This morning at 5:15 am I was standing in a cold drizzle, with a cellphone flashlight shining in my mouth. I was holding a bunch of solo cups and plastic spoons as Emily Bryson examined my tonsils. I made the mistake of telling a nurse that I had a sore throat.
“It’s probably nothing,” she said, ” just drink some fluids.” This is coming from the woman who frequently rolls up to November Project on zero sleep, recovering from a night shift in the emergency room. I trust her when she says that i’m probably not very sick. She’s hands down one of the toughest people I know, so if she says i’m fine…I’m fine.
A few nights earlier I showed up late to Alewife on Eutaw street, where my two co-leaders, Emily and Kay were waiting for me. I had finished a triathlon a few hours earlier and then spent another 4 hours at a photo shoot before 7:30 pm rolled around, when I realized I was already late to our co-leader meeting. Kay had just driven back from Connecticut, snagged a quick nap before settling in behind the bar at Alewife. Emily, per usual, was in scrubs, fresh off saving someone’s life somewhere. We all grabbed beers and settled into planning the next few frenetic workouts.
Days like this are kind of the norm. We all move super fast, send a barrage of texts, and do our best to balance everything. Let me let you in on a day.
Let’s take a Tuesday for example…
4:30 am- Nick is already awake for some reason, texting about an idea he has for a November Project partnership with Roma Sausage.
4:32am- Bryson is in the middle of a night shift. She might respond. She might not. If she does it includes Emojis.
6:30 am- Kay finishes up a tracl workout and responds to the text which Nick has already forgotten about.
9:00 am- Emily is done her shift, sends an e-mail about tomorrow’s workout. It’s a large chunk of text. Nick reads the first few lines, says he loves the idea. Kay says it’s good as well but he will send comments later. No one has read the full workout plan yet.
10:00am- Emily is asleep after a night shift, but not before posting on Instagram. Kay is on his way to work. Nick has wrapped up his second spin class of the day and is running to class.
11:00am- 3pm: Everyone is doing normal people things. Bryson is sleeping. Nick is at school. Kay is working. All three are thinking about how many burpees should be added at station 6 in the ” Game of Life” themed workout Bryson has “planned.” Nick pretends to be paying attention to a presentation on algae blooms in the Bay while posting to Facebook.
1:00pm- Bryson asks if Person X has ever received the positivity award. We all speculate as to whether not this is true, consult the list of winners that we always forget to update. Decide we don’t trust it and will probably just ask that person in the morning.
4:00pm: Nick is on his way to his third spin class of the day. Sends a text:
Nick :” Hey, I thought more about the Life Themed workout. Does anyone know where we can get 35 matchbox cars by tomorrow?”
Bryson: ” What are those for?”
Nick: ” I don’t know, I just think they would be fun”
Kay: “Target. Or I can go to Walmart? Do you want me to go to Walmart? Wouldn’t we need more like 50?”
Bryson: “What are the cars for?”
Nick: “People could race them!”
Bryson : ” I don’t think I get it, but I trust you. Wait, no, It still doesn’t make sense.”
Kay: “I’ll go to Walmart.”
Bryson: ” Call me, I have 15 minutes free between 5pm and 5:15.
Nick: “I’m not free until 9:30.”
Bryson: “Call you then.”
Kay: “So no Walmart?”
7:00pm: Kay sends a third draft of tomorrow’s workout. It does not include matchbox cars. Bryson is on her way to a community meeting after dropping off her Little Sister.”
7:15pm: Bryson responds to the e-mail from the bathroom so as not to disrupt the meeting she is in.
7:27pm: Nick responds to the e-mail from the bathroom of the spin studio, 3 minutes before he has to start teaching. He forgets to press send though.
9:30pm: Phone call happens. No one has eaten dinner yet. No one is even near a bed yet. Workout is planned. No matchbox cars are involved, but Nick does make a run to the supermarket to buy a bunch of solo cups. He can’t remember for what purpose, but he remembers he is supposed to. Kay goes to bed.
10:30 pm: Bryson texts Nick, “Don’t forget the speaker.” Nick responds, “got it!” He probably doesn’t. Bryson goes to bed.
11:30pm: Nick sends a last text to two sleeping people “What if we added a box jump station?” No one will ever read this text. Nick goes to bed.
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We’re always coming from somewhere, late for something, trying to keep in touch with each other, making sure we have enough chalk, making sure spray paint is around, trying to remember where we left the tags last. I don’t say any of this to say “look how busy we co-leaders are.” We’re not busy, we’re just amped all the time. We’re excited all of the time. Do we get tired? Sure. But is waking up Wednesdays to hang out with a mob of our closest friends one of our favorite things in the world? Fuck yes it is.
I remember in the really early days of November Project Baltimore Sydney got a folding bike just so she could go straight from workouts in Baltimore, jump on the MARC train, and arrive in DC in time for work.
Just a few weeks ago Emily and Pat got together late one night to make faux fishing poles with my face on them for a workout the next morning, just to show me some birthday love.
I mention all of this almost as a reminder to myself more than anything. I try not to gush over the people I have been lucky enough to work with the last few years, but they deserve it 100%. Watching Pat step away a couple of weeks ago and Sydney a few months before that reminded me that, at the end of all this there isn’t a payday really. At least not in the sense that your parents seem to understand.
What there is, is a web. There’s this massive tangle of people you have met, people you have hugged, people you have bounced with, and people that have stayed up late with you planning things maybe only you think are funny. Some of them might be at your wedding, some of them you may never even know their name. But out of this wonderful tangle of humans have come lots of people who move really fast and really love to live. You know that Jack Kerouac quote, “The only people for me are the mad ones…”(look up the rest, it’s good, but i’m not about to get all “quoty” on you)? I like the mad ones…and I like the ones that will stare at your tonsils at 5 in the morning.
Look up every once in a while, stop complaining about how busy you are and when good people come into your life, let them know. Find more things like November Project and hang out with the maddest, funniest, fastest moving people you can find. Your life will be richer for it. If this long ass post was anything, it was 40 minutes I got to spend reflecting on how great some of the people in my life are. I encourage you to take that time as well at some point this week.
As always, Take Big Bites Out of Life ,
Nick
Reminder: Sunday, 10am, Lululemon. Strength and running workshop with True Sports PT. Show up for free knowledge on staying strong while running and avoiding injury!
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