We started off bamboo-zled, and it soon turned into panda-monium

Last night's GoodGym session was an embodiment of the quote, 'it's what you do with the miles, rather than how many you've run'. It may only have been a short run to our task tonight, but once we were there we made a big difference.

We started the night feeling decidedly chilly, but we had a few nice bits of news to warm us up. The first was that we had a lovely new runner join us, give Sophie a cheer, for she has smashed her very first GoodGym run!

We've also got a couple of fun events to look forward to, including tonight's social to which everybody is invited, and then on Sunday we have a tasty training session for those looking to up their mileage. A big well done to Andy who ran an impressive section of the London marathon route on Sunday, and Will who put in a good showing at a club race at the weekend.

We needed an extended warm up to beat the cold, so after a whole range of knees up, jumps, heel flicks and more, we did a quick poll to find out what we all wanted to be when we were younger. Along with nurses and chefs, we also had a wannabe tube train driver and even a saint.

Our task tonight was at Strand on the Green school, so after a quick mile run down, we arrived to find a pile of tools, brooms and a list of jobs for us to do. While Will and Sophie got on with sweeping the main path and loading up the compost heap, Adam, Will and Natasha got on with removing a huge knotty bamboo plant in the children's playground.

'If only we had a panda' said Andy

They started off by lopping off the sticks and leaves, before wrestling with the root itself, which eventually came out in one triumphant effort from Adam and Will. We perfected our spade/brush/secateur sweeping action, before moving outside to trim some overhanging bushes and clear more bamboo at the front of the school.

After that hard work, you could be forgiven for thinking that all that was left was a nice jog home. But after letting democracy do its thing, we decided to stay and do our fitness session before the final run back. Tonight's was a tough one but effective. The idea behind tabata is that you bring up your heart rate so high that it continues to burn calories even after exercise has finished, while building stamina and working whole muscle groups. With 20 seconds of work (frog jumps - argh!, power lunges, squat jumps and side planks) separated by 10 seconds of rest, and the whole thing repeated three times, it was a cracker of a session. Well done team.

A short recovery run back was followed by some good stretching and a pat on the back for all that the team achieved tonight. Brilliant work! Next week we have a Valentine's themed run, you'd be cupid to miss it!