On a beautiful warm summers evening 23 amazing GoodGymers ran 4K to the FoodGrowers Group on the Rhodes Estate to transport and lay over a tonne of mulch/compost as well as water the life back into 48 fruit trees on Queensbridge Road.

The evening started with a huge welcome to our new GoodGymers and some GoodGym tourists tasting the Team Hackney flavour for the first time!! 👏🏾👏🏽👏🏻👏🏿 The big announcement of the week was the new Parkrun/GoodGym partnership which will launch on the 10th of September at and after MileEnd Parkrun. If you fancy a timed 5k then a dose of GoodGym Goodness sign up here as an added incentive I hear the trainer for the GoodDeed is amazing!!😀😉

We took off to get our muscles activated and joints mobilised on a quick pulse raiser to the council buildings where we burst into a dynamic warm up and a series of balance developing and muscle strengthening lower body exercises including a dose of some Plyometric fun as we bounced our way to success. After this headed of on the the rest of the 2k run to The Rhodes Estate in Dalston to meet Amy. With a little panic when I couldn't find her all was good again so to celebrate we burst into some relay action to keep up the tempo!! A few sprints, some skips and a trail of walking lunges had up ready for some carrying action!

Splitting into 2 groups we had the waterers and the mulchers! Not to mention the diggers. Forming a slick action line to dug the soil into bags, boxes and wheelbarrows before speedily carrying/pushing them about 150 meters to the fruit trees on Queensbridge road! While the waterers did there thing filling wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow with water and expertly watering the trees. With a super sprint finish we managed to water and mulch 48 fruit trees to the exact tune of 1.5 tonnes of mulch and 150 gallons of water!! Great job team ⚡️⚡️💪🏽💪🏾💪🏼💪🏻🔥🔥.

As we were running a little late we had a shorter than normal options for the first race back to base so we ran a staggered race with the runners wishing to run a faster starting later and later then chasing the pack down with every stride!! Needless to say it was an epic battle all the way back with 2 disappointing exceptions, Nico and Rich the super speedsters decided to take a short cut to ensure victory was there's. We have seen this behaviour from Rich before but leading is Nico astray to is highly disappointing!! Lucky you don't don't educate the people of the future (oh my wait)).

A series of static stretches and ballet pirouette finished off a great session!

Next week we are off to Gillett Square to help maintain their amazing kids adventure play equipment!! Be amazing if you could come along sign up here.

A huge good luck to everyone running their goal running performances this weekend know we have a few Super speedy parkruns and a debut 10k over the weekend!! If you fancy joining the GoodGym race team to get money off race entries and an amazing Race Team Vest take a look and sign up here.

An early heads up that we will unfortunately be saying goodbye to Kirsty in a few weeks as she moves up North for a new and amazing new job😢😢 in tradition we will be heading out for drinks and food to say goodbye on the 20th of September. Be great if you could come along to our combined monthly social and leaving drinks/eat after the group run.

Have a top week,

Technically Smooth

Joel

More to follow

22 hardcore Hackney GoodGymers braved the threat of rain to run 6k to Hackney Elderly Caribbean Organisation and masterfully finish off a magical painting job with epic roller action.

On a drizzly evening in H-Town the weather fairy proved to be kind and held the rain away for us to get our roll on with some quality painting and mini circuit action. Great to see some super energetic new faces to Hackney GoodGym working hard and being helped along with our experienced core crew! A mini pulse raiser took us to London Fields for our warm up of duck walking and fire avoiding tip toe bouncing. Some skipping and leg swings got us nice and mobilised the action ahead. Setting off at a good lick weaving our way through the back streets of Hackney and out towards Stoke Newington in the close atmosphere we all certainly worked up a serious sweat!! The nearly 3k run zipped by in no time and great to see some big running fitness strides being made by many of the regular runners!! Running efficiency and speed are really improving with your consistent hard work well done!! 👏🏼👏🏻👏🏾👏🏿

With a pretty big group we split into groups to rotate through some physical preparation outside with some body resistance exercises and some super speedy painting. With 5 minutes rotations the pace was kept high both paining, taping up and beautifully executed exercises. We will flew through the task and had the second coat done in no time. To celebrate such a top task performance we finished off with a spectacular Static Squat Off where in a long line held a strong squat position for over 2 minutes!! Great way to Feel the burn!!.

