Author: Jake

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Meet Sally, a professional baker and a positively great human (DCA)

Today we present the newest recipient of the Positivity Award, Sally Roach! What amazes us about Sally is her thoughtfulness around helping the NPDC community. When we announced that we would be celebrating our fifth birthday last fall, Sally — an incredible baker at The Hamilton — immediately reached out, unsolicited, and offered to bake us a cake for the birthday. There were A LOT of people at that event; we didn’t finish the cake until the end. That was one BIG CAKE. And then when we had Show & Tell at REI last month, Sally baked hundreds of cookies to help keep folks warm and content during the outdoor event. Those gestures, totally unnecessary but greatly appreciated, plus Sally’s constant good energy and exuberance at workouts are why she received the PA. OK, I’ve written long already. Get to know Sally below and find her at a workout! read more

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Positively Phil — meet our newest Positivity Award recipient

We say this often, but it really is true — when we give out the Positivity Award, it’s usually overdue. Such is the case for the newest PA recipient, Phil, who commutes from Annapolis for every workout. Phil is a family man, an embodiment of the community that he runs and smiles with, and an all-out great person. He personifies how NP truly brings together people from different backgrounds, different stages of life, and different physical places! OK, I’ll let Phil speak now. If you haven’t yet gotten to know him, I hope this helps — and introduce yourself at the next workout, too! read more

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Ron (A)Batcher, man of Abvember (DC)

Four November Project DC tribe members partner on wet concrete outside Audi Field. Each person is stacked on top of the person below them like a plank sandwich. Ron Batcher is on the bottom of the plank pile. The tribe members are smiling and laughing.

I feel guilty for not writing 25,000 words about this guy. After all, he did 25,000 crunches — in one day.

Yes, that is not a typo. In the days leading up to last month, a challenge was posted to the November Project universe — Abvember. The premise was pretty simple: challenge yourself to do at least 10 minutes of planking one day, 10 sets of 10 push-ups the next day, and then 10 sets of 10 crunches the following day. And then repeat the rotation 10 times throughout the month’s 30 days (or however many days you could).
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Let’s talk winter (DC)

There comes a time in every NPer’s life where you’re going to start experiencing urges. Urges to pull the covers up, to stay inside, to not show up, to disappear. Yesterday might have been that day for you. It was COLD, the first feels-freezing day of the season. The group photos — ehh, they were a bit small. Some folks were missing. Those urges… read more

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Chris Jolly embraces positivity and is pretty fashionable, too (DCA)

We can’t say enough great things about Chris Jolly, who received the Positivity Award last week. Jolly inspires and pushes those around him every week, is ubiquitous in the DC running scene, and is arguably the most fashionable NPDC runner (watch out, Dan Martin!). But enough from us. Get to know Chris from this Q&A and find him (and the PA) at the next workout! (PS — follow his adventures with the PA on Snapchat at @npdc_positivity).

1) How, when and where were you introduced to November Project?
I originally saw the runners from NP super early in the morning, as I was heading to Tenleytown. At first glance, I thought was a boot camp class or some other workout happening in front of Lincoln Memorial. Afterwards, I saw it posted on RWB’s social page. From there, the attempts I made to show up were failures — failures because I wasn’t focused and determined to get up that early. So someway, I made it up in my mind to make it there. I don’t know what I was thinking other than, “Lets see what this is all about!”

2) What do you remember about your first workout?
What I remember most about my first workout (August 2016) is (former co-leader) Kaelan introduced me and another guy as the two loners who didn’t get invited or had friends accompanying us. We stood in the middle of the cirlce, and people welcomed us by chanting our names over and over. Quite surprising, but I enjoyed it. I also remember telling myself during the workout, “I’m not as fit of a runner as I thought,” and running along the never-ending lengthy reflecting pool over and over. I also remember ending the workout, and saying to myself I have to come back and do better and this is exactly where I should be.

https://www.facebook.com/NovemberProjectDC/photos/a.651616268362207/651617588362075/?type=3&theater


3) What motivates you to keep you coming back?
The photos! Also, to be honest, it’s the community, the intensity of the workouts, the drive from others, the competition within myself to do better, the way we are #weatherproof, the accountability of verbals, chasing the top-hat on PR day #futuregoals, and running with people within my pace group and challenging them and myself to push harder.

4) What does winning the Positivity Award mean and represent to you? read more

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Doubleheader of the Summer! (DCA)

Folks, July 21 is going to be big. Like, DOUBLEHEADER BIG.

