Free Fitness Movement. All you need to do is show up!
SOME QUICK HITS FROM THIS MORNING:
#Stairsforbreakfast lives once more. Any couples retreat with a staircase is a good one in my book. I found myself going “man I missed this” over and over while climbing a deceptively high bleacher. It’s nice to be back on familiar ground in a brand new setting.
But with the threat of never running such a course for time and as a tribe again, what was the goal? Seeing how there’s no comparison to be made in the future, why charge forth and do our best? Why get up so damn early to this? In this case, I think the answer is in the question: because. We get up because we get up. We run because we run and we push ourselves because that’s what the f$*# we do.
People often ask me for reasons why NP is so early or why we run so much or why we don’t do it later or why I don’t just swim or why why why why why why why why WHY WHY WHYW HWhwhwhwohwywhwywhyw!!! I say “BECAUSE you silly asshole. Because we do.” There’s a lot of reasons why things are structured the way they are here at NP but at the end of the day the best answer is what they taught you to say to deal with inquisitive bullies: “because”.
Today you all could have taken it easy. You could have been satisfied with whatever you got for a time and you could have even not shown up but you did. In fact, as time keeper at 6:30 I noticed that people were finishing as hard as they could but they didn’t seem to give a damn about their times because the only gage they needed were themselves. And that’s how we roll.
Do great LA. You always do.
NEWS
NEXT MONTH Wednesdays will be at Drake Stadium at UCLA, 5:27 and/or 6:27 am. Parking sucks but we can figure it out. Pins will be dropped.
THIS FRIDAY we’ll be at the La Brea Tar Pits, 6:27 am. Pin is on the tracker.
CONGRATS to Jesse and Raleigh for being the only two to enter our video contest and therefore winning entries to the LA Marathon
HOMEWORK for February is to encourage a stranger either on a run or in a class or wherever. Spread NP love to everyone and maybe you’ll even find an in to invite them to what we do. Don’t be creepy about it but engage those around you and keep recuriting.
BUFFS will continue to be at workouts. Email novemberprojectLAX@gmail.com with questions or to get on the wait list for the leftovers.
That’s what I kept saying to myself over and over this crisp LA morning. As I watched the tribe push themselves and each other, the ninjas never stopped.
Runners can turn into walkers, but they never stopped. Runners could be trotting the whole time but you know your legs hurt more each time up those hills… but ninjas never stop. And even if you needed a quick break to catch your breath and get some water (important things), you got right back out there because it wasn’t time to be done yet. Because ninjas never stop.
FROM MAGGIE AKA NEW LEADER LADY BOSS –
WHAT A MORNING!!!!! I am always proud to be part of this tribe, but this morning renewed that sentiment within me like a fresh rainfall pouring over the land. We’ve had a few chances to prove our #weatherproof-ness lately, but this morning as I drove through the storm toward the Observatory I couldn’t keep the questions from popping into my head:
To #justshowup at Drake Stadium was a risk that we took as co-leaders and a risk that you all took with us. Your adaptability and excitement about exploring new places has given us confidence as leaders that you can’t measure. Part of what our job is is to insure a good vibe and that takes participation from you all. Needless to say, vibes thus far in 2017 have been epic and we’re off to a good start.
Drake Stadium is home to some pretty amazing history in the running world. Hosting numerous PAC-10/12 Conference meets means a high number of amazing atheletes have graced the lanes of alternating blues. UCLA at large has an illustrious athletic history that needs no introduction either. To bring our tribe to such a mecca of athletic achievement is an honor and to run some friggin stairs again made me remember some of the good old days back before #byebyebowlie.
I can see a new energy in the group. I can see some new faces and new excitement. There are new goals at stake in the tribe and it’s our duty to help each other achieve them. Talk to one another, share your athletic hopes for 2017. Maybe you want to hit an epic time in a 10k, maybe you want to finish your first half marathon, maybe you want to complete 10 push-ups without stopping. Whatever it is, we can be there for one another. We can take that collective risk to #justshowup for one another and be committed to one another as more than just drinking buddies.
I think Nike should be jealous of #justshowup because it represents something more than just completing a task like “Just Do It” does. Showing up takes character, showing up takes commitment and showing up takes the resolve to put previous ideas aside for a bit and bring a full heart of hope to whatever it is that you’ve chosen to #justshowup for.
We #justshowup for our tribe and for the health and well being of every person in it. Let’s share that philosophy with the world and maybe they’ll #justshowup themselves.
Do great LA.
NEWS
SUNRISE 6K, FRIDAY JAN 20 5:27 and/or 6:27 am @ Santa Monica Pier
Goodness gracious, that felt good.
The Griffith Observatory rules. It’s our home for (at least) the next month and it gave us a very clear promise this morning: that it does. not. fuck. around. There were so many room for activities. That hill is a tough son of a gun. DAT VIEW DOE, RIGHT!? If this morning was any indication of how 2017 is going to go then buckle up, we’re in for a wild ride.
I’m not really sure what else to say that hasn’t already been said.
So we’ll keep this one nice and simple.
Locations change, but the tribe doesn’t. It will always be free, challenging, and a little weird. Just the way we like it.
But what really makes the tribe strong are all of you. So keep showing up, keep recruiting, and keep doing great, LA.
It was so foggy up at the top of Runyon Canyon this morning that you could barely see fifteen feet in front of you. Combine that with the wind and spitting rain, and for the second weekend in a row the tribe got a chance to be #weatherproof. For the second week in a row, they did not disappoint or back down from it.
So here are some facts:
Today was our second to last workout ever at the Hollywood Bowl. I say that definitively this time because, as I said during announcements, we make up the rules and we’re making a little tweak to the plan. But as always, we have you all in mind and how to best approach this journey we’re about to head off on. We’re going to be leaving the Bowl for good when 2017 starts. We’re going to be treating the next few months of Wednesday locations as “auditions”, as to whether or not they would be a good new home for us. This means testing out a PR day at that location. We’ll still have some kind of PR something to do every month so we can keep ourselves accountable and setting goals, but there will also be a workout that would feasibly be PR day if we stayed for good.
As we were in the car after the workout, Ben started talking to me about a singular seal that was discovered somewhere around Russia, or Japan, or somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. I got a little lost during that part. This seal was a funny looking kinda fella, all orange fur with bright blue eyes. I believe it’s even called the Ginger Seal.