Blood, Sweat & Tears

Trainer James was caught up in some transport issues, seemingly French trains are no better than English ones, so the pleasure was all mine in welcoming two lovely ladies on their first GoodGym outing, Carlie & Francesca. With the task involving finishing painting the access gates to our base, there were options on how to go about dividing the evening. A quick democratic vote resulted in splitting the running in two parts, just as if the task was elsewhere, so off we went. On our loop we did some sightseeing, admiring the new murals on the wall of Wanstead station and introducing the ladies to the wonderfull work of Marians army, also known as Wanstead Community Gardeners. Working up a sweat running down to 'our' little allotment, the other parts of the run title made an appearance as well in an unfortunate stumble. A few little scrapes, a drop of blood and a tear more from the shock than pain made this run definitely a memorable one! Skipping the planned bumpy off-road section of the run it was decided a smooth path back to base was preferable.

Cleaned up and with smiles all around it was time for the task part of the evening - finishing the gates. Since James was stuck somewhere between Paris & London (yes he did go all that way for some white spirit to clean the paint brushes, honestly!) we didn't have much chance in getting the brushes going, but luckily one was cooperative, so while Carlie, did the honours of painting the last edges & bits, Francesca & myself put a final touch on the bigger gate with scrapers, getting that one all ready for a protective anti-rust coat once we get the brushes sorted!

Paint kit packed away it was time for run #2, which much to my delight was a touch less of a big adventure, more filled with conversations than tumbles. Back at base at 20.30 on the dot it was time to round things off and look back on quite a memorable first Goodgym adventure!