Author: #angelface

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here comes the sun (ORL)

every new wednesday at november project is a chance to meet some new faces, crush some bigger fitness goals, and learn some surprisingly awesome ways to have fun in our city. so announcing a new #sunrise6k on a brand new course might be an opportunity to try and race at a pace that scares you. or maybe it means a guaranteed PR, since you’ve never run that section of blue jacket park before. it certainly means greeting the rising sun with a healthy dose of sweat, smiles, and (if that’s your thing) strava segments. read more

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to the left and to the right (ORL)

every wednesday morning, in 49 cities around the world, thousands of eager athletes set feet to pavement, trails and stairs with our november project tribes. whether we’re training for fitness, fun, podium finishes, or just training for life, we can look at the people to our left and to our right for the support and encouragement to succeed and excel during that magical, golden hour we call a november project workout. read more

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let’s #makeitbetter (ORL)

we love our lakeside playground and the gorgeous sunrises it provides. we enjoy the plentiful sunshine and curious onlookers that greet us every morning at the plaza in our baldwin park home. but sometimes, we like to change things up and explore our neighborhood.

we did just that this week- venturing into the concrete depths, and movin’ on up into a deluxe apartment in the skyyyyy for a nice hour long session of parking structure ramp repeats. here at november project orlando, there were no #stairsforbreakfast or #hillsforbreakfast on the menu, so we made the best of a hearty portion of #rampsforbreakfast and crushed a circuit of push up high fives, plank hopovers, back to back plank claps, and plank jacks between incline repeats. tall bottles of crisp h2o were the beverage of choice to wash it all down. we are proud to say that the tribe licked their plates clean in an environment that brought even higher levels of humidity than our Florida norm.

we decided on a leg-lifting sally burnout for the final course of the morning. that certainly suppressed any hunger pains that even our most elite athletes might be experiencing.

we stepped out of our norm this week and into a concrete box where the partner work was just as meaningful and the high 5s just as strong. nice work, tribe!

reminders:

  • we’ll be sending a message to our partner city, November Project Montreal! “Hello from the land of sunshine, alligators and theme parks! We are November Project Orlando and we wish you a fantastic day! Are you all good? Oh yeah!

*translated from a French friend*

“Bonjour du pays du soleil, des alligators et des parcs d’attractions ! Nous sommes ‘November Project Orlando’ et nous vous souhaitons une journée fantastique ! Tout le monde va bien? Oh yeah!”

Click here to check our social page later for a video with pronunciation help! read more

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your spot on the roster (ORL)

 

the void that november project fills in each of our lives looks different for everybody. sometimes we show up to get a tough workout in the truly #weatherproof humidity. maybe that gnarly burpee session is a means of escape from the pressures of our work commitments that week. perhaps there’s a need for some quality face time with our friends between hoistees and high fives. it could even be the means of catching the sun’s first rays coming over the lake with our own eyes, instead of through the lens of your social media feed. read more

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playground games (ORL)

if our workouts are already #adultrecess, what do we do when it’s time to *actually* go #backtoschool? for this week’s lesson, your tribe leaders prepared the class to expand our minds by making new friends and embracing growth. so we put away our shyness and those first day of school jitters- all those doubts, insecurities, and fears- and we woke up and welcomed the day with open arms.

lesson one: a quick “get to know you” squat warm up led to a “hello, my name is…” first name spelling challenge. and with introductions out of the way, for lesson two, we donned backpacks filled with donated school supplies (and weights), then ran through a circuit that had everyone bear crawling, hopscotching, and step lunging in the open air classroom that is baldwin park. and for today’s final lesson? continuing to roll our way through #hardCORE august, we wrapped the day up with a gnarly plank circuit that had us counting down the minutes until that darned bell rang. #savedbythebounce

after school special: thanks to ray for taking care of it for so long, but it was finally time to hand off the positivity award to our wonderful mariana, the shining light who deserves a gold star for all her infectious energy and generosity!

notes:

*augustHW: plank hold challenge. post up your video submissions onto our social group on facebook. this week, it’s a 3-minute plank hold (high or low) every day. stay strong!

