18 runners ran 2k to help out at Clothes for Causes!

We had two new runners with us last night, welcome Ruani and Caroline, hope you enjoyed your first GoodGym session!

HAPPY 50TH ANDY!

There was more cause for celebration also as the wonderful Andy was about to do his 50th Good Deed! Doing good since February 2017! Well done Andy! It's been wonderful having you run with us the past 2 years! Keep on doing good and here's to the next 50!

It was a smoother start than last week and we were back to business as usual warming up in our regular spot without someone telling us to move! After a quick little warm up we headed off on our way to the charity shop and arrived a few minutes later!

We squeezed in the tiny space and Veronique who manages the shop explained what needed to be done. There was some window cleaning out the front so Chloe and Ruani got going with that. Meanwhile, there were piles of winter things and our job was to pack up a zip lock bag with one of each item. These will all be given out on Friday to homeless people in central London. Everyone grabbed a bag, made an orderly queue and started filling them up with socks, hats, toothbrushes, toothpaste, wipes etc.

With 18 people on the scene, this was always going to be quite a quick job but this is what makes GoodGym SO awesome is that in just a few minutes, we can make a huge difference! And that we did because in about 10 minutes, we were done, probably the quickest task on record! 85 bags packed!!!! We had run out of bags, just a few socks and a hat was left over. The windows were looking sparkly and it was time to head back.

We had somehow acquired a dog named Buster so he joined us for the photo and we continued on our run! We headed back to the uni for a little meet and retreat to add in a wee bit more distance followed by a strength circuit. I say it every week but the strength and conditioning is SO important for your running, even just 10 minutes a few times a week will help massively with injury prevention and just making you a stronger and more efficient runner and who wouldn't want that?!?!

So last night we focussed on some core exercises, but not really core as we know it. "Core" work isn't just about sit ups and planks, it should incorporate your glutes, lower back and hamstrings too.. everything in that region as they are the main muscles we want to strengthen and activate for running. We started off with a walking bridge to help strengthen the hips, hamstrings and glutes and we focussed heavily on form to keep the pelvis stable which everyone did brilliantly! Next was one for the whole body, a plank with a cross body knee drive, again keeping the movement nice and controlled and finally we threw it back to the 80's with some Jane Fonda style leg lifts.. the old school exercises are usually the best! These target the glute medius which is the muscle on the outside of your bum. If your knees knock together a bit when you run then it's likely that you need to strengthen this area! After two sets we had a nice long stretch and called it a night!

Community Mission Details...

Here is the Crisis community mission info for next Saturday! Thanks to those who have signed up, it was a really fun one the last time we did it! 5 more runners needed :)

Well done last night everyone! It would have taken Veronique ages to pack those up herself and you managed it in a few short minutes so great job! See you next week!