That’s right, on what will surely be summer’s hottest Saturday, NPDC is bringing a double dose of special events to the table. And we hope to see you for both. Here’s the lineup:

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  • WHAT: Race rowing boats up & down the Anacostia River & then BBQ riverside!
  • WHERE: Anacostia Community Boathouse (1900 M St. SE, Washington DC 20003)
  • WHEN: Saturday, July 21, 3:30-7pm

    • read more

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    Meet Sarah, you’ll SMILE (DCA)

    We said it this morning, and it bears repeating here — Sarah Waleszczak embodies everything that we love about November Project. She wears her grassroots gear with pride. She brings an infectious smile to every workout. She doles out A+ hugs. She jumps into every workout with a zest we should all strive for. She even laughs at our jokes!

    OK, I’ll stop blabbering and let her talk for herself. Meet Sarah here (and at next Monday’s workout!). Follow her and the PA on Snapchat: npdc_positivity

    1) How and where were you introduced to November Project?
    I was introduced to NP DC by a couple different avenues … Jake, Steve, and Steph Wolfram kept mentioning it at soccer on Saturday mornings as I was their referee (recently dubbed “the best referee in District Sports” without an ounce of bias). I also started dating Dustin last year and he made sure I actually came to a workout, bikesharing across the Memorial Bridge on a muggy ass day in May. The rest is history.

    2) What do you remember about your first workout or thinking at/after your first workout?
    My first workout was at Lincoln and it was HARD. I was just coming back from a broken ankle and hadn’t been in the cardio game for a while. I remember the stairs being a lot, but I made a couple friends, notably Carter Henderson, as he stayed with me and did all the talking (I was wheezing) running around the memorial. I was also unseasonably sore that Thursday/Friday. Jump lunges are good for the butt, but are a pain in the butt.

    3) What motivates you to keep you coming back?
    The smiles and the hugs are definitely up there, but let’s face it – a lot of people from NP grew up playing some sort of sport, and that sense of competition never really goes away. For me, it’s competition with myself. I remember my first Meridian Hill workout thinking I never wanted to come to a Monday workout again because of how hard 15th Street was. The second time, it wasn’t quite as bad. Now, instead of just trying to make it up the hill, I try to chase or beat people up the hill, and I relish in that feeling of getting to the top completely breathless to do some spice. 

    The other thing is that people are just so dang nice. You know when you’re running alone, training for a race and it gets boring, or you’re having a bad running day, or you just don’t wanna be doing it? But then race day comes and whenever there are people cheering (no matter how weakly), it amps you up until you forget that 10 miles have already passed? That’s NP. Constant cheers of, ‘You got this, we got this, stay with me.’ We are our own cheering section.

    Oh, plus Dustin. Whether he’ll admit it or not (he’ll insist that I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to even if it’s good for me haha), he’s been my accountabilibuddy SO many times, especially in the winter. There was a period that I didn’t show up because it was too cold or whatever, and he did. I’m a little embarrassed at how jealous I was, and still am, seeing pictures of him or any of my friends at NP when I could have gone, but chose to stay in bed. I don’t even have to workout with Dustin (cough … I can’t because he’s too fast), but just getting me out of bed is all I need. And the feeling once the workout is done? Priceless.

    4) What does winning the Positivity Award mean and represent to you?
    First of all – it was unexpected! I was really surprised until Steve said “this person laughs at ALL of my jokes” (guilty), and then Maria said “Bills Mafia” and I knew it was for real for real.

    The Positivity Award represents a lot for me right now. I’m struggling a bit with stress- working full time, reffing, Ubering, and grad school. I recently let that stress get to me a couple times, but when I’m at NP, I don’t think about any of that. Possibly because I’m deliriously tired, but most definitely because I’m around other happy people and it cycles those smiles and laughs right out of me. I’m usually pretty good at masking negativity in everyday life, but at NP, I don’t have to pretend. It’s genuine joy, and I feel extremely lucky that I can emit some of those positive vibes onto others three mornings a week.

    5) How do you explain NP to your Mom? read more

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    Positive together — meet Anne & Jason (DCA)

    I met Jason and Anne the Friday before the Marine Corps Marathon in late October at Canal Park for our Friday workout. I welcomed them. I tried to remember their names (it usually takes me two to three times, TBH). I figured, them having just moved to DC, I’d see them again soon (turns out, it was already their second workout and I saw them again Friday at the post-MCM party). Since then, I’ve seen this new NP Power Couple over 50 times because Valentines Day was the first workout they missed. The first! They have yet to miss a social event. They’re regulars at post-workout coffees. They’re UBIQUITOUS! And as much as they love each other, they are always striving to meet others at each workout.

    Folks, when we talk about how NP allows one (or a couple) to join and embrace and become fully engaged in a community, Anne and Jason embody this. And I have no doubt that just because they received this stick, this oar, this Positivity Award, they will stop coming consistently.

