DOING GOOD

In support of the twelve hour shifts our key workers regularly work, we decided to honor their dedication in a way we know well... running!

A twelve hour relay was plotted; GoodGym runners would run (or walk) back to back from 6am to 6pm on Sunday the 17th May. Twelve hours of continuous moving.

And what a wonderful virtual activity it proved to be! We shared photos from our runs & routes, shared anecdotes, supported one another & followed the progress of the relay through the Whatsapp group, as well as from live updates on the GG Derby Instagram page.

And for the first time in a while during lock-down, it felt as though the GoodGym Derby community was together again, sharing in a collective experience and making amazing things happen.

WHILST GETTING FIT & HAVING FUN!

And no running event is complete without some thumping heart-rates, epic routes & tasty Strava stats, all of which we shared in abundance! As well as smiles, laughs & a couple of aches & pains...

Ready for the Relay Commentary?

The relay was kicked off at 6am with Dani & Sam heading to Kinder Scout - the highest point of the peaks! - where they completed a loop, summiting Kinder & finishing their leg for 8am back at the car (Dani having left some of her knee back on Kinder) & in time for breakfast!

8am to 9am was Katherine & Lehann running seperately but in together in spirit; Katherine completing her segment as part of a May Half Marathon Challenge & Lehann running seven miles on local routes around Chellaston, snapping a very professional looking photo!

9am to 9:30am again saw two runners keeping the relay in play. Naomi ran three miles & got a gorgeous snap of her kitty looking fabulous on the red tee & Rachael (touring from another GG group) ran four km & took a snap looking fabulous in her tee!

9:30am was our first solo runner of the morning - Gemma - who completed 5km through some of the green spaces in Derby; Markeaton & Darley Park, a couple of the GG favorites! The 10am slot was smashed by Karen, who looked radiant in red and what a lovely morning for it too!

Up at 10:30am was Tracey, who used her thirty minutes of running to think of & pay thanks to the wonderful staff on Ward 205 at the Derby Royal Hospital who's she's recently had a positive experience with - amazing!

11am saw Tracey's partner begin the relay, running for one hour until 12pm. Gywn really enjoyed taking part & managed to get some lovely photos whilst still on the move.

Ashley's leg was 12pm until 1pm, another one-hour wonder runner! As well as impressed by his relay effort, we were delighted to finally see evidence of his lock-down beard, and clearly so was his cat, who gave him a warm welcome home.

At 1pm Lauren took over the relay reigns, also running for one hour. She covered just over 10km (& made time to say hi to a friend!) Impressive running, especially after just getting a juicy new 5km PB - well done!

2pm came around & that meant Helen was go, go, go! After completing her segment, she snapped a finishers photo in her beautiful garden (giving us all flower envy!) looking happy in her GG tee & race bib.

Ellie was up at 2:30pm, completing her thirty minute segment and running just shy of three miles. Another fabulous finishers photo in red!

Grace took on the 3pm til 3:30pm slot along with her gorgeous pooch Bobby. We loved seeing everyones pets getting involved in the relay action!

On at 3:30pm was Mark, who got arty on his run with a reflection in a suitably coloured red car! Time stamped too, Mark ran three miles of the relay!

4pm til 5:30pm was Peter, who regularly completes a long run on a Sunday afternoon, so this worked out perfectly for his training plan. Not letting any lock-down blues effect his mileage, like Katherine, Peter completed a half marathon!

5:30pm until 6pm was our final segment of the relay & so it's only right that this segment also boasted the best photo of the day from the lovely Nicky & her gorgeous baby, who looked super sweet in a "GoodGym runner in training" onesie! The wonderful duo completed the finishing segment together, both in red!

THANK YOUS

Thanks so much to everyone who took part in this virtual relay & to those who offered words of encouragement and support throughout the day. Let's do something awesome again soon!

Big Loves x

DOING GOOD

In lieu of our usual group run activities we hosted a Zoom call so we could complete a workout, together.

