Author: Holly Reiland

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Reclaiming My Lyme: A Tale of Transitional Badassery- A Guest Blog by Anika Taylor

Once upon a time I was a badass…and then one day I wasn’t anymore.

There is a lot of discussion and some dissension in the medical world about Lyme Disease. There are different perspectives on what symptoms it can or can’t cause or how long they can or can’t continue after treatment. I am not any kind of expert so I can’t say that I know what the deal actually is. What I do know is that I used to put in 6-10 workouts/week, I used to flip 400 lb tires, and I used to run sprints on treadmills while they were off, pushing the belt til it complained. I used to love exercise so much, I married it…and by that I mean I became a Certified Personal Trainer. I took so much pride in being the short, squishy girl who didn’t look like much but could out-burpee the best of them. read more

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MSP: Winter Gear Drive for Mile in My Shoes

This September, November Project participants from around the globe have been finding ways to lift up their communities, cities and countries to help make our world a better place, beyond just getting folks out of bed to climb hills and stairs during the dark hours of the morning. November Project Minneapolis will be contributing to this global movement on a local level by collecting new and lightly used winter running gear to benefit the runners of Mile in My Shoes (MiMS).

What is Mile in My Shoes?

Mile in My Shoes brings together residents of Minneapolis with diverse backgrounds through the power of running. Based in homeless shelters and transitional housing facilities, MiMS serves as a catalyst for community-building, health and wellness promotion, leadership and self-efficacy, and spurring personal and political engagement within the non-homeless community. Through running with one another, MiMS’s resident members and run mentors not only find common ground, but begin to learn from and reach out to one another for support. As they transform themselves, they transform one another. If you would like to learn more about or get involved with Mile in My Shoes, check out their Facebook book page and website for information and opportunities.

How can November Project members contribute to the Winter Gear Drive?

We will be collecting gear donations at weekly Wednesday and Friday morning workouts (

6:27 a.m. – 7:15 a.m. read more

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What a Difference a Year Makes: Guest Blog by Josh Leibfried

Check out the blog below by the tall, strong, animated, and incredible November Project Minneapolis Tribesmen, Josh Leibfried! Josh celebrates his one year anniversary with #NP_MSP this month and we couldn’t be more thrilled. Read on! What a difference a year makes.  I would not have dreamed of waking up at 5:30am to bike to a running workout 12 months ago.  I certainly would have scoffed at the possibility of getting up every Wednesday and Friday for 52 weeks, no matter the weather and no matter the temperature, going to meet up with the group at November Project Minneapolis. Last August I was unhappy.  A number of friends were moving away from the Twin Cities metro area, I had just ended a relationship, and there were some family issues weighing down my steps.  I was badly in need of good company. Enter November Project.  My friend Lauren suggested I join a running club.  Not just any club.  The one where these people get up early and chant and have a worldwide group.  I was skeptical.  For years I have only been working out alone.  When I ran, which was rare, it was at most for 40 minutes. I was hesitant at how I would fit in with not only a fitness group but a running group.  Lauren insisted “Just go once.  If you absolutely hate it you won’t have to go again.”  To bring home the point, she spoke to my cheapskate side. “It’s free, Josh.  What do you have to lose.” And so I dragged myself out of bed at 6am on a muggy Wednesday morning in August.  Nervousness pulsing through me as the leader Ben had the amorphous mass of people all wearing smiles and clad in running gear form a circle.  Then he asked the dreaded question…Was anyone new to November Project and if so would they take a step into the circle.  After cautiously stepping forward and weakly stating my name I was surprised to be greeted with clapping and a few cheers.  An hour later, I was completely exhausted.  Remembering it started with a bounce and ended with sweaty hugs.  Most of the middle bit was taken up by running hills with a few burpees thrown in for fun.  As I left, I knew not only that I would be back but that I was hooked. It was not until I started writing this piece I asked myself why I have continued to go to November Project week after week.  Even going so far as to attend NP DC while on vacation on the East Coast.  To someone with no familiarity with NP the obvious answer might be it was about the exercise.  Or perhaps I am a morning person. Or it’s the only time I can fit working out into my busy schedule.  Maybe I just love burpees at the top of 12 flights of stairs.  All close but not quite. But for me the answer is the people.  There is a camaraderie in this group I have never experienced before.  We show up to the workouts because we want to be there.  The trading high fives on hills, sweaty hugs, words of encouragement, post-workout coffee, this is November Project in my eyes.  The reason I put on running tights, shorts, windbreakers, shirt, long sleeve T, sweatshirt, hat, a set mittens, a set of gloves, and a buff an hour before dawn in -15F to freeze then sweat my ass off on a hill is that I get to see the people I have been lucky enough to know and become friends with.  From the bounce to the final second of the last plank I’m having a blast with a group of people who are accepting, affable, and awesome.

