The Kamelia Chronicles

On a particularly grey and damp evening in not so sunny Worthing we extended a very warm welcome to our newbies Tamsin and Paul and also to Jo our GoodGym tourist and guest of Belinda's. It was so good to meet you all tonight and thank you for your time and energy. I hope you all enjoyed yourself whilst doing some good deeds and possibly challenging your fitness levels too! Massive GoodGym cheers coming your way.

Tonight we headed off for another visit to Kamelia Kids special needs day nursery which is a challenging 5 k run each way but ideal for working on endurance with a bit of speed training thrown in too.

Once again and in what is becoming a true Worthing GG trend I set out with 5 runners and ended up with 8 at the task. A piece of GG wizardry in advance of Halloween next week.

Good news not fake news for the kids

We were met by the caretaker Andy who lined us up for some sweeping and general tidying and pruning tasks in their drive and front garden. All kitted out with head torches, tools and gloves the team set to work for 30 mins of ''rooting about in the undergrowth''

Sweeping up appearances

Paul and Tamsin didn't waste any time getting stuck into the task with some great weeding and raking in the far point of the drive followed by some sweeping and pruning in the main flowerbed. Duncan and Nick were also on sweeping duty collecting up bagfuls of debris whilst also manging to immerse themselves in fine pruning ( Couldn't resist my favourite most used pun!)

Smelling like lavender

There was a wonderful aroma surrounding Gill tonight that wafted around us all as she delicately re shaped the lavander and it came as no surprise that she also found a bit of bindweed to destroy!

Beth was Bethside herself in the bushes

So in true Beth style she almost disappeared into the jungle of the palm tree fully immersing herself into the task as ever and thoroughly enjoying pulling the dead wood out of the roots of the palm tree. Every week I think we will have to pull her out by her legs !

I think I had better leaf right now before i fall for any sweepers

After a tidy up and photo the group started to convene ready for the 5 k run back to Splashpoint.

But wait ! Another fiasco with my car key began to unfold and yet again it kicked of another series of amusing GoodGym Worthing moments. Surely this kind of thing doesn't happen in any other GG group runs ?!

What a waist of time - Bummer!

So whilst 6 of the runners were limbering up on the corner Nick convinced me that he had handed me the first aid kit which also contained my car key . After a lot of frantic searching around the area ,no kit and no key ! So just when Andy had thought he had waved goodbye to us he also got involved with the search . After what felt like an eternity and feeling rather desperate I bent down and tipped the whole bagful of gloves out and as I did so my eye caught the familiar sight of that green bum bag with a white cross safely attached round Nicks waist !! So all was resolved ( after a few expletives from me! )

However in the course of this craziness we had now lost 6 runners who understandably wanted to get moving and had disappeared into the dark!

Mist of chaos

With drizzle and mist well and truly set in the group had turned right instead of left and headed off out of sight . After a few phone calls and a hijack of a car I eventually tracked them down and all was well . Duncan ,Paul and Beth headed off for a slightly longer loop whilst Tamsin ,Belinda ,Jo ,Gill and myself headed for the seafront where, thankfully we all reconvened ready for some lamp post sprints . With the group working to individual pace goals there were some great efforts all round for the final 3 k back to base.

I was mightily relieved when we all ended up stretching and having some GG chatter together before some of us decamped to the Egremont pub to meet up with our rather broken regular runner , Sue who is nursing a broken knee and collar bone. What a great excuse for a visit to the pub ! Great work on the pun finding Beth - Thank you

Thanks as ever to you all for your time and energy especially my new trio tonight ,Jo, Tamsin and Paul but not forgetting my amazing regulars Birthday girl Belinda, Gill , Beth ,Duncan and Nick

The last two weeks have proved that there is never a dull moment at GG Worthing :)

See you next week .

Lots of GoodGym love

Julia xx

Calm before the sports

On an uncharacteristically wet evening in sunny Worthing ( the first time it has rained on my watch since we launched in March!) we warmly welcomed Lydia from GG Brighton after she had been successfully recruited at Bevendean park run last Saturday by Belinda, Gill and Beth. Huge GG cheer coming your way all of you, With some GG chatter and catch up it was also nice to see Sue looking fantastic in her new GG t shirt again ( Last time I mention this. I will get over my new t shirt envy ! ) It was sad that Leanne couldn't make it this evening but we will all send our GG healing vibes your way. It was great to see Michelle again after her recent return from a retreat in India , Wowzer! Looking amazing and lean on it Michelle! Last but by no means least Nick ! Thank you so much for rearrranging your work schedule every Monday for our rather different date night! Bravely and defiantly the group headed out in the damp drizzle for a brisk warm up.

Its a Bugs Life

We were warmly welcomed by our hosts Nadia and Ness at the Bugcycle garden in Beach House Gardens. This is an area which has been dedicated to the local community to encourage families to develop their creative skills. The garden was in need of an autumn tidy up.

We worked tyrelessly

One of our first tasks was to move 3 large tractor tyres into their new position. Great functional fitness training team plus we had loads of fun doing this and couldn't resist rolling Beth in the largest tyre.

We left no leaf unturned

There was certainly a small mountain of leaves to make disappear. Sue , Nick and Michelle armed with large rakes and brushes forged forward with 'rake' effort before bagging and binning them all. Gill and I shared some funny memories whilst she was pruning and tidying the bottle garden outside the bug hotel.

Speed boat no waiting

Belinda, Lydia and Beth did one of the best pruning makeovers I have seen on overgrown shrubs surrounding the feature speedboat that resides in the gardens. This also included a fair few wheelbarrow shuttles to the bins at the other end of the park. All part of the fun fitness challenges that Monday nights present!

No creepy and crawling around with the bugs

After an energetic 30 mins , with the light fading and the rain falling Ness and Nadia were genuinely grateful and impressed with the work we had done. After some dodgy dark photos ( Must sort the settings on my phone ready for Winter) the group waved a cheery goodbye raring for their run.

No spare tyres on us

After a run in the rain and return to base we stretched out and spent some time on reflecting on Beth's epic 50th next week (GG task not Birthday!) This is one not to be missed ! Its a fantastic accomplishment which needs celebration Will there be cakes ... or shall we go to the pub .... or maybe both ? Please do send your ideas into me during the week

I hope to see some of you at park run Worthing this week where I will be volunteering . Huge good luck to Beth at her first half marathon in Oxford and Gill who is racing in West Sussex.

Another big GG smile from me

Julia x