We proved we're a hardy bunch last week, battling through Storm Brendan, and braving the freezing temperatures at our takeover of Seven Fields parkrun. So the freezing temperatures and icy pavements weren't going to stop our group run to the Swindon MS and Neuro Therapy Centre - even if we did have to skate our way into the Oasis, our regular gathering point.

It was all worth it though to see the fab new GoodGym Swindon banner that will guide people to our meeting point and will help us promote GoodGym at events around Swindon. Thanks to Andrew for preparing it!

Following Blue Monday, we decided to have Red Tuesday and focus on positive things that had happened recently. Not surprisingly, running featured a lot - whether it was running or volunteering at parkrun and junior parkrun, long run Sundays or perhaps the start of a new run streak. There was also talk of trips to warmer climates, Jason's proud dad moment watching his son play rugby, Carly successfully delivering her project so she can run with us again, Richard The Vicar's excitement at being asked to marry a family friend he has known since she was two, and Lily's relief that her kettle still worked after boiling it dry!

With a warm glow from all this positivity, we headed out into the cold towards the Swindon MS and NeuroTherapy Centre, which offers a range of therapies and services to support those living with neurological conditions and there were plenty of jobs to do. What a contrast to our last group run there, which was on one of the hottest days of 2019 - no one was going to step up for an ice bucket challenge this time!

Given the icy conditions, one of jobs was to grit the pathway into the centre. Sam, Andrew and Gaby grabbed the shovels and got stuck in with gritted determination. Charles, Lily and Emma got stuck in to window cleaning and they smashed it (to be clear, the task and not the windows)! The rest of us took off our muddy shoes (revealing quite an assortment not socks...including odd ones to the horror of those who like structure and order) and got stuck in to scrubbing the floor of the gym. This really was a case of team work makes the dream work as we organised ourselves into scrubbers and moppers. We like to make the most of our fitness opportunities so while we were down on our hands and knees, we snuck in some yoga poses - pigeon pose and child's pose resulting in some unusual facial expressions from those around us...plenty of caption competition material for our next social!

Sadly Tracey's perfectly manicured nails, complete with GoodGym logo, didn't survive the evening but maybe she'll treat us to some more nail art next week? You'll have to join our run to Toothill Farmhouse to find out! More information can be found here. And if you can't wait that long for your next GoodGym fix, we will be supporting Brighter Futures on Saturday at the County Ground for our second Community Mission in January. Please sign up here if you can.