A fantastic morning of leaf-collecting, weeding and litter picking at the Heathcote Community Centre on Saturday! Joannah and Margaret, assisted by the very lovely Rach (the Community Centre's manager) and her daughter, achieved so much in just a couple of hours, ridding the car park of unwanted litter and making the fire exit for the adjoining church a much safer pathway. Phase II to be schedule in in the not-too-distant future to complete the job, which will include more weeding, moss removal, sweeping and jet washing. Do sign up if you want to get involved... coffee and biscuits provided!

On Tuesday evening, four of us (Hasna, Louise, James and Jo) braved the harsh rains and collected 4 bags of rubbish from the tow path alongside the Grand Union Canal in Warwick and Leamington. Amazing what people throw away - intentionally and unintentially. And doubley amazing how nimble those litter picking sticks are! Who knew?

Shouts of thanks from runners and rowers made it all worthwhile, even if we were a little damp at the end! And Tim Winnett (Canal & River Trust. Volunteering team leader for Hatton & Warwick) extends his warm thanks to the team for clearing that stretch of the canal.

Well done guys (just missing Hasna from the snap)!

2 GoodGymers met up for a very sweaty interval session.

It's no secret that interval or Fartlek training can be incredibly helpful for developing speed. It doesn't make it any easier though !

This Wednesday James and Alexandra took on a the rolling inclines of War Memorial Park for a tough 6x800m session. It might not look like it, but those inclines really get to you after a few reps!

Meeting up at the Memorial monument, we decided on an 800m warm up to map out the route as there was no doubt that James would be miles ahead at the word "go". Dodging between puppies and toddlers, we made it past the car park to the park's main opening, taking on a tough incline in between. The first 3 minute recovery went by much much too fast and we were off back the way we came. Reps 2-4 were very much an uphill battle with Alex just barely keeping James' red GoodGym t-shirt in her sights, giving him an extra few seconds of recovery while she made up the distance. The final two reps meant one big uphill and one big downhill and plenty of huffing and puffing to finish off. Surprisingly, target pace was maintained throughout and it made for a genuinely good workout (and if you include the warm-up, we technically overachieved by 1 rep).

An exhausted static stretch and short walk to the car park later and we parted ways for a restful evening. Sessions like these are a good reminder that it doesn't get easier, you just get stronger!

This was part two of our efforts to shift the remnants of the Christmas tree chippings into the maze on behalf of Myton Hospice and Pass the Smile for Ben. It was a lovely day at Russells Garden Centre and the perfect day for some hard work!

After meeting our task owner Tim at the greenhouse, it was time to head down to the mouth of the maze with wheelbarrows, rakes and shovels in tow. Faced with two mercifully smaller piles than the last visit, we set ourselves the challenge of filling as many wheelbarrows as possible before our 2-hour session was up. After making the first trip, Laura made the discovery that the weeds were much (much), taller than the last visit and some new stinging nettles had also made an appearance. Navigating our way through the growth while also trying to remember the route in and out of the maze was beginning to prove difficult, but we powered through and before we knew it, we were at 18 barrels.

Just as we were beginning to slow down, Graeme arrived to give us a much needed boost. Often carting one wheelbarrow on top of another, Graeme had our trip numbers shooting up while the chippings pile got smaller and smaller. As the session drew to a close and we emptied our 35th wheelbarrow, we took a satisfied glance at out handwork before snapping a quick selfie and returning our equipment to the greenhouse.

It's always a lovely time at the Garden Centre and there is plenty more work to do so look out for future sessions at Russells if you think this might be of interest to you!

2 Goodgymers tested their endurance with the Coventry Sprint Triathlon.

Katherine's start time was first so she had completed her swim before Nigel entered the pool but appreciated his support from the balcony.

Having been chilly before the start, adrenaline kicked in as we moved from the swim to the bike with no chance to get cold. This year there were a few additional sets of traffic lights due to HS2 which unfortunately Katherine got caught in 3 times and Nigel twice, but this will be taken into account for the final times.

Despite jelly legs for the first half of the run - the downhill on the way back gave us a bit of a boost for the finish, along with the great support from the marshals all the way around the course. Many thanks to Coventry Triathletes for organising such a great event.

Final results TBC once the traffic light delays have been taken into account!

Loved seeing a partially sighted competitor taking part on a tandem - this really is such an inclusive sport and I would encourage anyone who hasn't done a tri and fancies it, to give it a try! :-)

This Wednesday's session was hill focused and we felt it for sure!

We met at Abbey Fields car park to take advantage of the very steep hill and lovely views. After a post-marathon catch-up with Allan, we were off through the park to the bottom of the hill. We began with two acceleration drills, aiming to ensure that we focused on form on the hills and sidestepping a few puppies along the way.

After 4 rounds of each drill, we were ready to up the intensity and start sprinting. Each rep consisted of a 15 second sprint up the hill, a one minute pause and then a 15 second steady paced run down the hill, keeping the knees and ankles stable. Although short, this session was enough to get to really get the heart rate up while working on power for those last few strides of the race!

Once we managed to catch our breath, James led us back to the car park where we stretched gently before heading home. As the weather gets more accommodating, there will be plenty more fitness sessions listed!