Under the croak of darkness

It was an, ahem, slightly less smooth start than usual last night, but kudos goes to Team Hounslow for just being rather brilliant. After some excellent warm ups (star jumps and jumping jacks) we set off on a short but speedy run to a new task for us.

On the way, we discussed Remy's twentieth half marathon of the year. Seriously good going. Somebody give that lady a cheer and an energy drink immediately!

We also discussed plans for Hounslow's very first birthday which we shall be celebrating with a pub quiz, food, drinks and general merriment. Don't miss out! There are also plans for a long run afoot, date tbc, and don't forget we have a whatsapp group where dreams are made - so if you'd like to get on that just say the word.

After only a few minutes running we had reached our destination - William Hogarth School. It was our first time at this lovely primary school, and we were met by headteacher Avril who was waiting for us with bags, gloves and tools. Our job tonight was to clear an area of leaves ready for it to be planted with bulbs. We're looking forward to spring already. After a bit of a crystal maze moment trying to get access to the space, we soon got stuck in.

In true top engineering style Andy managed to assemble a clever hanging light source, and before long we had stuffed several bags with leaves and twigs. Helen found herself a little frog buddy, and Michelle told us a horrifying story involving toads and rakes. With such fun, we were done before we knew it. All that was left was to have a picture taken by the attendance and punctuality board (all present and correct) and a thumbs up with our friend Billy Hogarth. We'll be back at the school soon to do some flat packing - hooray for inside tasks in winter!

It didn't take us long to stride back to Turnham Green, where we got straight into our fitness session for the night. It started with a core triathlon using the bench - and some brave souls even braved the wet path. 30seconds each of swimming plank, bicycle crunches and mountain climbers took care of our abs. We moved on to bootcamp - a series of high intensity exercises interspersed with a few 20 second bursts of cardio. Sprints, squats, plank, press ups - you name it, we smashed it. After all that, we still weren't done, and capped off the session with four sets of flying 30s, concentrating on correct form and acceleration.

All that was left were a few stretches by the Town Hall, and a well-earned trip to the pub to refuel. Thanks Andy for the punspiration! Next week we're helping out Waterman's and there will be some map reading involved. Get fit, do good!