Free Fitness Movement. All you need to do is show up!
IT’S RECRUITMENT MONTH.
All of September, we’re gonna be #recruitingeverywhere to spread this awesome NP_Oakland vibe around. If you recruit someone this month, post your name and their name in this spreadsheet. Prizes at the end of the month for the best recruiters!
So today, we split up into two teams: Alex’s Yellow Team and Rebecca’s Green Team.
We’ve all seen that viral video of those Fourth Graders playing Rock-Paper-Scissors in the hula hoops in gym class, right? RIGHT? Right.
We tried that today. It went well.
It turns out that Fourth Grade gym activities port really well over to November Project workouts. We threw in a little rowing, and some lunges, planks, and bicycle kicks. You know. To make it ours.
Masters Rowing Nationals are taking place at Lake Merritt this week (THANKS A LOT HARRISON KIEFFER), so we were locked out of our regular Wednesday morning location. No worries. We scrambled and everyone made their way to the steps at Children’s Fairyland (it’s a venerable Oakland institution).
What we learned is that this tribe can sweat it out and have fun even when we’re switching up locations and making up routes on the go.
Thanks to everyone for going with the flow this morning! We’ll be back at our normal place next week, although we’ll probably return to the land of enormous boots and topiary snails sometime in the future…
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
=&0=& NPSF is crossing the Bay this Friday morning to run hills at Claremont Canyon in Berkeley so we want to represent NP_OAK really well. Park/meet at this pin at 6:15am and we’ll do the bounce/workout a little ways up the trail: https://goo.gl/maps/piP31HtjJhw
=&1=& NP_BayArea’s Sunrise 6k is NEXT FRIDAY, August 24. We are so stoked for this one. Meet here at 6:00am and get ready to throw down some 6k PRs. We’ll share a carpool doc next week. HOMEWORK: invite at least 10 of your friends on Facebook, especially if they’ve never been to an NP workout before. You don’t want to miss this one! Facebook event here.
=&2=& This Saturday, August 18, November Project Partner The North Face is hosting events at 150 climbing gyms around the country to celebrate Global Climbing Day. They’re donating $1 to the Khumbu Climbing Center in Nepal for every climber who joins us for Global Climbing Day at a participating gym up to $100,000. Find a participating gym near you here.
SUMMIT: Register soon for the North Face Endurance Challenge Series at Kettle Moraine State Park in Wisconsin. You can run 50 miles, 50 kilometers, a marathon, or team up with a few other folks to run a marathon relay. Here’s a Google doc to start coordinating relay and race interests, travel, and other stuff.
The problem with Deck-of-Card workouts is that sometimes, due to random luck, some people end up doing the same exercises over and over again. It’s okay though. Some people got really good at pushups this morning. Or dips. Or squats.
Towards the end of the workout, some folks would draw a card, groan, and draw another card so they could do a different exercise. Leadership looked the other way. It’s fine.
Also noted: dogs love running suicides. We’ll remember this for future workouts.
Thanks again to Ben and Cristal for snapping photos this morning!
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
OAKTOWN HALF: The Oaktown Half is THIS WEEKEND! There’s still time to register for the half on Sunday, August 12 or the 5k on Saturday, August 11. NP_OAK will be out near mile 10 cheering and handing out water and Nuun. Volunteers MUST register. Links at logistics here.
SUMMIT: Register soon for the North Face Endurance Challenge Series at Kettle Moraine State Park in Wisconsin. You can run 50 miles, 50 kilometers, a marathon, or team up with a few other folks to run a marathon relay. Here’s a Google doc to start coordinating relay and race interests, travel, and other stuff.
We did some planks. We did some dips. We did some pushups. We ran around.
Lots of you came up to us after the workout with a heart “that was hard!” Which is truly one of our favorite things to hear.
We also tagged some shirts. Really love seeing that beautiful tree on more and more #grassrootsgear.
We also had a guest.
And another guest (who taught Alex a few spray-paiting tricks #amateur).
With so much of what makes November Project great all happening at once this morning–the new friends, the tags, the Real OGs–we wanted to take a quick moment to say THANK YOU to all our loyal NP_OAKers. It’s been over six months since we started East Bay Free Fitness and a little over two months since NP Oakland became a thing, and it really does fill our lives with hype and joy. Seeing people smile, push themselves, and snag some high-fives every Wednesday morning is such an wonderful addition to the week. Let’s keep this amazing thing going.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
HAPPY HOUR: Tonight at Mad Oak at 6pm!
OAKTOWN HALF: The Oaktown Half is coming up! There’s still time to register for the half on Sunday, August 12 or the 5k on Saturday, August 11. NP_OAK will be out near mile 10 cheering (details and Google doc later this week).
=&0=&: An amazing local organization, Running for a Better Oakland, is hosting a fun run on August 4, followed by an East Bay Beer Runners after-party. Check out the details on Facebook and register for the run here to support RBO. Spots for the fun run are limited so register soon!
SUMMIT: Register soon for the North Face Endurance Challenge Series at Kettle Moraine State Park in Wisconsin. You can run 50 miles, 50 kilometers, a marathon, or team up with a few other folks to run a marathon relay. Here’s a Google doc to start coordinating relay and race interests, travel, and other stuff.
We love our neighbors by Lake Merritt and love sharing the Cleveland Cascade steps with them. So on PR Wednesdays we become happy, courteous ninjas.
It works out great anyway because the tribe pushes so hard for our 30-minute workout that they wouldn’t have much breath to make a lot of noise anyway.
GO NINJA GO NINJA GO
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
SAN FRANCISCO MARATHON: We’ll be teaming up with NPSF to run a water station slash cheergang at the San Francisco Marathon this Sunday, July 29. Meet at 6am at mile 22.5 (details and sign-up here).
