Super hero update

Finally it felt as if Spring had arrived today. After weeks of wet and windy weather it felt like the calm after the storm.

After a last minute change of task it was a huge relief that somehow everyone managed to arrive at the new meeting point. We were very pleased to welcome newbie Rob who is a colleague of our very own Tamsin and with whom she was keen to share her love of GoodGym with. We hope that you enjoyed yourself and you will be back for plenty more Mondays.Next time we will definitely go to the pub!

Tonight was also Sue 50th task with us. Doing good since August 2017, Sue has been a familiar face at our tasks and socials ever since. This is despite a horrific riding accident just after she joined us !

Talking of socials we will be celebrating Sue's special moment on Monday 30th March after GoodGym at our usual place of celebration at Chipwick. With GoodGym's 3rd Birthday on March 16th,my 150th milestone last week and Paul and Duncan's fast approaching 100th this could well be our biggest celebration yet. Book your seat now!

Although not with us this evening I would also like to share with you all Duncan and Lucy's achievements this weekend. Duncan completed his 100th parkrun in 100 different areas. Many congratulations Duncan. This is a truly epic moment!

Also massive kudos toLucy who at the same parkrun in Leas was 1st lady finishing .This in the week that she is celebrating her BIG Birthday. What a way to start the celebrations and a new decade!

This evening we also had a great turn out from my regular core team Daisy,Paul, Natacha, Steve, Belinda, Old John, Clare, Ricky,Gill, Graham, Anne and Katie and our very own snowflake Jay.

Garden Spring clean

This evening, with our planned task at The Rowans having to be rescheduled at the last minute, Gill came up with the great idea of a garden tidy up at the Recovery Project in Selden Road. This centre is one of Turning Tides homeless project. The Recovery Project is a 25 bed residential drug and alcohol service supporting single homeless adults with drug and/or alcohol addictions.

We headed off in the direction of the project via our warm up route around the pier. With everyone running this evening we separated into 3 groups so that everyone could run at their own pace but ensuring no one was running on their own. What an amazing view it was from the pier. Simply stunning:) Check out the photos.

Arriving at the task everyone helped themselves to lights, gloves,bags and tools. After weeks and weeks of inside winter tasks it felt good to be out in the fresh air again. 30 short minutes later weeds and similar debris were bagged before we headed off for the usual run and fitness session.

More than a March but less than a springt ( spring sprint)

Splitting into our groups again we headed off for a 15 minute run before convening at a handy low wall along the prom. It was even handier that the wall was higher one end than the other so that everyone could choose which height that they wanted to work at.

We did rounds of 1 minute step ups interspersed with jumping jacks, press ups, burpees and lunges. This was repeated over a period of 12 minutes under the watchful eye of not only me but the boys in blue who were patrolling the beach with flashlights at the time!

For the second week running Katie thought she was coming for a fun and social night out and yet again she was put though her paces with our Worthing flavoured fitness session:) We do love going to the pub but we also love our fitness sessions too. Right team ?!

The suggestion of a crocodile drill from Paul was unanimously squashed so we took a steady run back to base followed by stretches.

Next week Mark will be covering the session whilst Nick and head off in search of some warmth in Morrocco.

See you all on 16th when we will officially be 3 years old !

Have fun and keep washing your hands!!

Julia xx P.S Congratulations on your new job Jay. First you found love in Brighton and now a job too. What will be next........

Our weekly heroes

We gave our 3 half marathon heroes a very warm welcome after their race in Brighton yesterday. Congratulations to you all Sue celebrating a PB after her riding accident which shattered her knee 2 years ago.
Paul celebrating a great run with a beer fuelled finish! Jay also celebrating a PB and a cider fuelled finish.

Duncan also put in an impressive 45 minute 10k in Huddersfield on Sunday which included a 250 feet climb. Wowsers and kudos for this result.

Special mention to all our volunteers who braved the weather this weekend both at Worthing, Bognor and the GG takeover at Portsmouth parkrun. What a Super Saturday and Sunday its been for our group :)

Finally it was SO nice to welcome Katie who rejoined the group tonight. I hope you enjoyed the evening especially the running bit :)

This evening we didn't have far to travel as the task was at our meeting point at Worthing Leisure Centre where we were putting a second coat of gloss magnolia paint in a meeting room in the bar area. In advance of this we set off for a slightly extended warm up walk / run making the most of a dry evening after another windy and very rainy Monday.

