A Dozen of GoodGym's Finest

On yet another hot Monday in the summer heatwave of 2018 it was truly delightful to have another great turn out. Special mention to Nigel whose work schedule allowed him to join us again. Kudos to you! It was also great to welcome back Jay for his second task with us.

Lucy ( AKA Tracey Tra'Lucy and on occasion, Jane ) also came along for her first time as a fully fledged member. Next time we hope to see her wearing her new red tee shirt! Lucy has set a goal to improve her speed ( although she alledges she doesn't remember ticking this box) so we are all looking forward to helping her to achieve this :)

Lets not forget a large handful of my trusty regulars Sue, Gill, Belinda , Barbara,Tamsin Duncan , Paul and Nick.

It was an epic evening for Belinda because after months of not running she arrived without her bike and with her running legs back in the game! There were several cries ( especially from me ) of 'Where can we put all our gear' after months of the luxury of using Belinda's bike basket!

After some GG chit chat and banter we set off on our warm up 1 mile run.

Avoid Pier Pressure

Always one of my favourite warm up runs we headed along the prom where we ran around the pier admiring the coastline and the general happenings of a summer evening in sunny Worthing.

In no time at all we arrived at out task for the evening which was pruning a large line of hedges just surrounding beach house gardens and the volleyball courts. We were met by our regular park ranger , Keith who was pleasantly surprised or was it shocked to see so many of us this evening.

As the task was more popular than expected we split into 2 groups with me taking one group over to the green for a fitness session whilst the others donned gloves, armed themselves with tools and set about some fine pruning.

Re-lay good

On the green we split into teams of pairs. One partner ran as fast around the circumference of the green as possible whilst the other did a series of squats, burpees and ab work . The challenge was on when the first partner tagged the second and the pursuit began to catch , or stay ahead of the person in front.

This was a mixture of high intensity running efforts with some strength recovery. Looking at the photos it appears that some may have recovered more than others :)

After 4 repetitions the fitness group swapped with the pruning group who arrived for their workout with me whilst the other group reported for duty with Keith.

Finally we all met up to pile into the last 10 minutes of the gardening task together . Clearly energised by all their activities the team revved up a gear and carried out some fairly extreme moves with a spot of climbing from Gill and Nick and almost total immersion into the hedge from Jay.

Nigel used his height to our great advantage . Lucy , Duncan and Belinda polished off the end of the hedge whilst Sue, Tamsin , Paul kept consistently ploughing on through the foliage.

Summer Loving happens so fast

Maybe it was Keith's sense of humour or the task or maybe it was just how happy the whole group seemed to be, but I did get the feeling I had to drag them away from the task to the next phase of the evening - the run !

Instride out

We set off in 4 groups and out and back and around Brooklandslake. The front group were on a mission to run just that bit further and faster but still meet and connect up with the other 3 groups on the way back . It worked perfectly to ensure we all supported each other at the same time as everyone getting a decent challenging run. It was a delight for me to see the progression and striving towards personal fitness goals from all the group and so good to see Belinda building up her running again.

Wave runners

After some stretching , brief inpromptu burpees and some chatter the group dispersed either to the sea for a swim or home.

Happy vibes, plenty of splashing around in the waves together with great photos and whats app follow up messages all contributed towards another great evening at GG Worthing.

Hoping to see as many as possible at this weeks social at the Fat Greek Taverna at 7pm on Wednesday. Its not too late to join in. Just let me know today if you want to eat or feel free to pop down for a drink.

All the best for a great week whatever you are doing

Julia X

High spirits despite bitter wind and everything going wrong!

On the coldest evening to date and certainly not one for the faint hearted, we warmly welcomed two newbies to the group Ros and Nigel. We were also lucky enough to have with us Bob and Mark, from the local social media group, The Friendly Agenda who were keen to learn and share about what GoodGym Worthing is all about.

It was also great to see Tamsin , Michelle and Paul but sad that regulars Belinda ( puncture) Gill ( wimped out :) ) Roisin (working) Nick ( working ) Anne ( working I think ! ) and Duncan (AWOL) who couldn't quite make it tonight.

Tonight was one of those days that other trainers had warned me about but one that, in the 11 months since GG Worthing started, I had not experienced. The task cancelled at 3 pm due to sickness! Undeterred I managed to secure a last minute litter pick up at Haynes allotment so all was well..... Or so I thought!

