Four sturdy Goodgymmers gathered for an evening session at the Phoenix. We had braced ourselves for poor weather and, with one brave soul asking for a walk rather than run, arrived in less-than-appropriate gear. Sadly, our walker pulled out due to work, but on the plus side, the weather turned out to be rain-free. Still, we democratically agreed to power-walk with optional jeffing .

And it turned out we could do a lot more talking while walking, and still get fit. Rachel had a lingering request to share revenge narratives, but in honour of Victoria horror stories of attending a gym, we instead decided to talk about favourite exercise experiences - 'good gyms'. We chattered away for the 2.7km through East Finchley's back streets to the Mutton Brook, then Lyttleton Playing Fields and finally to Northway Gardens, where we met Brian.

As ever, Brian was in good form, regaling us with his stories of managing the gardens, as well as of the amazing work volunteers had done to transform the rose beds over a decade ago. He talked about the history of the gardens and how things have changed in recent years.

Then to the night's tasks - a large fallen branch needed moving, and it took four (mainly because we wanted to be useful). We made short work of it, so Brian led us to task two. The Council had trimmed willows and put the fronds in the bushes by the path, so together we moved them all further along the hedge to a gap, where they were out of sight.

Then, with the job done, Brian led us back to the road, pausing briefly to show us a beautiful cotinus coggygria - a smoke tree, visibly red even in the dark. We parted at his car, and made our merry way back, chatting away and finally getting to those revenge narratives Rachel was keen to share. And there was even time at the Phoenix Cinema for a quick drink and popcorn before heading home.

George kicked off the run with a question about gigs, inspiring Rachel and Beattie, two stalwart GoodGymers, to give this report a slightly musical theme.

Beattie took a walk on the wild side with Patricia, while the others set off running, with Victoria as back marker. Richard went past like a flash—ah-ah!—and George once again wondered whether Richard had ambitions for leadership.

All the leaves were brown and the sky had a greyish tinge as the GoodGymers set to work for a while on an autumn day.

We raked the leaves with abandon and bagged them up, then tucked the bulbs into the soil, leaving them “dreaming Spring”. We pictured a host of golden daffodils to come, taking a moment to look up at the stars.

We made these memories for ourselves, with Theodore capturing our usual photos.

Finally, we laid down our tools and returned to the cinema, where we celebrated Richard’s 400th outing with pizza and popcorn.

Seven sturdy Goodgymmers gathered at the Phoenix for our group re-run to Shepherds Hill Gardens. It's a good long one, and to make it inclusive, we set up a walking group as well, with Patricia and Paul setting off early.

Yet we also gathered to celebrate yet another amazing milestone: Richard's 400th mission! Well, technically 402nd, as he'd been busy over the weekend helping at Ally Pally Park Run, but still, out came the hat, and we had our little ceremonial congratulations for the evening.

Subham joined us just in time for the warm up, and tonight's icebreaker was about pets, dissections and weird animals. Rachel shared a story about feeding crickets on the loose, and I recalled a fond memory of my tortoise, also called George. And, courtesy of Victoria, we learned schools in the US do a lot of weird dissection.

Then it was off for the long 2.7km run to Shepherds Hill, where Pat had already broken out the brooms and rake. There was a pile of dumped cement in one corner, which Subham gamely resolved, while Patricia tackled the grass areas, raking everything up. Everyone else was on path duties, catching all the early autumn leaves and carrying them in bags down to the leaf pile in the wood.

And before we knew it, it was time for our little tea break - some lovely fresh mint, guava juice and biscuits - so many biscuits, including a special vegan treat for me! We ate enough to earn the run back to the Phoenix, arriving about 20:30 for a warm down and a pat on our proverbial backs for treating ourselves to a night of fitness and helping the Friends of Shepherds Hill shepherd the hill.

A few good gym members came online to do yoga.

Yoga talk Strength training one of the most important elements of yoga as we grow older. We lose 3% of our strength from 50 years old per year. ( Dr Chatterjee ) our muscles provide energy production and storage. Acting like sponges for sugars. An important way to fight diabetes and stronger muscles help us burn more calories during the day.