Not paint balling - paint walling

The group wasted no time in getting stuck into the task and it was an absolute delight not only to see and capture their progress but also to hear all their chatter. They have to be the most sociable, funniest, warmest and talented GG group ( Maybe I'm a tiny bit biased)

Duncan mentioned how impressed, pleased and grateful the staff were after our last visit and we hope that this coat will be like the icing on the cake for this multi use communal area of the leisure centre.

30 short minutes later it was job done and photo time. At this point, it wasn't just Belinda that was missing tonight. Barbara did a runner ( excuse the pun) and even with Paul in pursuit she managed to escape her favourite moment of the week to deal with the cardboard mountain in her car. Wow! How quick can she move when she wants to? This has been duly noted for her next PT session :)

Ruck Funning

After hill sprints last week we headed out to the track for some 800 metre efforts consisting of a variety of speed drills over this challenging distance.

Shout out to John who got a 400 metre PB. It was also very encouraging to see Clare putting in some top effort with her laps too.

There was no slacking in the walking group with Nick putting Sue through her paces to ease her stiff legs.

In the end I had to chuck Paul and Sue off the track and send them home to soak in a hot bath to recover from yesterday but for Jay there was no such luxury or TLC.

Tamsinin the spirit of honesty and full disclosure, admitted that she had been slacking all session and I could tell she didn't feel proud of herself so with very little persuasion she put in an extra lap with coach Jay (who needed no persuasion) to finish strongly ( and feel sick! )

Another night wrapped up and another step towards those elusive long sunny evenings with fizz on the beach. Not long now! Hang on in there team and see you all next week.

Stay well and keeeeeeppp running!

Julia xx

Sunset state of mind - Pink sky in the evening....

After another gorgeous day in sunny worthing we were treated to an amazing pre GoodGym stunning sunset. It won't be long before we will be meeting in the light evenings again. Saying that the turn out so far this year has been really fantastic with record attendance figures.

Back to this evening it was great to meet and introduce our new recruit John, to the group .John's son goes to GoodGym in Bristol and had been encouraging his father to get involved for sometime so tonight was the night! We do hope that you enjoyed yourself and that it will the first of many Monday night visits to us:)

The rest of the team tonight comprised of Barbara, Sue, Daisy, Katie, Nick. John, Belinda, Anne, Paul, Tamsin, Emily and Jay. After the sign in ,health and safety briefing and a chat about RED January 3 walkers set off as the advance party with 3 groups of runners not far behind.

The directions were crystal clear this evening and they paid off as no one got lost and the group all stayed in their sub groups ensuring there was no lone running.

Spring is in the air

This evening we gave a helping hand to our friends at The Rowans, a specialist day and rehabilitation centre for brain injured patients. Debbie, the assistant manager is always the member of staff who stays to facilitate our visits and tonight was no exception. Tonight Debbie asked us to anti bac and clean all the gym equipment in 5 rooms. The team were so super speedy at this that we even had some time to play with the battle ropes!

Battle of the ropes

Amongst heckling and lost of cheery support everyone had 30 seconds on the ropes with a mixture of smiles, laughs and grimaces! In a squat position arms were pumped on the ropes and heart rates nicely elevated. I think everyone agreed that, surprisingly, 30 seconds was enough to get a great workout.

Back to the track

The groups all set off back the way they came ( to avoid any confusion! ) and arrived at the track , still in their groups within minutes of each other.

Tonight was all about the crocodile drill and the team certainly snapped it up with their usual enthusiasm, energy and complete eagerness to push their bodies outside their comfort zones. Thats all true - right?! John ( the one that likes beer and has now done 52 GG good deeds) even admitted that he enjoyed the session tonight - my job is done:)

After some extended stretches in pairs we wrapped another Monday night.

Don't forget every deed and every kilometer counts this January and we only have 11 days left to claim our worthy place at the top of the silver leader board. we might be small but we are mighty. Lets prove it!

Have a great week :)

Julia xx