Over the past few months you may have noticed this tall, smiling runner pushing the pace at the workouts. New to Edmonton, and recruited by people from two different tribes, you can’t miss her smiling face every morning. While she’s still trying to find her way around the city, she has already found some of the most kind and generous people this city has to offer…. Meet Sonya
Watching the sun come up over the downtown Edmonton skyline as I drove from my hotel on Whyte to Emily Murphy Park for my first November Project, I had the sort of nervous anticipation that comes when a part introvert/part extrovert like me wades into something completely new and unfamiliar. Half the struggle–or maybe more–that late July morning was to #justshowup.
I’m so glad I did. As luck would have it, not only did I get to kick off the weekend doing my first ever “deck of cards” workout with more than 100 energetic NPers, but every time we drew a 2 or 3, we got to run up a hill then go down a HUGE blue plastic slip ‘n’ slide, made extra refreshing with Dr. Bronner’s Peppermint Soap. What!?
In my memory, that morning has a dreamlike quality, glowing with the intense golden light of just-past-dawn and the sheer joy of feeling like a kid at play. Of course I showed up again Monday at the Royal Alberta Museum for a “destination deck” workout, and I got to experience my first ever burpees, to the delight of my Crossfit friends at home.
We flew back to Iowa the next day, with my abs and various other non-running muscles screaming all the way. For days. But as we prepared for the big move, I couldn’t help but figure November Project into my calculations.
A long-time runner with a couple of races on the fall schedule, I was heartbroken to leave my running buddies behind, especially at a critical phase in our marathon training. I had never done a 20-mile/32-km run solo, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to. One of my favourite parts of a long run is the social, community aspect.
As we prepared to move, I dropped out of my September marathon and hoped that I could still run in Milwaukee in November. I hoped going to November Project would inspire me to get up early, meet some potential running buddies, make some connections in a new city, and improve my core work and cross training.
It’s actually done all that, and so much more. After almost eight weeks of just showing up, I can happily say that November Project Canada has some of the friendliest people I know. Not only that, but they’re good-humoured, generous, thoughtful, encouraging, hard-working, and fun. I don’t even want to hit snooze on the alarm.
That first day at the slip ‘n’ slide, I met a fellow employee of The King’s University, where I had just been hired. Janna was the first person to give me a hug and say hi, and I couldn’t believe it when she told me where she worked. That was the icing on the cake of that workout. She is one of several NP members who took me under her wing at one point or another, trading email addresses and giving me advice on housing and how to find piano and violin lessons for my 10 and 11-year-old.
On the group’s social page on Facebook, I connected with an always smiling mechanic who patiently coached me on how to buy an older Honda Odyssey and make sure I was getting a good deal. (Thanks, Lay!) Later, I got up the nerve to approach someone I didn’t know at all other than that he was a tribe member, and ask if he’d do a key marathon prep workout with me. That turned into an epic running tour of the river valley, as well as a big confidence boost. (Thanks, Andre!) I connected with Edmonton Trail runners and got a hand-me-down pair of trail shoes from another NPer (thanks, Sheryl!) The list could go on.
And that’s why I show up–and why I’ve invited others to show up as well. I’ve succeeded in getting one coworker out, and even a couple of my sleep-loving daughters, who will probably attend a more often when spring comes around. (Personally, I’m going for that -30 badge!) But let’s rewind a minute. How did I end up at November Project in the first place?
My brother Jeremy, a member of the November Project Chicago tribe, was my primary recruiter. A year ago, after we had run the inaugural Milwaukee Running Festival marathon together, he and my friend Tonieh from November Project Milwaukee added me to a ridiculous Facebook group chat full of energetic NPers who were doing an “Abvember” challenge. Basically they all agreed to drop to the floor, no matter where they were, and do ab exercises every hour for 10 hours every day, reporting in enthusiastically with pictures, commentary, and crass jokes.
There were people planking in offices, planking in minivans, planking on sidewalks, enlisting strangers to plank with them in grocery store aisles. They were having WAY too much fun exercising. It was almost exhausting just to follow along. Eventually, I muted the non-stop conversation. November Project wasn’t going to come to small-town Northwest Iowa, anyway.
I first set foot in Edmonton in mid-June this year to interview for a position at The King’s University. A 20-hour drive from our home, Edmonton was brand new territory. I saw a few bridges, a gorgeous river valley, some trails, and a few beautiful sunrises and fell in love immediately.
In late July, I came back with my husband to find a place to live. With our four girls at home with grandparents, we spent hours each day exploring the city and its neighborhoods. Since our schedule was our own, I figured I might as well give November Project a shot, even though I’d just finished reading a Wired article about the cult-like attributes of NP, and it sounded a little too….huggy. I was worried it might be a clique, and I’d feel like an outsider. It wasn’t, and I didn’t.
As they say, the rest is history. A day after our family off the plane in YEG at 1 a.m., suitcases in hand, I was heading back to my third November Project workout. This one happened to be an epic song workout that forever mingled the song Roxanne with the idea of never-ending planks and plank jacks, and Steady as She Goes with the best ab workout I’ve had in my life. (That one went on my marathon playlist. Thanks, Jen!)
I’m pretty amazed at the community that has been built here in this city around the idea of just showing up, and I’m a bit in awe at the commitment a project like this takes on the part of its leaders. I’m incredibly grateful for them and everyone else who keeps showing up, with smiles and words of encouragement and jokes, early morning after early morning–and I’m looking forward to the day I know everyone’s names the way Jen, Nadim, and Andrew do.
So if you’ve been thinking you need a reason to get out of bed and do something that’s good for your body, your mind, and your heart, don’t be shy. November Project Canada has built an amazing thing, and they make it a joy to #justshowup.
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