We said our goodbyes and headed off for the race back to base. The Sexy group starting with a 3 minute cushion before being chased down by the Speedy crew great to see some of the Sexy group really pushing on in the last kilometre to really finish off the run strong!

A few static stretches and a mild panic to get back into the Bakehouse saw us end a very successful evening!

Be great to have you along next week as we work our magic at the Rio Olympic festival in Dalston please sign up here.

If you fancy some more running fun join me for a Running Fitness session on Thursday in Islington sign up here

If you are around on Thursday evening and fancy going along to the GoodGym monthly drinks all the info is here.

Big Good Luck shoutout to everyone racing this weekend in the ParkRun tour and in Regents Park 10k!!

Last but not least a huge congratulations to Cecilia on completing her 50th Good Deed!! 🎉🎈🎊🏆🏆🎉

Smooth strength

Joel

19 Hackney GoodGymers ran a speedy 4.5k to the Wilton Estate community Garden to dig, cut, plant and water our way to a stunning running victory.

On a night of almost ideal running conditions we were lucky enough to welcome back a few regulars from holidays, 3 amazing GoodGym newbies and an array of GoodGym glitterati.

We started the evening after a pressurised head count and pulse raiser with a series of mobilising dynamic exercises to get our key running muscles and joints ready for action. Once the joints were fully WD40ed up we moved onto some running form drills mixed in with a range of important lower body strength exercises. With our form tight, our core engaged, strength amped up and our running efficiency off the charts we ran 1k to Wilton Estate through the Hackney backstreets.

Arriving we were met by the always amazing Debbie who tooled us up and divided a range of great tasks to help maintain the ever expanding Wilton Estate community garden. With groups cutting back tree suckers, watering entire gardens by watering can and a hose, lifting and repositioning huge wooden planters, filling them with compost, trimming the orchard and finally planting hundreds of bulbs.

The gardens were a buzz of activity with the GoodGym crew flying around get Good done well, completing all the tasks in 35 minutes of top draw action.

A quick tidy up and we were ready to head on our way, but not too far as we explored the Wilton nearly 500 raceway. Lap 1 we got our running legs back under is, Lap to we ran hard along the short sides, Lap 3 we worked hard for half a lap before collecting ourselves for a monumental full lap timed effort on a super speedy Lap 4. A top lung busting effort by everyone and hope that we can see some speed improvements when we go back the the Raceway later in the summer!

A short chilled floaty run back to base followed by a series of static stretches saw us finish off a top notch evening of running fun!

Next week we are off to Bootstrap to lift, shift and team manoeuvre some big barrels. Please sign up here.

As I said in the into be great to have you all along to Hackney Marshes ParkRun on 9th of July to test out our Saturday morning Speed! For all the info and to sign up click here.

Until next week

Smooth Sprinting

Joel

22 runners paint, dig and squash bugs for Lambeth, then run up some hills

It rained on Tuesday. A lot. Massive kudos to all those who made it down to the Lambeth run, where the rain stopped and the sun came out for a lovely evening session.

We celebrated all that was great about Race the Horse over the weekend, then split into two groups. Both had about a 2 mile round trip. One towards Loughborough Junction and one to Brockwell Park Community Greenhouses.

The Loughborough Junction lot did a solid job painting railings for Southwell Road Resident's Garden. Over at the greenhouses, we split into four teams. One turned over compost. Another wheelbarrowed woodchip across the site. Group 3 dug very thick clay mud out and the last group SQUASHED BUGS.

That's right, we killed greenfly in the name of community horticulture.

Taking advantage of Brockwell Park, we then ran a pyramid hill session. Nine 30 second runs up the hill at increasing speed, with number 5 being the big one, then slowing it back down again for the last 4.

How much do you hate me? Katie asked Leisha at the top of the hill. I LOVE YOU, said Leisha

That conversation is FACTUAL. People really do like running up and down hills. Who knew?

Then it was back to base as the last of the sun went down. Perfect.