OAKTOWN HALF: The Oaktown Half is coming up! There’s still time to register for the half on Sunday, August 12 or the 5k on Saturday, August 11. NP_OAK will be out near mile 10 cheering (details and Google doc coming soon).
=&0=&: An amazing local organization, Running for a Better Oakland, is hosting a fun run on August 4, followed by an East Bay Beer Runners after-party. Check out the details on Facebook and register for the run here to support RBO. Spots for the fun run are limited so register soon!
SUMMIT: Register soon for the North Face Endurance Challenge Series at Kettle Moraine State Park in Wisconsin. You can run 50 miles, 50 kilometers, a marathon, or team up with a few other folks to run a marathon relay. Here’s a Google doc to start coordinating relay and race interests, travel, and other stuff.
BONUS: If you read this far in the blog, get with Alex or Rebecca next Wednesday before the workout for a special prize (unless you already got a prize this week). Just tell us “I frickin love hoistees” and we’ll know what’s up.
Whether it was Alex’s favorite Remember the Titans bounce (HT Zip at NPSF), the sprint to the gazebo, or the 20-15-10-5 ladder, there was plenty this morning for OG NP_Oaklanders to vibe on.
Fortunately, since it was all so familiar, there was ZERO CONFUSION about what loop to run or what sequence the exercises were supposed to be done in. (Jk. Maybe Alex needs to be clearer when explaining the workouts…)
At any rate, nice work out there today gang. Y’all crushed some lunges, pushups, planks, and loops. And that’s just a great way to start a Wednesday.
BONUS: If you read this far in the blog, DON’T TELL ANYONE, but come see Alex and Rebecca at the start of next week’s workout and tell them the secret code (“pumpkin spices”) for a special prize. We’re trying to get more people to read our phenomenal blog 😉
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
=&0=&: An amazing local organization, Running for a Better Oakland is hosting a fun run on August 4, followed by an East Bay Beer Runners after-party. Check out the details on Facebook and register for the run here to support RBO. Spots for the fun run are limited so register soon!
SUMMIT: Register soon for the North Face Endurance Challenge Series at Kettle Moraine State Park in Wisconsin. You can run 50 miles, 50 kilometers, a marathon, or team up with a few other folks to run a marathon relay. Here’s a Google doc to start coordinating relay and race interests, travel, and other stuff.
LAKE MERRITT CLEANUP: Starting this Saturday, Alex and Rebecca will be organizing regular volunteer opportunities to help the Lake Merritt Institute keep out beautiful lake uncluttered. Stay tuned!
France vs. Croland. (That’s Croatia and England. Obvs.)
World-class footballers need endurance and fast-twitch, so we worked on agility today. High-knees. Squat jumps. Spider-Man pushups. That’s what all the best soccer players do, right?
Also, today Roger Miller took home the #PositivityAward. Roger has been a loyal East Bay NPer for years, driving folks to/from NPSF since 2016 and showing up to NP_OAK since the earliest East Bay Free Fitness days. Get to know Roger. He’ll be the one sticking his tongue out for the cameras.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
HAPPY HOUR! Meet tonight at 6pm at Telegraph Beer Garden (aka Beeryland). Come one come all!
=&0=&: An amazing local organization, Running for a Better Oakland is hosting a fun run on August 4, followed by an East Bay Beer Runners after-party. Check out the details on Facebook and register for the run here to support RBO. Spots for the fun run are limited so register soon!
SUMMIT: Register soon for the North Face Endurance Challenge Series at Kettle Moraine State Park in Wisconsin. You can run 50 miles, 50 kilometers, a marathon, or team up with a few other folks to run a marathon relay. Here’s a Google doc to start coordinating relay and race interests, travel, and other stuff.
LAKE MERRITT CLEANUP: Starting next Saturday, Alex and Rebecca will be organizing regular volunteer opportunities to help the Lake Merritt Institute keep out beautiful lake uncluttered. Stay tuned!
Today at NP_OAK, we focused on the 101 basics of our workouts at the Lake Merritt Boating Center.
There are lots of paths and loops in Lakeside Park by Lake Merritt. So many that it’s easy to wander and get lost. So we wanted to make it easier to understand what the hell we’re talking about when we tell everyone to run to “the tree” and back. Hopefully now you’ll all remember the Boathouse Loop, the Tree Loop, the Gazebo Loop, and the Youth Center Loop. Trust us, you’ll come to know them very well…
(Side note, Yael’s shirt says “BE KIND EVERY DAY.” Excellent life lessons from a 5 year old.)
While Alex was getting dizzy running loops with everyone, Rebecca was holding down the Boating Center working everyone’s glutes, quads, abs and arms. She thinks you enjoyed it, despite the misery on your faces. Today was all about good form. Knowing the loops, knowing the exercises. So as Rebecca said dozens of times, ‘it’s not about the quantity, but the quality!’ We want you to be the most fit and strong versions of yourself, but also the healthiest. So let’s continue to crush these exercises, with the best form possible, and prevent injuries, cuz no one likes those.
She’s awesome.
Hadar is the first and very deserving recipient of November Project Oakland’s Positivity Award. Hadar is one of those people we’ve all met at November Project: someone who’s new to an area, decided to check out NP, and just kept. showing. up. She shows up to every workout. She shows up to NPSF hills on Fridays. She shows up to happy hour. She showed up to Bay to Breakers.
So when she told us how #NP_OAK helped her find friends in a new city and that she’s running her first marathon this weekend, we knew we’d found the right person to carry the oar handle for the first time.
Meanwhile, the rest of the tribe seemed to have fun with Rebecca’s Call Me Maybe workout this morning.
ANNOUNCEMENTS