Stress Releaf(lets)

Feeling practically toasty we welcomed first timers to GoodGym Chris and James and first timers to Islington Mark and Tom. Chris was so keen to get down he borrowed some shoes after his disintegrated. James was too keen for my liking during the paarlauf (see below) where we paired up and he didn't give me (Simon) much rest! Mark and Tom have been on three GG runs each and each one in a different area. These guys clearly like their badges.

Tonight we were back on the streets delivering leaflets for The Stress Project to promote their activities. One thing you learn as a coordinator for GoodGym is that there is so much going on in an area that people just don't know about, and getting the word out is vital for these organisations. We've delivered for them a few times now and there's always a positive response.

So, we split into three main groups - each with a few colour-coded maps - and set about informing the local residents about what's up. With so many of us in action it didn't take us long and before we knew it we were gathered around Emirates Stadium with some serious training about to begin.

Two groups were well early regrouping so we did a few technical strides, focusing on running tall and using our arms (oh, and we met a puppy) before the third group turned up and things got a little bit ... SWEDISH!

Fartlek.

Tonight's first Swedish word was "fartlek". This translates as "speed play" and basically refers to a run in which a variety of paces are used. Luckily Emirates Stadium has large signs, lettered from "A" to "S" - with a few missing - positioned periodically around the perimeter. We kept it simple and ran hard between one pair of letters and easy between the next.

Cirkelträning

Our second Swedish word for the evening was "cirkelträning". Not a well-known Swedish word in the running community, but Google Translate tells me it means "circuit training" and a quick image search confirms this. We gave people three exercise stations and an easy and hard option at each. There were press ups with your feet down & press ups with your feet up, squat thrusts & squat thrusts with jumps, and leg raises with bent legs & leg raises with straight legs. Everybody had a go at each station and everybody looked suitably knackered afterwards.

Paarlauf

But, it wasn't enough. Our final Swedish word of the evening was "paarlauf". This translates as "pair run" and involves a continuous relay with one of the pair resting while the other one runs. We headed over to the "Emirates Slope" for this bit of action and went on for a whole three minutes. Three minutes is a long time!

We had a bit of a walk to recover and on the way munched some dark chocolate digestives and gave the exhausted Steve a round of applause for Viccy Park 10k yesterday. Well done to Sarah for the same as well. We thought we were all done but as usual just couldn't resist a final blast up the hill before finally calling it a night.

Tonight's debate: Best training session. Suggestions were gym work, sprints, the weekly long run, Cirkelträning (Yes! Its catching on) and Rich's suggestion: anaerobic box jumps. For this you cover your head in gaffer tape and jump on and off a box until you pass out. Rich also suggested anaerobic Bikram Yoga. For this you wrap your head in gaffer tape and do yoga until you pass out. We left it there.

A top night of doing good and a tough session well-executed by all. Don't forget we have a Starter Session on Sunday and then we're also back next Monday to clean some windows.

Adjö,

Simon