Twenty Two buoyant Hackney GoodGymers ran 5.5k to help remodel 2 gardens run by Eco Active on the Kingsmead Estate.

After a beautiful day we were lucky to have a beautiful evening in near ideal running conditions. Being a slightly longer run than normal we set straight off on mass towards the task. After a 5 minute pulse raiser we stopped either side of the the Hackney cycling not very super highway to get our dynamic stretch on. With our bodies loose and mobilised we kept a smooth rhythm on our way to the Kingsmead estate. Navigating our way through Hommerton there was lots of talk about improved running mojo and great to hear a few runners preparing for a race or two in the coming weeks (If you are still looking for a race or want help with your training give me a shout).

We arrived in good time and met the team who run the gardens who were super passionate about their much loved gardens. We split into two groups and got to work turning over soil, weeding flower beds and raised beds. While in garden two there was almost a nightclub style sounds system pumping out tunes to keep the crew motivated. Flowers were planted, gravel was raked, weeds were removed and a huge bag of soil was shifted and carried to create a lovely flower bed then raked so it was as smooth as a long jump pit.

In 40 minutes of impressive work we go so much done and all the members of the garden were so greatful and really looking forward to having us back again in a couple of weeks. A proper GoodGym task was rounded off with a epic race back to base!! The Sexy group lead the way back at an impressive pace, acting as a target in the distance for the Speedy crew to chase down. The pace ramped up after we all crossed Hommerton High street and The Speedy crew to the lead, pushy the pace even harder!! A final push back to the Bakehouse saw us average under 4:30 per kilometre on way back!! Top running by all.

The evening was rounded off by a series of well needed static stretches and a very well deserved round of applause, before we went our separate ways with a job well done!

Next week we are off to St Luke's to deliver flyers around the local estate to promote their community summer fair!! Be great to have you along to run around the estate grabbing some amazing views while helping out a great community organisation!! Please Sign up here

Smooth sunning and running

Joel

Nineteen bouncing Hackney GoodGymers ran 5.5k to Hackney Downs to plant flowers in the HUG garden and clear the Old Park keepers lodge of 10 bags of rubbish.

On a Wild and Windy night in H- Town we welcomed 6 new faces to Hackney GoodGym and showed them how we do things.

We began the evening with a mobilising dynamic warm up where we got our lower body joints and muscles primed for action! We then bust into a series of strength building and core stabilising body weight exercises to get our muscles and joints robust and strong. We then bounced into action with some testing plyometric drills to activate a few fast twitched muscle fibres.

After the action packed start we headed off onto the Hackney back streets weaving our way 2k to Hackney Downs where we met Myra from HUG (Hackney downs User Group). We split into two groups the first began by ferrying watering cans to the garden to soften the flower beds for planting while group 2 headed to the Old Park Keepers Lodge to begin the first stage of regenerating the derelict building to hopefully being a community centre in the the not so distant future.

With both groups in full flow Christmas trees were being planted random single shoes were being bagged up. There were many weird and not so wonderful things found and removed in the Old Park Keepers lodge, a very satisfying task where we made a huge difference in a short space of time! With fence panels uncovering shoes and scorpions while suitcases didn't uncover any body parts but instead more single shoes. A fast and effective clearing pace was maintained and in 35 minutes the whole area was looking virtually pristine!!

In the garden holes were dug and soil was turned while an impressive number of plants were planted to brighten up the garden. In 40 quick minutes all the watering, soil turning and planting was complete and after a quick tidy up we were on our way!

The group chose to run a longer 3.5k route back to base so I added in a few loop de loop missions for those that wanted to increase the pace and distance! Special mention to Chris who was on fire and went on every special mission and lead the group home with a huge sprint finish across London Fields!

As I mentioned Saturday sees the GoodGym Parkrun Tour come to Hackney Downs and with so many of you in great form and fitness it would be great to see you there with many other GoodGymers from all over London and beyond! All the information is here about the Parkrun tour.

Next week we will be heading to Eco Active for a great task in their garden! We will be Digging up bushes, levelling off the ground, topping up raised beds with soil and making woodchip paths with so much to do it would be great if you came along and we had a monster turn out!! So please sign up here.

Silky Smooth Running

Joel