Still on the light side- just

I can’t even pretend that tonight resembled anything like our normal sunny Worthing status. It was an overcast, dull and at times drizzly evening but having said this, the vibes were happy ones with the usual bucket load of laughs and smiles.

It put a big smile on my face to see Anneback. One of our most loyal and regular participants, Anne has been struggling with a foot injury recently but made it back tonight to join our walking group. Special mention to our walk leader and task force member Belinda who is feeling frustrated with her ongoing injuries. This is definitely a case of ‘the spirit is willing but your knees have other ideas’ We all wish you a speedy recovery. Thank you for continuing to turn out every single Monday night ( massive kudos for this too) and will, of course, be here to support you with your return to full fitness.

Nick joined the walkers who set off promptly whilst the rest of us waited for the blast of our superhero cakeman Jay to fly through the doors minus 2 minutes to the start time and brimming with his usual energy.

Fresh from two, yes two personal best performances over the weekend John joined the running team together with Emily, Steve, Natacha also fresh from her second ever parkrun and GG task together with Ros, Gill and Graham and finally Barbara who joined us at the task.

This evening we returned to visit our friend Debbie at The Rowans, a day centre and gym which supports brain injured patients back to fitness.

Don’t follow me I’m lost too

With several differently paced groups heading off Ros and Emily teamed up to run together. Just as well there was a group behind to mop them up to get them back on track after a slight detour that they decided to take!

Turning tables

After a warm welcome from Debbie she had the unenviable task of organising enough tasks for 13 of us in a short space of time!

First at the task Gill and Graham set about dismantling tables in a room that needed clearing whilst the rest of the team split into several other groups who also were dismantling tables, moving furniture and painting door frames. Our two superheroes, Jay and Steve, wasted no time some heavy weight relocation of chairs and other bits and pieces.

Painting- we had it taped

Carrying on from previous tasks at The Rowans where we had painted skirting boards and door frames Ros , Emily, Natacha headed off armed with their tools to paint a smallish corridor. Anne was in charge of keeping the girls on the straight and narrow with the masking tape ensuring the entire tricky angle and edges were carefully marked out. With Jay, Barbara and Nick at a loose end they squeezed into the tight space to assist. This sub team were entertained by Jay’s weekly ‘life and love’ updates. Meanwhile Mr and Mrs R were entrenched in the laundry room at the back of the building carefully liaising the storage of all the table fixtures and fittings.

Your hard work will pay off in the long run

After a slightly extended 30 minutes that turned into 40 it was hard to call time when we could have stayed and finished the painting task. However time waits for no one and it was time to move onto the next phase of the evening. We had a quick look outside at the scene of our last task, our ground force pond makeover, before reconvening for a humerous finish photo and GG briefing for the coming few weeks.

Jay unashamedly sacked off fitness for the pub whilst the rest of us headed back to the leisure centre for our favourite fitness session on the track.

My legs aren’t qwoperating

Sprint the straights , jog the bends and then repeat twice in each direction. That was the instruction and off ( most of the team) went.

Probably one of the funniest parts of the evening we finished with some leg strengthening exercises designed for runners . This included our very own version of a farmers walk designed to strengthen calf muscles and usually done with weights by walking on toes. GG Worthing put their very own slant on this and what sports they were! Video evidence is available for confirmation of this ( If it doesn't upload! )

In other news

• The biggest story of the week is Duncan and Lucy epic 100km Thames Path run last Saturday in aid of Help the Heroes and Turning Tides Homeless charity. HUGE congratulations and MASSIVE kudos to you both . Your GG family are immensely proud of you both .

• Super Saturday and Sunday this week also included a 5k PB for John on Saturday followed bya 10K PB for Jay and John At the Littlehampton 10k . This race was also Barbara's 2nd fastest 10 k , even though she has only just recovered from injury and not run this distance since March! Kudos to all 3 of you.

• Next week its celebration time again. Its GoodGym's 10th birthday and also Johns birthday together with his ( very ) early retirement party . We will be meeting at a new task . It will be the sea end of Sea Lane FERRING ( not where the cafe is in Goring ) Meet at 6:15pm . If you have a rake please bring one as we will be raking grass verges. Following this, we will heading out a run which will incorporate a functional fitness session. Afterwards it's everyone back for a party at John and Belinda's house.

Happy days are ahead of us

Have a great week

Julia x