19 awesome runners ran 4km to shovel sand and soil at Christchurch School!

It was a lovely autumnal evening down in Greenwich last night! The evenings are getting shorter each week but it's not stopping 19 of you guys from running and doing good! Let's see if we can keep it up when it gets REALLY cold!

We welcomed new runner Robert to the gang and congratulated our 3 amazing Ealing racers from last weekend. 3 incredible PBs from Amy, Ben and Laura showing that when it comes to running there are no shortcuts and you absolutely get out what you put in! Super proud!!!

We spent a few moments getting nostalgic and talking about everyone's fave film growing up then headed off for a warm up and gave the carioca drill a go. This is how you do it in case you wanted to practice! It's a good one for coordination and agility. Granted most running is done in straight line but it's important to train the body to move in different directions and work on fast agile feet in case you're out there and quickly need to dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodge out of the way of things!

After a quick pic we set off along The Thames with our beautiful city glistening and gleaming in the background. 10 minutes or so later we arrived at the school and were greeted by the always lovely and super friendly Fiona and Patrick. They had two main jobs for us, one was emptying a big bag of sand into an area which will eventually become the greenhouse. And also there was a mountain of soil that needed moving to give them a bit more space to work in the garden.

Everyone grabbed a shovel and got stuck in straight away, filling wheelbarrows with sand and dumping it in the pit where it would be raked and levelled off ready for some slabs to go on top. While half of the group was taking care of the sand, the others tackled the huge soil mound at the back of the garden. It wasn't being moved very far but it was taking up a lot of room where it was and just needed to be shifted a few meters back to underneath a little shelter.

After 30 mins, the sand had all been emptied and it was time to tamp it down and level it as best as we could. Over on the other side, the soil had been cleared and the two huge bags of bark/soil and been moved as well... amazing! All the flower beds had been watered and it was time to go! But not before feasting our eyes on the huge Cinderella pumpkin! It's going for a weighing at the weekend and then instead of being turned into a carriage, will be made into soup, and pie and all other pumpkin related things!

Whatever floats your boat

We ran back to the uni and did a little bit more running, this time some intervals but with some float recoveries (as well as some jog recoveries). The idea being to train the body to run at a high velocity without straining, so you run the hard part of the interval as normal and then instead of coming back down to a slow jog or complete rest, you keep your momentum and a high speed but with less of the effort. A fast yet relaxed kind of pace. Running intervals like this alternating between fast and float pushes your lactate threshold and is a great simulator for race day but the workouts are tough! We did 4 minutes adding in some jog recoveries as well just to get the breath back and then headed up for a stretch!

Great work at the task last night gang! You got so much done and Fiona & Patrick were so pleased! Amazing running as always! See you next week!

17 runners ran 3km to shift soil at Westcombe Woodlands!

It was a glorious evening for a run. We welcomed new runner Rachael to the gang and a jetlagged set of twins for their first run back after their US adventure! Oh and Claire and Seb had also just returned from a nice long hols in Sri Lanka... welcome back to lovely Greenwich everyone!

The run last night was to a new place for some. We helped tidy up some flower beds at Maze Hill station a few months back and a few members of the group went to Westcombe Woodlands back then, but last night it was everyone's turn to check out the woods!

It had already started getting dark by the time we left. As we arrived at the task the headtorches came out!

We met Rich who is part of the East Greenwich Residents Association and organised this task for us in the lovely woodlands! Our first job was to hike soil up to some beds which were up a steep hill and multiple steps, a lot easier when you have two people to a wheelbarrow like we did! A bunch of people got on with that whilst the others filled buckets with top soil to go to the flower beds by the Vanbrugh.

Once the buckets were filled, they were put in a van and driven whilst half of the group jogged behind it to unload and level it all off! LOVELY!

By this point, lots of trips up and down the hill had been made to the flower bed high in the sky and the place was looking great. The Vanbrugh group arrived back and started filling bags with sand and loading up the van again. These are to be used for our task next week at Christchurch school!

After about half an hour we had emptied a whole bag of soil! Andy and the crew were making some final adjustments up the hill with some last minute soil application and then we were ready to go!

We headed out the Woodlands, up the hill and then down towards the river back to the uni. We had time for a quick little fitness session (since it was National Fitness Day after all!) and called it a night!

Great work last night and well done getting so stuck in! You got so much done, it would have taken Rich hours to do what you did in 30 minutes! See you all 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!

23 awesome runners ran 3km to clear leaves and weeds at St Marks church!

And so the heatwave continues, but it seems to be a good thing as it brought out 4 lovely new runners last night so please welcome to the gang Beth, James, Marianne and Rachael! Hope you enjoyed your first run with us!

We have a Facebook group for GoodGym Greenwich where people often post about races or other bits going on so feel free to join!

Yay for Bliss!

Big congratulations were in order yesterday as it was Bliss's 50th Good Deed! Well done Bliss, hope you celebrated with a tequila last night!

We headed off for a quick warm up and then ran through the park (which was looking rather sad and yellow) to St Marks Church! We were met by the lovely Tony who had got everything organised for us and even had some cold lemonade at the ready! What a fab host!

There were 3 tasks which needed some attention. The first one was sweeping and bagging up leaves at the front of the building. The second was weeding and clearing the courtyard and the third was cutting brambles and vines out the back!

We split off into groups and got going immediately! Everyone grabbed some tools and went for it. There were two stand out tools of the evening, the comedy broom which was about 10cm wide and the cool leaf grabber which was super effective! After 20 minutes, the front of the building had totally been transformed and lots of bags of leaves had accumulated. Nice work!

The other two groups were getting on just as well, group 3 even had some snacks to keep them going... blackberries from the brambles! They were REALLY sour though, probably because they were covered in fox wee hahaha.

After half an hour the place was looking WONDERFUL!!! The bags were brought around the back, tools were put away and a final drink was had before we took our group photo and headed off! What a transformation!

We went back through the park, back to the uni for a quick partner core session on the grass (which more resembled hay) and then called it a night!

Great work everyone as always! We got so much done!!! See you all next week!