A different group of Chicks this evening are assembled at the park to work out, this time with Laura who was, I was informed on Tuesday, a bit of a tough trainerCHICK.

The session was a lot more cardio based than last week, starting with three tree circuits and then three lengthy laps up and down the park, probably about 400m each. Tough trainerCHICK indeed. As with last week’s session, the cardio was interspersed with toning exercises. This week we did circuits of squats, lunges, triceps, press ups, sit ups and planks.

Or at least I think we did.

Throughout the session, Laura told us a fantastic story about her weekend involving a female friend, a well-dodgy sounding bloke that said friend fancied and an almighty fall-out over said bloke. The story was actually so gripping, the exercises were just things we did whilst we were entertained.

There’s something about exercising in an all-girl group which totally blows the testosterone, muscle-fuelled gym visits out of the water.

It’s more about celebrating life outside of exercising, recognising there’s fun to be had and that having a peachy bum is a dream not necessarily a vocation. It’s inclusive, friendly and fun. And full of life’s lessons. This week’s was to choose friends over fellas. It seemed appropriate.

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Amy Lawrenson, Web Beauty Assistant, BMF Running Club

So, I actually made it to my first running club yesterday. There were about twelve of us and while we waited to begin I couldn't help eavesdropping on a couple of conversations. Marathons were the main topic of choice. I must have looked scared because Paul, the instructor, told me not to worry. Easier said than done.

Next thing I knew we were off running at a brisk pace through Hyde Park, I had been chatting with a woman but she soon left me for dust and I took my place at the back of the group. Next up, leg swings to loosen up our hips; I really just wanted to do these for an hour but before I caught my breath we started off on bouts of sprinting and walking, with the sprinting parts growing from one to three minutes. One word: hideous. Luckily, we soon stopped the running lark and started squatting and lunging to work on strengthening our legs, which was much easier to take.

After this, it was a jog back to the start point. Through the pain of it all I didn't realise actually how far we had managed to get. Half way through my jog back however, my foot started to twinge, any old excuse I thought, so I started to walk. But my plan was foiled, one of the leaders of the BMF group exercising alongside us spotted me and started shouting at me to "run faster" and "this is what you're paying for". I felt like shaking my foot at him, yelling out "injured, injured" but I have more dignity than that, so I smiled and picked up the pace to join the group.

Things I learnt:

I need to loosen my arms, lift my head and open my mouth so I can breathe (handy point, that last one)

I can run 7k (which was how far we ran in total), I'm just not very good at it. Let's hope I improve...

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