat, adorning themselves with the very flattering bin bags as usual - I swear that we use these so much, that GoodGym should come out with its own line of bin bag painting smocks! In the back room, Amy, Alice and Ewan got stuck into sorting out some old curtains to be recycled into further decor for the rooms. Still others put some elbow grease - or was it Danish oil? - into the new wooden kitchen counter tops! Although it was busy and crowded and noisy with 17 runners plus staff on site, we got a LOT done and it was really rewarding to see how the flats are shaping up over time, and how we've contributed to them. Legends - every one of you!

Did someone say Avocado?

What GoodGym Cardiff run would not end in food? Lorraine and her team very kindly made up sarnies with avocado in them, which went down a treat. After saying goodbye, we headed straight back to the start to warm down, hear the latest news of upcoming events, and part our separate ways. For some of us, this was to the usual watering hole for "Two-drink Tuesday" (non-alcoholic drinks included), and to enjoy some vegan cookies and Welsh cakes in celebration of me hitting my 50th good deed recently. I've enjoyed every one of them! (even though I may not have appeared to at the end of January).

Special thanks to Aimee for her gorgeous cookies, Lucy for the special badge, Ben and Darren for the support tonight, and to everyone else for being so kind and complimentary on my run leading. x