New Cross! New Cross!

Mondays rock in Lewisham, with twelve super athletes running over 5km to help clean the bookshelves at New Cross Learning and push it hard with some epic squatting/press-upping/lunging, planking/sprinting magic.

A big Lewisham welcome to David, who joined us for the first time this week after building up his running over the past couple of months (he then turned out to be extra speedy on our sprints, giving regular runner Conroy someone to chase/race). How lovely to welcome back Sara, who has been super busy doing 101 other things, but is now back and ready to go. We were all getting nice and cosy on the big sofa, hearing about Conroy's visit to Crystal Palace parkrun (and then some general chat about how wonderful parkrun is, with our local being Hilly Fields) until a big noisy alarm went off - time to move outside.

This week was all about the arms, using them well to power our running, driving those elbows back and feeling their strength lifting our legs higher. Some good, warming drills were done to see how this feels and then we did our best to entertain the passing commuters, by running with our arms in the air. Yup, it does look a bit daft, but it's so effective! Once we could hear our breathing get heavy and feel a glow to our cheeks, we set off along the Lewisham Way, with back-markers Imogen and Conroy bringing up the rear and making sure nobody was left behind.

Well done to Emma, who talked about the 5k Race for Life she ran at the weekend, in a really great time. We talked about how inclusive the event is, with women turning up to run, walk and chat their way round in an atmosphere of support and encouragement (I started my running 'journey' by doing a Race for Life, following a treadmill schedule...then really catching the bug!). Lewisham Way was busy, with plenty of lateral movement needed to dodge in and out of the pedestrians and lots of regrouping at crossings, with some traffic light dashes to help us reach our task on time.

Regroup Group Shot

After our obligatory group photo in front of New Cross Learning, we were welcomed in by Gill and Kathy, who told any newcomers about the community run space and the varied activities that take place alongside the library and bookshop. The space looked slightly different from our last visit back in the winter, with the chairs set out ready for Baby Bounce and some shelves moved out to make way for the junior fun. Our job for the evening was to remove books from shelves, carefully keeping the alphabetisation and categorisation intact, wiping down the dusty shelves with a damp cloth, then placing the books back in order. Books were put to one side, with some odd categorisation going on, so 'Baby Names' was relocated from 'History' to 'Parenting'. 'Fifty Shades of Grey', is it 'Romance'? Apparently not, since this section is located near the toilet, with some particularly racy Mills and Boons on offer. Ahem.

Please don't go!

Busy runners got stuck in, making shelves sparkle, dusting book tops, wiping down displays and talking about some upcoming house moves (don't go!). It seems a big factor in moving is first checking if there is a GoodGym in the area - lucky Gaby with a possible Bristol move, sorted! Not so Catherine, heading to Manchester...no GoodGym yet, but undoubtedly soon. Come on Manchester, make it happen!

Our half hour flew by, so time to put back any stray books, move back the heavy shelves and time to have a quick look at the incredible local history archive. It looks like we will be back in the coming months, with a few painting projects to get stuck in to, making the volunteers' kitchen a brighter, nicer place to be.

A swift jog through Deptford, exchanging tales of the odd things (and treasures) that can be found at Deptford Market, before crossing the road and rounding the bend towards Deptford Bridge DLR Station. A usual drill that happens here is driving hard up and down the station steps, but we bypassed this area today (much to the relief of some runners?) and gathered on the grassy area nearby. In pairs (and a trio), we took it in turns to take on squats, side lunges, press-ups and planks, while partners sprinted hard around the trees. Well done everyone, some really focused work going on, those cores *will get stronger!

As we move on towards our start/end point, we have to touch on a cycle path so, to avoid upsetting our two-wheeled friends, we run in a line, playing a game of catch-up, with the back runner sprinting hard to get to the front. The best thing about this section of our night? Seeing just how much our runners had taken on board the work we did on our arms, powering hard to get to the front, driving those elbows back and pushing ourselves as a group. Good stuff!

Aaaaaahhhhnd breathe.

During our stretch, there was lots of talk about the upcoming 4x1 mile relays, next week's task at the Goldsmith's Community Centre and Taskforce member Roni talked about ideas for our next social. Any ideas?