I dug it through the grapevine

This week 10 amazing GoodGym-ers ran 4km (and a bit) to help Living Under One Sun with the allotment.

We were joined by GG newbie, Tim - Give him a cheer!

As well as GG Haringey newbies/tourists, Caroline and Hannah.

Amazing!

We started with some pre-run ankle drills and movement prep, before 5 minutes of the Burpee Name Game, to give us all a chance to learn the new names.

We then headed off towards the allotments to meet Layla and the gang, with Julie our trusty back-marker.

As always, we stopped at our sprint path for a quick burst of max effort, concentrating on getting that push off the back leg. Dave did some great demonstrating of what that meant for the group to see.

At the other end, once everybody caught their breath, we did a quick round of squats and press ups. The idea was to focus on increasing core engagement and building power through the legs.

Dave's neck was hurting, so I got everybody doing a squishy plank while he stretched it out, giving them all the chance to really drill down into that core strength.

We then carried on to the allotments, where we met Layla and were told our tasks.

One team was on chip wood shifting duty, while another pulled weeds from the path the chip wood was going to cover; the third team picked up fallen plums before they sprouted.

Everybody worked super fast, and Layla and her team were super impressed and grateful (as always)!

Layla showed me around and told me how important it was to get help maintaining the allotment, so it doesn't get taken away from the community by developers, and Selam - Who just completed her 10th task btw - decided it was time to get even more involved with the Living Under One Sun team, and put her architecture skills to good use in the community.

As I counted down my final minutes, the chip wood team began running back and forth with their wheelbarrows, to try and shift as much chip wood as possible before we had to go.

Then it was time to tidy up and take a photo. And eat some delicious grapes and oranges.

We then ran back to base, with a pitstop at our sprint lane, where we focused a bit on knee drive and a bit on arm drive. It turned out lots of runners shrugged when running, and got referred pain in their neck/shoulders. So I decided to scale back the sprint practice in place of some arm drive specific drills, explaining where it was they were supposed to be pulling from, and which muscles they were trying to activate.

Hopefully everybody remembers to practice on their own runs.

I suggested the watch cue trick: every time your watch tells you it's been a km/mile, remember to practice the technique for as long as you can until you forget.

Improving technique takes TIME.

We then headed back to base for stretches and high fives.

Next week Pritesh is covering while I'm in Spain. Nice easy 1km loop to help Laura at Tottenham Green. If you're interested in my Spanish adventures, follow me on instagram @superpennie!

See you all when I get home!