23 wonderful runners ran 3km to help out at More 2 Childcare!

We had 3 new runners last night! The lovely Darryl who started with GoodGym on Tuesday at Bromley... well done getting so stuck in Darryl, that's the way to do it! We also had my baby bro Seb and his girlfriend Ari make their first ever GoodGym appearance, so welcome all! Hope you had a good first run in Greenwich!

We started off talking like pirates, as you do, and then toddled off to do a quick little warm up before organising everyone into their groups for the task.

It was already getting a wee bit dark so we set off to make the most of the remaining light. We arrived and Eve was just pulling in, perfect timing! Everyone gathered in their groups and got to work. There was loads of little jobs to do. We had one group out the front painting the fence, painting a table, planting flowers in the beds and weeding the paving slabs. Another group were in the childrens garden sweeping, planting heather, laying woodchip, painting a wendy house and painting a picnic bench. And then we had Chan and Andy (aka Chandy) painting in the toilets!

We had half an hour and loads to do. Dark was setting in fast but it didn't stop everyone from working hard and getting it done! After 20 minutes, the place was looking great. The paving slabs out the front were now weed free, the tables and fences had a nice fresh lick of paint (who knows if it was the right colour?! Eve might have got a nasty surprise when arriving at work this morning!) and the flower beds out the back had a new lease of life with lots of lovely new heathers planted. B-E-A-UTIFUL!

We finished off by giving the plants a good ol' water, tidied everything into bin bags, washed the paintbrushes and away we went, running back to the uni the nicer way round along the river ready for a few minutes of form practice!

Arm swing

Having come fresh from the Coaching in Running Fitness course at the weekend, I thought I would give a little lesson on one of the things I learned, and that was ARM SWING! It's something probably none of us really think about but actually it can make you a much more efficient runner. Here is a great video from one of my favourite runners that explains it in a bit more detail.

So we focussed on 3 things: Making sure the arms did not cross the mid line, driving the elbows backwards, and trying to maintain a 90 degree angle in the elbow the whole time and not extending the arm back when you swing back.

Hopefully this will give you something to think about and work on during your next few runs. It will feel weird and unnatural to begin with but stick with it. The main one is the rotation through the midline. That one creates a lot of wasted energy so if you're going to focus on ONE thing, let it be that and just try and drive the arms forward and backwards rather than across the body.

We did a few laps trying it out and then got into pairs to observe each other because it's so hard to tell if you're doing it correctly yourself! After a few attempts we called it a night and finished with a stretch.

Great job last night everyone! We got so much done so you should be really pleased! It would have taken Eve a whole day to do what you guys did in just 30 minutes so really well done! See you next week!

17 fabulous runners ran 4km to help out at the Deborah Ubee Trust!

We had LOOOOOOAAADS of new runners and GoodGym tourists with us last night! Big welcome to Beth, Callum, Tahni, Aiste, Zoe and Arba! Hope you had a lovely run with us!

We started off with a little warm up, a few walking lunges and some Indian file (the thing where you run in a line and sprint to the front!). After a few minutes we were suitably warmed up (and dizzy from running so many circles!) and we set off! Making the most of Greenwich Park still being open we headed up and out through the park which was looking a lot more green now which was nice to see!

Just over a mile later and we had arrived at the Deborah Ubee Trust. It is a lovely charity that provides counselling to those who are otherwise unable to access it in Greenwich and it's surrounding boroughs. We were greeted by Rory who had prepped all the cleaning stuff for us and explained the jobs that needed doing.

There were windows to be cleaned inside and out, carpets, tablets, chairs, desks... literally anything and everything! A few people got some buckets filled and headed out to do the windows on the outside. Everyone else grabbed a cloth and got scrubbing!

Literally after just 10 minutes, every inch of the room and office had been cleaned. Even tops of door frames! No speck of dust was left in that room!

The window cleaners were nearly done outside and just needed a tall person to do the bits higher up and then we were DONE! A super quick effort but that's what happens when you get 17 people on the job! Nice one!

We took a little photo and then headed back through the park for part 1 of our 2 part fitness session. We did some hills with a twist... usually in hill repeats you would run at a decent pace up the hill and then recover on the way down, but downhill running is just as important and a skill in itself so we practiced running fast on both with a flat section in between each one to recover. Some great efforts by everyone! Nice to see people FLY down (and up) those hills!

After 5 minutes we trotted back to the uni for part 2! A little core tabata featuring plank jacks and bicycle crunches. Having a strong core is super important for running as it keeps you holding good running form and posture for longer so you are able to run faster and further! And who wouldn't want that!?

After 4 minutes of work, we called it a night and had a nice relaxing stretch. Next week I'm away running up and down a few mountains but the fabulous Ben will be taking over and with a new task location too, what's not to love. Here's the link to sign up!

Also for the lovely new people, we have a GoodGym Greenwich Facebook group so please join if you want to keep up to date with any races or other bits and pieces that we all get up to!

And finally, the Parkrun that I was talking about is listed here, would be great to get a bunch of us down there! #redthunder

Great job last night everyone! You were super speedy with the task and it was great to see you give it some on the hills so well done! See you soon!

24 runners ran 3km to help at Royal Hill Community Garden!

What a purrrrrfect evening that was. 4 new runners joined us in Greenwich last night so welcome Kathryn, Tom, Marco and Luca! Hope you had a pawsome run with us! Ok done with the cat puns now. Happy cat day everyone.

For those of you who are new, please feel free to join our GoodGym Greenwich Facebook Group where you can keep up to date with things that are going on, and races etc that people are doing!

We set off through the park, making the most of it while it's still light! And before we knew it we had arrived and were welcomed by a very excitable Tony, who had loads for us to do!

On the agenda was the following: Digging a trench Weeding Watering Planting bushes Shovelling soil Dismantling pallets

So there was looooads to be getting on with!

Naturally all the lads gravitated to the jobs which required a pick axe but Marta made sure she had a go with it too! There are no male and female jobs when it comes to GoodGym! Everyone else grabed a watering can or a tool of sorts and got stuck in!

The main job was the trench, as the garden had been donated some bricks/tiles (not really sure what they were?!) so thought it would be nice to have them line the flower bed but for in order to do this a trench had to be made to stick them in the ground properly. The ground was pretty solid and was seemingly made up from a combination of hard packed soil and rock but little by little it was getting done and shaping up nicely!

Meanwhile in other departments, the mini childrens wheelbarrow was filling up nicely with weeds, lots of plants had been watered and Vickie had managed to snake the hose around nearly everyone. After 25 minutes the place was looking amazing! The trench was a HUGE success and we had the EXACT number of bricks to fill it... PERFECTO!

We packed everything away, took a nice group pic and then headed back through the park for a pitstop at the steps. 6 minutes of up and down just to help build some nice strength in the legs. With hills and steps the downs are just as important to train for as the uphills so make sure to focus on your form coming down too! A little jog back to the uni for a stretch and we were done!

Great work last night everyone! We got SO much done and really helped out the volunteers so you should be really pleased. Feel free to go back to enjoy the garden whenever you want!