TAKE A SEAT

The team returned to Dell Field Court this week for another round of garden chair painting.

Massive shout out to GG Barnet newbie Annatt who not only joined GG for the very first time tonight, but also went on her VERY FIRST RUN. Smashed it out of the park with a very comfortable 6km. Be sure to give her a cheer!

Phil finally got himself a GoodGym t-shirt this week and Eleanor hit the 10-runs mark for GG Barnet. Whoop whoop!

We had a special guest this week: Ben, who'll be launching GoodGym Cardiff in a couple of months!

After a quick briefing and warm up we were on our way, with newly qualified RUN LEADER Damian leading the way towards Dell Fields and Freya our trusty back-marker.

We slowly made our way along the very familiar Long Lane the 3km to the care home before heading inside to continue our task of painting garden chairs. Within 20 minutes the team had sanded and varnished 6 chairs to precision, while a bonus squat workshop focussing on form and breathing happened simultaniously to make up for there being too few paint brushes for the whole team to work at once. Some beautiful squats from Graham Applause

With some very strict time-keeping, Ben had us all wrapped up in 19 minutes, leaving a minute for clearing away and washing hands. We then said our goodbyes and headed outside for a quick bit of conditioning work before our run back. Three rounds of 10 burpees, squats and press-ups back-to-back. Joanna was quick to do the maths, pointing out that this was 90 reps in a row. There's obviously no time for rest when we're still so far from home.

Everyone is starting to get better at burpees and may or may not even be starting to enjoy them. I'm trying to convince the runners to do them in their own time too, as they're proven to improve cardiovascular performance and power rather efficiently. I'm not sure anyone is sold on this just yet.

Ben then made everyone do a squat challenge to see who could hold the position for the longest. While squats should look like you're sat on a chair, there were lots of people perching at bus stops. That said, the competition ensued and the champion was crowned: Heather stayed in a squat for 1:43:38, beating Graham by seconds.

With everyone's squads on fire, it was time to resume running. We split into teams with Heather and Damian leading the speedy group back to base and Freya and Hazel taking charge of the less speedy group.

The Barnet Biscuit of the Week: double chocolate chip cookies

See you next week when we run to BFC to upcycle furniture. Sign up here. It's all hands on deck for this one! Expect to get a little dirty.

I expect updates from all of you this week on how many burpees you've done.

Pennie