High Spirits - Just The Tonic

High Tides -Good Vibes

On a gorgeous if a little breezy evening in sunny Worthing 8 of the regulars convened for our weekly pre run and task banter.

Massive kudos to all those that participated in the June challenge . This was a tough one and required a lot of physical and mental effort ,

Congratulations to Lucy, Barbara ,Belinda and John for totally smashing it . Also special mention to Gill who missed just 1 day and also to Andy who so nearly got there but sadly got injured in the final week. Paul,Emily and Tamsin also started strongly but then life and illness got in the way. If Ive missed your efforts please tell me off and let me know.

Wearing your heart on your sleeve

Final mention to Duncan who was top of the leader board for distance ( Pipping me at the post! ) Lucy brought him with us in virtual sense as she was wearing an image of him on her arm. Cute or what ?!

It s a grave business

Tonight we headed off to one of our favourite tasks at Heene Cemetery.

With John and Barbara arriving before the running group ( of course they did!) work was already in full swing by the time the rest of us rocked up! The graveyard had been strimmed by Peter and Anthony ( park ranger ) earlier in the day so plenty of raking and bagging up done by John, Gill, Jay, Barbara, Belinda and Paul.

Ros was given the job of sieving earth and stones to get rid of the debris on a grave and Paul gave a helping hand with this too. Emily did some great pruning to liberate a rose.

We all took time out to admire the amazing tree sculpture which has turned a tree that was going to be cut down for safety reasons into an amazing spectacle created by a chain saw by Stephen Grove. The photos really don't do it justice . Its well worth a visit. You wont be disappointed.

With a cheery goodbye to our friends Sue and Peter the team headed down to the seafront where the lead group did a crocodile drill along the prom whilst John and I did some spontaneous bursts of tempo running. ( much to his delight! ) With Barbara not feeling too good and Gill and wifey Belinda off on junior parkrun business he didn't have much choice in the matter and no one to rescue him either!!

We finished with some upper body strength work and a few squat and lunge drills before some final chatter.

Here rests John ( credit to Snowflake for this pun )

After 31 days of running Tuesday is a rest day for some ! Well earned and much needed by not just John !

Unless you are doing the plank challenge.............

A plank a day keeps the belly away

By popular request here are the details of the July 30 day challenge so you need to start it today ! If this isn't for you then stop reading now !

The ultimate challenge: holding a plank for 30 days. Forget your friends and family, forget every part of your current day-to-day existence, you are about to become the first person ever to hold a plank for 30 full days. 720 hours. 43,200 minutes. Many, many seconds.

Unfortunately, in reality such a feat remains impossible. The world record for holding a plank currently stands at eight hours and one minute, set by Chinese policeman Mao Weidong in May 2016 ( there you go Steve ! )

The aim of this 30-day challenge is not to break Mao’s absurd record (although you’re very welcome to have a crack at it if you like) but to build up your own plank until you can last three minutes in rock-solid fashion. Over the next 30 days you will become a lean, mean planking machine, and all it’s going to take is three minutes of work a day. At most.

Those three minutes will, naturally, be a stern test of your physical and mental endurance. I advise using music or some other form of entertainment to help distract you during the long minutes of planking. The benefits of this work will not only be a personal planking record to be proud of, but an impressively strong core that will help you improve in all manner of sport and other exercises, as well as enhancing your posture and mobility.

Since you’re going to be spending an awful lot of time planking, it’s absolutely vital to get your form spot-on. There are three key attributes of a perfect plank to bear in mind:

1. Your weight should be on the balls of your feet and your elbows. Rest your forearms on the floor with your hands locked together in front.

2. Keep your back and hips aligned so that your body forms a straight line from shoulders to ankles.

3. Brace your abs. The key is not to let your hips sag, or raise them too high. It’s all about forming a straight line, much like a plank of wood. You don’t see a plank of wood sagging at the hips do you?

So heres the schedule - you may need to print it out ( anybody got any ink?!)

Day 1 60sec plank Day 2 70sec plank Day 3 80sec plank Day 4 90sec plank Day 5 2 x 60sec plank Day 6 2 x 70sec plank Day 7 2 x 80sec plank Day 8 2 x 90sec plank Day 9 2min plank

Day 10 60sec plank up downs *Walk your hands from being on your elbows to your hands and back down again. Change your lead arm each time *

Day 11 70sec plank up downs Day 12 80sec plank up downs Day 13 90sec plank up downs Day 14 60sec plank + 30sec plank up downs Day 15 70sec plank + 30sec plank up downs Day 16 70sec plank + 35sec plank up downs Day 17 70sec plank + 40sec plank up downs Day 18 75sec plank + 40 sec plank up downs Day 19 80sec plank + 40 sec plank up downs

Day 20 60sec plank + 30sec plank up downs + 10sec (each side) Superman plank Lift 1 leg and the opposite arm then swap

Day 21 70sec plank + 30sec plank up downs + 15sec Superman plank Day 22 70sec plank + 35sec plank up downs + 15sec Superman plank Day 23 70 sec plank + 35sec plank up downs + 20sec Superman plank Day 24 75sec plank + 35sec plank up downs + 20sec Superman plank Day 25 75sec plank + 40sec plank up downs + 20sec Superman plank Day 26 80sec plank + 40sec plank up downs + 20sec Superman plank Day 27 80sec plank + 40sec plank up downs + 25sec Superman plank Day 28 85sec plank + 45sec plank up downs + 25sec Superman plank Day 29 90sec plank + 45sec plank up downs + 30sec Superman plank Day 30 3min plank

FINISH !

If its too easy for some of you extend the times to challenge you

Enjoy !

This Saturday we are meeting at 9am for a run or walk ( as theres no parkrun) followed by a 30 minutes of gardening volunteering. It would be great to see as many as possible. Meet at the parkrun finish in beach house grounds.

Next week we are meeting at Worthing Leisure Centre and its Barbara's Birthday so there will be cake :)

Have a great week

Sending lots of GG good vibes

Julia xxx