*NP gives back! through the end of the month, we’re still collecting backpacks and school supplies for track shack & a gift for teaching. here are the supplies that they need most:

packs of #2 pencils
8 or 10-count packs of washable markers
pocket folders
packs of loose-leaf paper
24-count crayon packs
hand sanitizer

*good luck to all the racers this weekend! stay strong and #raceeverything.

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helping hands (ORL)

for #nationalmountainclimbingday, my esteemed co-leader dyani led us through a warm up filled with a varied circuit of (what else) mountain climbers! after introducing a few newbies who braved the florida humidity and showed up with the rest of the tribe, we dove straight into a little burpee relay race and sprinted to collect some colored plastic balls before finally tapping our way to a group strength exercise challenge dictated by the colors we collected: push ups, side planks, squat jumps, dips… that led us right into our plank hold burnout that fit nicely into our theme for the month of august: #hardCORE (congrats, zac, ray and dawn!)

in the end, we all have our own mountains to conquer. all the fears, regrets, mistakes… those voices in our heads that keep us from reaching our personal summits.

when we show up to a november project workout, we help each other crush one of those little mountains. the one that tells us to stay in bed and get an extra hour of sleep. the one that begs for a rest day and keeps us indoors in AC. these free/fierce/outdoor group workouts allow us to extend our hands out to one another and pull our fellow climbers one step closer to our goals, one burpee at a time.

coming together every wednesday morning in baldwin park, dishing out those high fives, sweaty hugs, and YOU GOT THISes does something that a solitary gym workout just can’t do. they keep us honest, keep us fired up, and keep us connected. do you know someone who might be in need of a helping hand? invite them to the closest november project workout. they’ll be glad you did.

notes:

*augustHW: plank hold challenge. post up your video submissions onto our social group on facebook. this week, it’s a minute plank hold (high or low) every day, and we add a minute every week!

*shout out to our sister city, november project montréal! look out for some upcoming fun, french-canadian wackiness to send to our friends up north.

*NPsummit, september 14-16 in milwaukee, WI. what is it? it’s a trail race and all-tribe extravaganza. for details and hype click here. #worldtakeover

*happy birthday to the city of orlando (143 years young)!

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every minute counts (ORL)

#angelface here. since i missed the first third of today’s workout (#alarmfail), i’m just gonna use my imagination:

fresh from multiple PRs during the warm up lap, the #rungang group gathered with the other tribe members under a sleek, air conditioned bubble that ray and stefano built out of pasta.

while waiting for dyani to alight from her la croix-powered hoverbike, everyone took the initiative and started doing all their make up homework (#gunsnbuns), while enjoying popsicles and hardly breaking a sweat.

once dyani arrived, welcomed the first-timers (woohoo!), and led the most perfect bounce ever (did we hear trumpets?), staci inquired, “the way the sun is rising over the lake, over clouds that are formed in the shape of a delicate squat jump… it feels like a good day for a burpee warmup! what do you think?”

so teams formed, balls were passed, and smiles pervaded the plaza level as everyone hoped that dawn would casually outburpee everyone with her astronaut moon-shoes and jump from dock to dock. with the warm up over, the group was ready for the main course… does that all sound about right?

i finally arrived and pushed each and every one through an all-new, gnarly, slimy, #minuteonminuteoff workout comprised of quick circuits of pushups, russian twists, hoistees, dips, leg throws, salsa lunges, and even more burpees… the tribe worked hard and left it all out there! some of you left more than others.

i must commend my co-leader dyani for handling this morning’s delay with grace and fierceness, and i’m proud of the group for attacking that crazy circuit and earning your wednesdays!

don’t forget that we’re fundraising for “canine companions” at chipotle on tuesday, july 31! details here:

https://www.facebook.com/events/180418652810008/?ti=icl

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with liberty, justice, and watermelons for all (ORL)

to make the most of this independence day holiday, we took a field trip over to neighboring winter park to #raceeverything at the track shack #watermelon5k race. we welcomed a few new faces and began the morning with our signature bounce. then we lined up for a mini workout: a little #dragrace where we set our zombies, froggies, and drinking birds free for a nice active warm up before the big dance.

after a not-so-bitter battle for “biggest registered team”, we cheered on the calvary orlando team who signed up nearly 100 racers to help raise funds for local military charities.

notes:

*two of our very own, arron and kyle, had the honor of carrying our nation’s flag during the national anthem before 3,000 racers lined up at the race start. congrats to everyone who showed up, cheered, and helped spread our trademarked november project fireworks all along the race course!

