Stand by your Van

The sun was shining, and the weather was sweet...time to move our running feet!

What a great start to our run last night. We said a big Hounslow hooray for Becky who joined the group for her very first GoodGym run last night. Welcome to the team! Not only that but we had some great racing to celebrate. Remy and Andy both took on the Swansea half marathon at the weekend, and Andy even produced a PB. Way to go gang.

We had some lovely GG tourism from Danny and Shan - great to see you guys - and a message from Danny about the British 10k. The organisers have asked whether GoodGym would be keen to volunteer at three aid stations along the embankment on the 15th July - your reward will not only be the immeasurable satisfaction of cheering other GoodGymers running that day, but also brekkie, a tshirt, a cap, and most excitingly, a free place in one of their upcoming events. Get yourselves down there! Here are the details and sign up page.

We had a bit of a topsy turvy run last night, as the task organisers, the amazing Rhythms of Life charity, had rung moments before the run to let us know they were running late. So we decided to do our fitness session first - madness! - before heading over to the task. We kicked off with our warm up, and all volunteered one word that summed up our day. Exhausting, annoying, tiring, sweaty, hungover...it hadn't been the greatest hump day for team Hounslow. But all that was about to change! (Apart from the sweaty bit).

We started our session with a quick game, before moving on to EMOM - every minute, on the minute. The idea is there are three different exercises to complete within the minute, starting off at 5 reps each. The number of these reps increased each minute until we were almost continuously knocking out burpees, sit ups and jumping jack toe touches. Not an easy way to start the run, but an effective way to burn calories and increase aerobic capacity.

Now we were slightly 'glistening', we set off for our task, running the mile down to Stamford Bridge at a nice steady pace. After a few bonus squats we were met by Andrew and the gang from Rhythms of Life - a homeless charity that provides food, first aid kits and clothes to homeless people on the street. We had thought that the task was sorting their foodbank, but it turns out that we had a bit of an emergency mission as they were being kicked out of their storage unit the very next day! After a couple of aborted attempts at opening various units, the door opened to reveal a jam-packed room complete with Hollyoaks sign, various ladders and....a car. Unphased, we set about forming a human chain, and begun loading up the massive van. In went tea urns, food service units, several dozen warm jackets - all destined for use at the brilliant charity.

Half an hour later the van was filled to the brim (check out the before and after shots!), and it was time for us to head off. Well done gang, a job like that would've taken the organisation a lot of time and energy, so well done for flexing those muscles for good!

We took a pacy run back to our starting location, finishing off the night with some nice stretches and what we hoped were some encouraging cheers from several passers-by. Next week we shall be taking in the refined air of Chiswick House and doing a spot of weeding in the kitchen garden beds of this lovely national trust property. Sign up here for more Wednesday goodness and fitness.