Leaving, on the Midnight Train to Deptford

Our super sixteen moonwalked through Lewisham, a glowing line of loveliness tackling a 5k run, an intense physical task and some tough, toe tapping stair-repeats with alternating squats, lunges and knee lifts. We smashed it!

This week's weather report: a milder evening than last Monday, with the ground moist under foot, calling for careful stepping, avoiding slippery leaves and a need to remove gloves part-way through the run.

There was a great deal of high-fiving going on this week as Conroy and Stephen hobbled in, with talk of bruises, grazes and aching muscles following their obstacle race at Hever Castle (remember how wet it was on Saturday? These men are tough!). Well done you two! We welcomed Nykolette who, it turns out, is also a bit partial to the odd obstacle race, so fitted right in, sharing tales of mud, upper body impressiveness and cold water numbness.

We welcomed back Jacqueline, who was wearing her black GoodGym t-shirt for the first time on a group run - we of course bowed down, not worthy of all her good(deed)ness - then headed out to go hard at it with the warm-up. A variation on high-fiving and balancing, with a nice new glute-tightening/strengthening/challenging knee-lift exercise, before we went head-long into some nice little running form drills to really get those hearts pumping.

It was great to see so many head-torches out tonight and, once we'd set everything a-flashing, we were off. It doesn't take very long to reach Deptford, but we had plenty of time to catch up on the week's news, with tales of racing, film watching, book clubs and leisurely breakfasts (ahem). A BIG thank you to Dave, who was our back-marker tonight, making sure nobody was left behind (he was also completing his fifteenth good deed, earning himself a fancy new badge, show him some love, he'll like that).

On arrival at The Albany, we posed for a group shot, piled in and made lots of noise. Oops! We hadn't realised there was a show on, so very quickly shushshshed and headed outside. Sorry! This week was all about the leaves. Since our last visit about a month ago (as seen on TV), the wind has blown, the rain has fallen and the leaves have landed in a layer of golden dampness. Armed with rakes, gloves, wheelbarrows and determination, our team of strong men and women swept around the space, making neat piles of decaying matter to be transported to the compost heap. Here the leaves would contribute to the well-being of the Deptford worm population, rotting down into a rich substance to be reused on the raised beds in the coming months.

At The Albany, we were joined by Maya, who had missed our warm-up, but hadn't wanted to miss the whole session - well done on catching up and not retreating to the comfort of home! Maya grabbed some gloves and joined team leaf-gatherer, talking all things coach running with Jacqueline as she worked. While leaves were raked, plants were also watered in the poly tunnel, with Caireen and Gemma uncovering some lovely chillies, an impressive aubergine and a courgette of massive, almost marrow-like proportions! As people chatted, raked, scooped and wheeled, we noticed a crowd of people spilling out of a nearby building, maybe a gallery opening and talked about how Deptford is changing rapidly, with the railway arches housing small businesses and new cafes and bars. Well worth a stroll along the market to check out everything that's going on.

By the light of our head-torches, tools were picked up, gloves were returned and everything was put back where it belongs. We - quietly - made our way out through the theatre and off along the street towards Deptford Bridge DLR station, home to some lovely stairs. Oh yes.

Carefully avoiding the commuters who trickled down every so often and carefully avoiding slipping, our runners gritted their teeth and ran hard to the top and steady back down. Here a set of jumping squats were smashed out, before running back up again. This loop continued, with lunges and knee lifts being thrown into the mix. When I had planned tonight's session, I hadn't bargained on having two very sore and tired racers present, so attempted to reign in Conroy and Steve, but to no avail. Feeling fired up now and with hearts pounding, we did an impressive bit of chain running to get us back to our start point. Well done everyone on pushing so hard and for working so well together on the task.

Nest week we're off to Goldsmith's Community Centre (SE6) again, to sand more doors and frames - this will mean an 8k run and more time to chat (bonus!).