(Selfie)Stick-ler for cleanliness.

Unlucky for some, but not for us!! Thirteen wonderful Willesdeners, ran roads, sped side-walks and exercised a whole lotta awesome, all in the name of GG Brent. Hey, that's a Monday well spent!

*Getting sticky with it! *

Meeting as usual in our local The Queensbury, the troops looked fresh and focused, ready to rock this chilly October eve. Although my excitment was nearly all spent welcoming our two lovely newbies Elivar and Mairey, I couldn't help but scream with delight at the return of Dinesh. Back from Hong Kong travels and with presents in arms. Oh yes!! This fine young man had been sent on a mission - To bring back a signature gift of China that didn't break the bank. There was one proviso mind you, to Stick to the budget of £1. Maybe he misheard the brief, because although he blew the budget, we can but forgive, because a stick he did bring and one of the selfie variety no less! YAY!! Finally I will be able to take a team pic, with more than just the appearance of my eyebrows!! HURRAH!

So after a few failed attempts of trying to channel David Bailey, we left the warmth of our base, ready for the mission at large. But before our exit, we couldn't help but notice the haunt we call home, living up to it's purpose this week. Good old Queenie was dressed up to the nines, one step ahead for Halloween. But with all these spooky decorations, our thoughts turned to next week's fancy dress affair and who would be able to give the best scare! But back to tonight, before the night of fright!

Task at hand.

With thanks to our great friends at Ashford Place Homeless Shelter, we had our task for the night and what a fantatsic cause it is too. Providing homes, a safe environment for change, education and training, this pillar of the community provide more than just the service of housing and any given opportunity we can come to help, we will be there in a heartbeat!

Just a short run down Walm Lane took us to the door, where our host for the evening Timothy was waiting. Oh Timothy, despite his good intentions, he had actually spend the preceding two hours completed three of the tasks that had been left for us to do!! Whoops!! Therefore we only had a quick shake down and clean up of the kitchen to achieve, before turning on our heels and heading off back into the night.

Catch me if you can

After a ten minute dash back up to the base, we bid farewell to some of the crew, while eight were left with me to blast out a final 20 minute HIIT session. HIIT or High Intensity Interval Training is a fantastic way to mix up your cardio training and should be utilised regularly, as well as long endurance run training, to diversity training and improve overall fitness. The basic premise of HIIT sessions are that they are between 10-20 minutes of high-intensity interval training, in this session for example we used the fartlich principle of sprints and then recovery jogs completed for several sets. But there are loads of varieties that can be applied using sprints, plyometric/explosive movements or equipment. The main thing is to get the heart pumping and the sweat a=pouring! HIIT sessions can actually deliver the same physiological benefits as a longer endurance session like running or cycling at the same speed for a longer period of time, so they are also great if you want a great work out, but are short on time!

And breathe...

So after the chase we gathered once more, more than ready for the final close. But after the cool down and just before home, the crew kindly indulged my 5 minutes of breathing exercises. a slow down of pace, a moment to be still, designed quite simply to bring back the calm and take a step out of the stress and noise of the busy streets. It was really quite wonderful after the madness of the dash, to be present together and enjoy that calm as the rest of Willesden just faded away. Ommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Ending on that glorious zen note, the team were well and truly done for the eve, ready to head home and plan their costumes for next week!!

See you next time!!

DO GOOD. FEEL GOOD. INSPIRE