A few months ago I took my Run Leader qualification, and was excited to put it into practise. But the months have passed, and I hadn’t used it… until today. This morning I led the first Run to the Barre 5K run and barre workout with Barrecore in Kensington.

Waking up to rain, I was apprehensive about whether anyone would be joining me on the run, but luckily the sun came out and 7 keen ladies join us on our run around Hyde Park. After jogging from the studio to the park, we started off with some barre style warm up stretches.

I led the front group while Karla rounded up the group, we stopped every half mile or so to go through our mini barre workout. It was especially killer on the thighs- Karla didn’t go easy on us!

The group of girls I ran with were all Barrecore enthusiasts, and raved about how much they loved it. I wish I could do Barre more often, especially as there’s a Barrecore studio practically on my road! A few of them were regular runners whilst others hadn’t run in a while, one of the girls was even there on her birthday- wanting to start it in the right way. That’s a girl after my own heart!

After a mini stair workout and some thigh burners at the Albert Memorial, we ran onwards into Hyde Park and around the Serpentine.

where we stopped for a few arm exercises…

Looping back through Hyde Park and into Kensington Palace Gardens, our front group stopped for a few planks, side planks, and forearm planks while waiting for the back of the pack. Sorry girls! We finished our 3 miler back at the Barrecore studio for an ab workout and stretch, that I found tougher than the run- my abs and glutes need a lot of work! It really was a full body workout, incorporating cardio, weights, abs and stretching.

I had such a lovely morning, it reminded me how much I love running with others, and how excited I am to run more this Summer. I really hope we’ll be making these Run to the Barre sessions more regular! If you’re interested in coming to a run to the barre workout- leave a message in the comments below!! Hope you’re having a great weekend!