Locked out but not knocked out

I had been assured that the gates would be left unlocked for us but imagine my sinking feeling when I arrived at the allotments to drop the equipment to find the gates well and truly still locked !

With the plan B kicked into touch I arrived to meet the team feeling rather disheartened but cheery faces and positive attitudes soon turned things around and we hatched a plan to head south to carry out a beach clean instead.

An ocean breeze puts your mind at ease

We headed out for a sociable warm up run to and around the pier getting to know Ros and Nigel and catching up with everyone's week. We collected the litter pickers from my car before heading down to the beach for some bracing conditions.

Litter by Litter

We were joined by Mark and Bob who also braced the wintry conditions! Whilst the team went both high on the beach and low as the tide was out I grabbed a few minutes on video sharing my knowledge, experience and love of GoodGym.

30 minutes later and feeling more than a little bit cold we merged the litter to reduce the plastic trail and headed directly into the breeze for a shortish run to the outdoor gym for a fitness session ( As requested by Tamsin)

Outdoor fitness session gets the arms and legs pumping

We did a few minute circuits on the out door equipment before doing some short sprint relays together with squats , jumping jacks and a crocodile thrown in too. No burpees tonight!

Tapering for the weekend

After a steady run back to base we finished with some stretches in the warmth of Splashpoint reception . This was combined with lots of good luck vibes heading to all the runners doing the Worthing Half Marathon this Sunday, Michelle, Paul, Duncan and Nigel . Let me know if theres anyone I have left out!

Watch this space and the website for details about where we are meeting next week . As the task is in Durrington its highly likely that we will meet at Worthing Leisure Centre but I will confirm.

Have a great week everyone !

** Doesn't matter what week or what month it is GG will always be there on a Monday night**

This week we were very lucky to have a still and mild evening for our weekly run. Tonight we headed out to Brooklands Pleasure Park to do some winter path clearing.

I was the early bird this week meeting Annika for a document check to enable her to start her coach run journey. It was lovely to meet you and I do hope that you will manage to join us on a Monday group run if your ballet class time changes!

Shortly afterwards Paul followed by Michelle Duncan Belinda Gill Tamsinand Anne rocked up full of enthusiasm and smiley faces.

As usual there was some pre run banter . This week it was mostly about recent training runs in preparation for the Worthing half marathon which is just 3 weeks away .

It was also lovely to hear about Duncan and Belinda's recent holidays to Iceland and Gloucestershire (not together!)

If you go down to the woods today

We headed off for a 3 k warm up to our task which was situated in a wooded area just near Brooklands lake .We were met by park ranger Anthony who distributed tools and instructions for our task. It was probably the darkest task we have done but strangely fun with head torches and truck lights guiding the team in their work.

Making a clean sweep

The team shovelled and swept paths and wooden steps together with some clipping and pruning of overhanging branches for 30 minutes before downing tools and admiring yet another ground breaking piece of work.

We then stopped for a few group photos and, in an attempt to try and win the much sought after GG photo of the week, the team jumped. Unfortunately the camera was too slow to capture the perfection of the jump (although Tamsin came out perfectly! )

Racing around the Brooklands circuit

After a pre fitness session briefing we headed out of Brooklands heading north on the pavements scooting round on our 6 mile circuit.

This week it was another tough session with a few shorter sprints but mainly working on extended tempo run and strength moves.

We did another pyramid based workout with elevating efforts from 30 seconds to 2.5 minutes . At the end of each block we added some strength work including squat jumps, lunges , mountain climbers , static sprints and of course ,the dreaded burpees. We even made use of pub facilities to add some variety to the workout but sadly a dry visit tonight!

On the path to PB's

Everyone worked worked really hard again as a team tonight The structure of the session meant that the front runners got extra mileage by running backwards to pick up the rest of the runners ensuring no one got left behind.

With continued commitment and a regular attendance, I'm hoping the benefits will start to become apparent in the spring. Remember beach bodies are made in the winter!

We finished with a steady 3 k run back to base, tally of mileage and some stretches.

Fish and chip update

The date for this social has changed to Monday 5th February at Chipwick Brighton road BN11 2EN at 8 pm. We will be celebrating Belinda's and Ed's 100th park run together with Johns 50th . All welcome. Why not bring your partners too to meet the crazy Monday bunch?

All the best for the week. Stay focused on those January challenges! 8 days to go to compete them

Big GG love

Julia :)