    OK, I’ll shut up now. Get to meet them in writing, compare their answers (what is this, The Newlywed Game??), and then introduce yourself at a workout!

    1) How and where were you introduced to November Project?
    J:  We were in DC for an advocacy event and while Anne and I were out running, someone from NP came up to her and said we should join and she even showed me a photo. We had never heard of it before but there wasn’t one in San Antonio so I kind of forgot about it. Then, I heard Brogan’s interview on Rich Roll’s podcast and I really wished there was a tribe in San Antonio. Fast forward and I accepted a job in DC, so while we were in the process of moving, I thought about how now we would actually be able to check it out.

    The day A & J discovered NP!

    A: We were in DC on an advocacy trip we did each year, and decided we’d get our run in around the National Mall on Wednesday morning that week. This was back in 2016. I was running past Lincoln when a guy ran up next to me to stop me and introduce NP and invite me to the next workout. I remember taking a photo of all the people running up and down the stairs and thinking it must be so cool to workout there at the memorial. (Turns out it IS really cool.) There isn’t a tribe in SA, (SA has a big after work/evening running scene) so I didn’t really think about it again until we were all moved in here; and agreed we would come see what it was about in person. (Turns out it’s pretty awesome in person.)

    Oh! I am pretty darn sure it was Tom who stopped me back then, too. Thanks!!! ️
    (and I found said picture: April 13, 2016)

    2) What do you remember about your first workout or thinking at/after your first workout?
    J: It was the Push Up Challenge on Wednesday. I remember the bounce and how I went from sleepy, you know having just moved cross country, to getting pumped to workout! I knew immediately that this was the group for us, an energetic positive group working out in the morning.

    A: It was a Wednesday and that first workout there were lots of hugs and SO MANY PUSH-UPS! The workout was when there was a push-up challenge with another tribe. I couldn’t believe how encouraging and strong everyone was, and I knew I wanted to be apart of it. We hadn’t even been here a week and I was stoked about the prospect of waking up early to join you guys again.

    3) What motivates you to keep you coming back?
    J: Well, it is no secret I love to run but running and working out with this great group of people is even better. I love the idea of being weatherproof and no matter what the weather is, everyone is in a great mood and ready to workout. I love the team atmosphere at NP, everyone is high-fiving and encouraging each other, it is a great and fun way to stay accountable. Oh and the coffee afterward is not bad either.

    A: The bounce, the people, & the workouts! On the mornings that I’ve been sore or extra tired, the bounce is when my mood changes and I’m so happy we showed up. The people to push myself with and to laugh with, and that post-workout feeling is always good.

    4) What does winning the Positivity Award mean and represent to you? read more

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    Bring back the verbal! (DCA)

    NOTE: Verbal for Friday HERE (OK, now read on as to why you should)

    What in the wide world of November Project DC has happened to The Verbal?

    If I were to deliver a State of NP DC address right now atop the Lincoln stairs (no, not the marble ones) — and as a reminder, this is not happening, and thank goodness for that — my opening would tackling this vexing question. For those new to the NP world, The Verbal is a commitment that you will attend a November Project workout. It used to be as popular as the “Big Andy 20-burpee Wednesday.” It’s not anymore. That’s a problem!  

    Here’s the official definition as taken from the glossary of NP The Book:

    A verbal commitment to attend a future workout. Most commonly done via word-of-mouth, verbals can also be “dropped” online, through a text message, or through a handwritten love note. Giving a verbal is like swearing on all graves covered in holy scriptures and future loved children and grandchildren that you’ll attend. Do the right thing, don’t break a verbal. Ever. If someone says, “Yeah, I think I’ll check out November Project this week,” you can force them by saying, “Is that a verbal?” Then show them the We Missed You section. This is “hunting” or “fishing” for a verbal.

    The book makes it sound really scary. It’s not (hey, they gotta sell books somehow #SexySells). Rather, I reached out to a few of the remaining regular verbal-ers to ask what’s up and why you should join them in helping to bring back this endangered NPDC species. Hear them out.

    —————

    Emma Yourd, frequent verbaler
    The NP #verbal is a lost art. I remember when I started coming to NP and people would comment on photo albums “#verbal” and then tag a bunch of their friends. And I couldn’t WAIT until I had enough NP friends who cared to see me at workouts and would peer pressure me into verbaling. A #verbal is a commitment to yourself, your runpool, and your friends that you’re gonna show up to the workout, and that you’re gonna put 100% into that workout. I #verbal so that our run pool can plan our route and meet up spots, so my friends from other parts of DC know I’ll be at the workout, and to pressure (in a very positive way) friends who are on the fence into dropping their own #verbal! As Lembo so eloquently put it: “why wouldn’t you want to give yourself and your friends one more reason to just show up?” read more