*don’t forget your july homework: it’s time for #BunsnGuns- on odd numbered days, 20 push-ups & 20 squats. and even numbered days, 20 triceps dips & 20 lunges. social media video contest to follow.

*hit up our social page on facebook for more totally rad events: https://www.facebook.com/groups/novemberprojectorl/

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beast mode (ORL)

when i heard that my esteemed co-leader dyani was going to be away on a sailboat this week, i thought it would be a great time to put my best #angelface forward and create a challenging, but simple, ladder workout i like to call the #beastmaker. it’s the kind of circuit that- if we’re doing it right, and being honest with ourselves- we’ll have spent 40 solid minutes engaging every muscle in our body (including the ones we use for smiling) by the time the last person rolls through that cheer tunnel.

and in ascending and descending multiples of five, we came together and unleashed our inner beasts with the only “downtime” being the familiar jog to and from the opposing docks. many of you might have been able to to go up to twenty and back down to five, multiple times. and a few of you modified the #beastmaker using the available benches or omitted the interstitial push ups. but however we finish the sequence, know that we leave the one hour we get together more hungry and more fierce than when we arrived. each time you show up and tap into your inner wild side, you earn the right to attack the rest of your wednesday with those good NP vibes.

yes, today’s air was thick with that wonderful florida humidity, and every one of us still drank it all in, even through the last #noweakcheeks burnout of the month: SALLY!

we welcomed some brave newbies, some brand new tribes (providence and newport, RI), and vinnie from NP philly (who will help lead you- if you #justshowup- through a special pop-up workout this friday in winter park. details below).

notes:

*CENT WARS pop-up workout on friday at 611am in central park (in winter park) by the harp fountain. enjoy a second helping of NP this week! tell your friends, and bring a shirt to tag with the special ¢ tag! you can find the facebook event here. and the google maps pin here.

*yearbook photos: don’t forget, next wednesday (june 6) is #globalrunningday! we will be taking yearbook photos to the theme of “tacky tourists”, so get your #grassrootsgear, fanny packs, churros, family t-shirts, and ponchos out for your very own digital keepsake!

*last day of #mayhomework: keep posting your push up videos and we will award two winners based upon the most unique, liked, and commented submissions on the social group and/or the main NP orlando page!

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reverse your thinking (ORL)

we may groan at the thought of doing something unpleasant or unfamiliar. or we can approach and embrace the opportunity to improve ourselves, our city, and the people around us. this morning’s workout at baldwin park brought out the best in everyone who was willing to try something new. and who doesn’t like surprises?

today’s uno card deck kept us moving, kept us thinking, and kept us smiling.

anticipating what (lethal) combination of spicy exercises we would perform by drawing two cards and following them up with a lap along the boardwalk gives us multiple chances to sweat and soak in another magnificent florida sunrise. grimacing our way through burpees and bananamans was a shared experience that jumpstarts the day- and hearing some great feedback about the uno workout gets me and dyani super pumped to create more devious ways to challenge everyone (to whatever that next level might be). these vibes are enough to last the entire week, so go forth and spread that positivity out into your communities!

notes:

*y’all crushed the #noweakcheeks burnout today! there’s more where that came from.

*all the #mayhomework video posts bring me so much joy. and by holding each other accountable, we can only get stronger and more motivated to get all the way to 41 pushups by the end of the month. so keep ’em coming! (and for those who haven’t seen the posts, check out the #np_ORL secret social group on facebook for those and much more info on events, races, and additional meetups)

remember, we’re challenging ourselves to perform a set number [the date+10] of pushups every day until may 31.

*NPsummit is happening on september 14-16 in wisconsin. it’s the ultimate party/race/gathering with your fellow NP compatriots. you can assemble a group of 4 and sign up for the marathon relay, or level up and take on a 5k, 10, half, marathon, 50k, or 50 miler on some amazing trails. more team, flight, and camping logistics can be found on this google doc. use discount code “NP20” at the ECS registration site here.

and a huge congrats to allison on her big wedding this weekend! we can’t thank you enough for the love and dedication you’ve put into this tribe, and we wish you and matt the very best on your special day.

xoxo