Power Showers

Welcome to the great British summertime! Non stop rain and a distinctly chilly day did not stop a group of committed and waterproofed GoodGymers meeting to run to help out the local community.

• Welcome to the group Julia, Jessica, Zoe and Sana who all joined us for their first GoodGym run yesterday. Give them a big cheer!

We kicked off the evening with a weekly news round up:

• A massive well done to all the racers this weekend, including Frances who raced the horse over some tough terrain, Henry who did some trail running from castle to castle, and to all of you who got out and did parkrun on Saturday. Impressive stuff!

• Don't forget entries to the GoodGym Olympics are now officially open! Sign up for your favourite event - from 5km on the track to the egg and spoon race - and let's bring it home for team Wandsworth!

• Fancy a long training run finishing at the pub? We got you. Sign up here for a 10km or a 16km run along the Wandle Trail.

• Congratulations to Hanna who hit that magic 50 good deed mark - that's an awful lot of gardening, miles run, painting and burpees! Next time you see her give her a high five for all that good stuff.

Water we do last night?

After all that good news it was time to face the weather, so we headed outside for a much needed warm up that got our heart rates going. A few heel kicks, high knees and some coordination exercises later, we did a quick survey to find out which word our friends would use to describe us - from smiley to 'a liability' - and set off for the Kambala Estate.

Stopping off for a wall squat on the way, we soon arrived to find Donna, Chairperson of the Kambala Cares project, waiting for us with spades, bulbs, gloves, and her team of volunteers. This community project was founded to bring the local residents together, to support them with problem solving, and to make the area a better place to live.

So, after splitting up into teams, we each took a job, from sorting out the communal garden area, to bulb planting, litter picking and weeding. There was some debate about the bulbs - 'which way up does this go again?' - but luckily we had plant expert Hanna there to lend her expertise. After half an hour of hard work, all the bulbs were planted, the area looked much tidier and litter free, and we were about as soaked as it was possible to be. The perfect time to do our fitness session!

After a speedy photo and our goodbyes, we headed off for a local park where we started the session with a game of Clusters to warm up again, with forfeits including jumping jacks and burpees. We then moved on to some pacing exercises which saw us think about speed by racing the whistle back to our starting point. Not put off by the ominous rumbling of thunder, we focused on various technique points, including imagining a balloon coming out of our head and our fave pocket to socket. Finally we opted to do our weekly plank minute back in the warmth of the BAC so took a nice steady run back to base and finished off with stretches - and cake.

Well done team, it takes proper dedication to get out there when it's filthy outside, but you did it. Next week I have good money on it being sunny. Sign up here for all the details. Until then, run happy!