As GoodGym taskforce Sylvia and I met at the BDH reception for introductions as this was our first meeting together. We then met with Sami, Volunteer Coordinator, from BDH who were kind enough to give us a facility tour and explained us what and how they do it. Once she got through out endless questions we sat down and have a lengthy chat to discuss how best we as GoodGymers can help BDH. Until we have a solid plan we have agreed to set up another task for the next week or the one after for sorting out donations.

Last night Rob, Fiona, Liam and Isabella met up to go on the final run of Solihull GoodGym. We decided to end what has been a fantastic 3 years of doing good in the Solihull area by going to do one of our favourite training sessions - Hills!

We set off from the start location, running through Brueton park that we have spent many Wednesday evenings either litter picking or going off track finding new running routes to explore. We then cut out of the park and headed to Tudor Grange park, where we have a great little hill on the cycle path that we use to do our hill session on. The guys started off with a four-minute hill session, pushing hard on the way up and recovering on the way back down to then go again for as many times possible within the four minutes. Once the first session was done, we mixed the next one up a little and instead of turning around at the top of the hill, we carried on around the path which brings us back to the bottom of the hill to go again, we did this for another four minutes with the challenge of actually seeing how many times we could go around within the time.

Once completed, and we had all caught our breaths back, we headed off back to base, a slightly longer way as usual to keep the KM up for the week. Once back, it was time for a quick stretch before heading in side for a final drink. 

We will still be meeting at the venue every Wednesday at 6pm, if you would like to come along for a run, please do. 

Last night Chris, Isabella, Fiona and Rob met up for a short run and pyramid training session, so they would be back in time to do the quiz at the Royal British Legion club. 

We set off a slightly longer way to Tudor grange park ready for our training session so that by the time we had arrived we were all warmed up properly and ready for some hard running. This week's fun training session was a pyramid, this is where we run for a set amount of time from a quick 30-second burst up to a minute then back down to the 30-second. We haven't done this training session for a while with Isabella, have never done it before, a big well done to everyone as this session is tough, but you definitely feel good afterwards and once you have caught your breaths back.

We then set off back to base, a slightly longer way to keep the KMS up for the week, in time for a quick stretch and find our table ready for the quiz, which with a great team effort we won!!!  

We will be back next week for another run, hope to see you there. 

This week we were back out litter picking in the local parks of Solihull. We also welcome Snoopy into our group - Welcome Snoopy!

Once the introductions were done, we headed off to the local park, Breuton. This week we decided to start off at the opposite end of the park and work our way through to the car park on the other side, picking all the litter we could find along the way. This time though, we also went down part of the park we had never been through before, led by Fiona, which definitely took us into some wooded parts. Once we had made it out and to the car park, we left our full bags by the bins, took the obligatory picture and headed on our way back to base.

We will be back next week, hope to see you there.

Unfortunately, last night we had to cancel our litter pick in the park as Fiona was on holiday and had all the litter pick in her car. We therefore decided to just go for a run but included some hill work. We headed off to a park we have not been to for a while, Tudor Grange, which has a nice hill on the cycle path. 

We headed off from base the slightly longer way, so we were not running in the road all the way but through our normal litter pick park, Brueton. After the scenic run, we were at Tudor grange ready for 2 sessions of 4 minute hill reps. Everyone did really well, with Chris leading the way followed by Isabella, with Meera taking it steady until the last rep when she went off like a rocket.

Once everyone had caught their breaths back, it was time to head back to base the slightly shorter way as everyone was tired from and hot. Not before taking a picture in front of the Solihull summer fest sign from the weekend that had ruined the grass.

We will be back next week, hope to see you there.

Last night, we welcomed Isabella to our group of wonderful volunteers, welcome Isabella it was a pleasure to meet you. Once all the introductions were done, it was time to head on our way to one of our local Brueton park, running a slightly longer way there, always wanting to make sure we get as many kilometres in as possible during the week. Once we arrived, it was time to find as much rubbish as possible. We started off by going into the slightly wooded area of the car park for any rubbish that may have blown in there, then worked our way through the rest of the park, finding as much rubbish as possible. 

Once we were done, it was time for the obligatory photo with our full rubbish bags before heading back to base again the slightly longer way. Once back, it was time for a quick stretch before heading inside for a drink and chat.

We will be back next week, hope to see you there.