Josh Leibfried

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Guest Blog by Somer D: Back of the Pack (but still showing up)

I hadn’t been to November Project in a few weeks. The first workout I missed because I was busy, or I overslept, or some other mundane excuse that no one wants to hear. But to tell the truth, all the subsequent workouts I missed were because I was scared. Let me explain.

I’ve never considered myself an athlete. I stayed pretty active as a kid, but through my middle and high school years 10 times out of 10 you’d be more likely to find me rehearsing for the school play than running on the track. Given that background, I think it surprises a lot of people when they hear I’ve joined a fitness group that prides itself on doing seriously hardcore workouts at too-early o’clock, even in extreme weather conditions. read more

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Guest Blog by Amy R-Clark: Do you feel good? I do now.

Reflections on 2 year of November Project, from That Older Chick Who Doesn’t Seem to Like Shirts.

Wait…isn’t this how the buffs are worn?

I don’t remember exactly when I first heard about November Project. I think it may have been a convergence of comments from my badass trail runner/pathologist/puntastic friend Dr. Robyn Reed (“I’m going to run stairs with the kids!” she would announce periodically), and allusions from Boston’s peerless Drew Messinger, host of the Run Nine Million Miles Between Thanksgiving and Christmas challenge that I took part in a few years back. read more

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Guest Blog by Rob Leduc: Carless in Minneapolis

Whether you’re just scoping out November Project on the social media, a newbie having rocked your
first few workouts, or a burpee-loving hoisty-addicted stair-sprinting regular, you know that November
Project is about two things: #FreeFitness and Community. We use our environment as a roving partygym
spreading the #SweatyHugs and #Positivity throughout our cities and in the process transform
ourselves into #badass #buttsofNP. read more

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The Art of Listening

WARNING: This Blog doesn’t have photos. 

This past weekend, I attempted another race–only one week after finishing The North Face Endurance Challenge Series 50k in MA at the 2017 November Project #5ummit. A whole new hype. More traveling (by car this time). Another race to break my body down. Or so I thought. read more

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Bittersweet Symphony

This morning was filled with a hodge-podge of feelings. Many were excited about the awesome opportunity to try out some lululemon gear at the workout. Lulu had their #thetesttruck onsite which was pretty sweet. This little truck is clear and plays music while housing a treadmill for product testing. Catch it several other locations in the Twin Cities this month! read more

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#PlazaBurger

You know it’s a good morning when there are too many newbies to count (it was roughly 6). The MSP crew is getting bigger and stronger every week! And thanks to our in-house photographer extraordinaire, Carly Danek, every single one of ya has a fresh yearbook photo.

We painted with all the colors of this wind yesterday, donning our favorite color, or whichever one dominates our closets. Individually, you all looked fierce and super coordinated, but collectively, we looked….like a rainbow. read more

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#BIGNews Recap

It’s been a while since MSP has blogged. A long while. So long that leadership has shifted and nobody’s been around to hem and haw, ramp and rage about it. Until now..

On May 3rd, Ben(jamin) Bauch and I brought on a third co-leader by the name of Natalie Heneghan. When Ben and I were thinking of the best possible person to bring on for this incredible opportunity, both of our minds jumped right to Natalie. She’s a fierce athlete, having started November Project Minneapolis’s subdivision known as #NP_Tri. In the late Spring, Summer, and early Fall, you can find Natalie and her recruits #justshowingup to Cedar Lake for a 5:30am swim from one side to the other and back only to hop onto their bikes and ride across town for the workout which serves as the last leg. read more