Thunderous afternoon conditions were a temporary glitch for Wednesday. The sky turned blue and the sun was glaring strongly on GoodGym Newham. I arrived like I had just been doing star jumps in a steam room - drenched in sweat and a bit hot and bothered (I ran in).

A couple of new runners joined us this week. Nabs, a tower hamlets regular, came to try a new area. Rocio too, who had actually come once before, though the first time I had met her. Two great new personalities who were not shy of a bit industry. Lovely stuff.

After a little chit chat, we zipped on over to mobile garden city. Luckily just in time to catch the delightful Gabby. Who directed us to our tasks. Creating wooden planks of a 'similar' size, to be used as sign posts. A selection of sawing, sanding and painting - a more multifarious task than normal. Always nice  to mix it up.

As Tim and Alice took to the saws. Nabs, Rocio and Mairead started sanding. A splendid little work chain began. I think most of us would agree, sawing was the most taxing of all activities. Tim, Nabs and Alice - got a superb arm workout. Harder than it looks. Some meticulous and speedy painting from Rocio meant we completed quite a few ready to use sign posts. Job done. So we packed away.

But what about the harvest that Gabby brought out for us? Swiss chard, ruby chard, kale and broad beans. We had no bags with us! Not to be defeated by a capacity to carry things...the guys grabbed a few green goodies and ran back. Looking like we just done a number on Wholefoods, legging it down the road with superfoods tightly clutched in hand. The most middleclass robbery known to man. Great effort.

A little interval session before the guys chomped their nutritious green rewards for dinner. 6 x 20secs - hard. Some determined faces on display. Only a short session, but that intensity travels a long way. Bang for your fitness buck.

Next week is social time...BE THERE!

Six of us journeyed to Mobile City Garden this evening to get fit while doing good.

We had a couple of jobs and the ridiculously-well-organised Gabby had left us very detailed notes on what to do.

First up was shifting over a ton of earth - in bags - from their pallet over to numbered beds. We quickly figured out which numbers were close by and those got ticked off the list very quickly. It didn't take us long to get through the whole lot actually and we were left with plenty of time for our second task: watering plants. Hot weather is expected (Rocio was very happy to hear this) and Gabby had carefully described exactly how many cans of water to use for each of a set of numbered beds, paying special attention to thirsty fruits. We each grabbed a can and set to work and we must be super-efficient because this took us no time either.

As a bonus, Gabby had said we could take some of the mint we'd just watered. We discussed the different things you could do with mint, but ended up deciding mojitos were our best bet. Glug!

With all this super fast working, we had plenty of time to do an extra bit of exercise in the garden itself. Using rows of raised beds as a guide we split into two teams and undertook some slalom relay action.

Team one managed to get all three members round the course in 1:17, but poor team two only managed 1:24. You know what can make you run faster? Having people chasing you. So, for our second relay team two set off exactly seven seconds ahead of team one who gave chase. And it worked! This time they managed a 1:21. Phew.

We then did a slalom/circuit combination thingy involving press ups, squats, calf raises, star jumps, burpees and lunges before leaving the garden to go home. Simon carried everybody's mint in his bag and we all smelt delightful as we sprinted around the streets.

Regular Newham GoodGymmer Alice - proudly wearing new black t-shirt for her 50 good deed achievement - grinned because Simon is very predictable and every time he covers Newham he does the same thing and plays his favourite game of SECRET SURGES! Each member of the group is given a secret number. The group then jogs at a nice gentle pace until somebody's number is called. That person sprints away from the rest of the group, who must give chase. We tried it with running first, then skipping. Running is more efficient, but skipping is definitely more fun.

FINALLY, we had time for a three-person continuous relay. We tried for a minute (which is a long time when you're running fast), then had a little break to get good at elbowing before having another go. We were all much faster this time which suggests that if you want to know somebody's 100m time you should look at their elbows. Probably.

A nice stretch and we sprinted off to make some minty cocktails.

Lovely to cover. Wonder how Brahma got on in his 1500?

Have fun and see you soon,
Simon

P.S. Tip o' the GoodGym cap to Max for pun report title.