And it was SO great to see many of the Derby GG'ers faces live from their own homes! Smiles & greetings all round as we checked in with one another before a little Tuesday beasting...

WHILST GETTING FIT

And those smiles didn't last for long once that timer was on! Trainer Dani, joined in her home lock-down by Sam & BadGym, hosted a fitness session we like to call The Pyramid. Taking place in a stable currently renovated into a gym (& still smelling of horse muck!) we showed the group an all over body-burner, which targets some of those areas key to sustainable running... the legs (mostly the quads on this one!), the abs & the upper body for a strong foundation.

As the name suggests, we build a pyramid with our sets. 60 seconds of each exercise, 45 seconds of each exercise, 30 seconds of each exercise, back to 45 seconds & finishing with 60 seconds again. Here's what we did (for those that want to try it again!):

• Press-ups! Simple, old-school & effective for toning the upper body. Either full press ups, knees down or using a wall for a supported press-up works here.
• Squat dips! Like a squat, but hold it low. Never straighten the legs, just dip low, slightly lift & dip low again. A butt & a quad burner! Hold a weight for a tougher workout.
• Toe Reaches! Lying on the floor, feet towards the ceiling & arms overhead. Squeeze the abs & reach for those toes! Add weight for a tougher workout.
  
• Reverse Lunges! What it says on the tin, but we keep arms lifted towards the ceiling to increase heart-rate. Want more of a challenge? Hold a weight overhead to really work on that core stability!

And once all that was done & dusted, I couldn't just leave them there.... We finished with a 60 second wall hold to finish off those quads & boy did it finish them off!

Naomi & Helen later reported that they had trouble getting back down the stairs after their workout... fair to say they were a little wobbly with emotion!

BIG THANKS

It was amazing to see you! Let's do the same again next week? New exercises, less quads, promise :)

DOING GOOD

A Sunday special & it was indeed a special one! Visiting the Age UK centre on Chad Park is always a pleasure; the regular volunteers there are delightful & the whole place has such energy & enthusiasm about it. This was especially true yesterday as the centre was eagerly anticipating the arrival of over forty local elderly people for their Sunday lunch club... or more like a runch club in our case!

What a wonderful initiative to help combat isolation & loneliness in the local community. We were excited to be playing our part to help support it.

It was also a special run as we got to greet some newbies to the GG Derby clan; a warm welcome to Gemma, Tracy & Clare.

We arrived at the centre to the waft of cooking & were welcomed with a pot of hot tea to warm us up - perfect! There was only time for one man to sit around on the job - cough, Sam, cough - (evidence is in the photos) & then it was straight to work, moving tables & chairs ready for Sunday lunch'in.

Once the furniture was in place, the finishing touches came out & tables were laid with cutlery & condiments. Everywhere was looking great & then it was of course time to grab a group photo with team GG & the Age UK centre volunteers before running back to base.

WHILST GETTING FIT

& what a beautiful way to get fit! The run out was a little damp as with got caught in a quick blast of rain, but we soon dried off once hard at work in the Age UK centre, working our upper body strength lifting & carrying. We then enjoyed glorious sunshine for the run back to the Jurys Inn as a reward for our good deeding!

A small hill to jog up & then it was plain sailing down Nottingham Road, over the bridge & up to St Mary's Church where Derby City was beginning to brim with life on a Sunday morning. We finished with a bit of a bounce as always on the bouncy-bridge by the Jurys before stretching & showing our butts to the world... well, to the guests in the hotel lobby anyway.

It was fantastic to be running in the daylight on a group run again, something we haven't done since our launch back in September. We'll certainly await the lighter evenings with anticipation!

WHAT'S NEXT?

After a little chat yesterday with the volunteers of Age UK, we think it would be a fun idea to host a 5km fundraising run for the centre on Chad Park... watch this space as its likely to involve both group runs & some community missions to pull it off, so we'll need your help!

Big Loves