Free Fitness Movement. All you need to do is show up!
There are a lot of reasons to #justshowup!
But let’s not kid ourselves, it is definitely easier to show up between April and October. We get to wake up with the sun, sometimes the outdoors are warmer than indoors for those with the privilege of AC, you don’t need as much time to get ready since there are fewer layers to put on…you get the picture.
This morning was all about channeling your inner animal.
Your coyotes calls served their purpose, alerting those who parked up at Government House that we were meeting at the bottom of the hill.
You made tracks as you channeled your inner rabbit, frog, duck and bear strength.
Then your inner cheetah came out as you sped around the open field.
Have you ever fallen asleep before seeing the end of a movie? Or have you ever gone to a surprise party but arrived late and missed surprising the guest of honour? If you have you might have felt similar to how I felt today when I had to rush off to help solve a work problem.
It was a bummer to leave. One, I love starting my week with our community. Your energy, hard work, smiles, hugs, and positivity fuel me. Two, I was really looking forward to this morning’s workout. Selfishly, as I was planning it yesterday I was choosing exercises and a workout that I needed myself. A combination of strength and functional exercises and a little running…all of my favourites!
Just before I close my eyes at night, after checking to ensure that my alarm has been correctly set for the 5th time, I reflect on at least 5 things for which I am grateful. It is a practice that I have done for quite some time, finding it nice to end my day thinking of the blessings I have, in spite of whatever else might be going on in my life. I try to finish each day with a smile on my face.
What an amazing way to kick off October Mondays! Way to show up for your community and give it your al! First, we howled like monkeys, or maybe that was just me. And then we progressed through 30 exercises in 30 minutes…non-stop!
💥 BOOM 💥
Special shout out to Rob for getting us to channel our inner animal and Nadim for his precise coaching of step forwards.
For as much hype that Commonwealth Stairs garners during the light season, we cannot forget where our stair adventures all began. The Royal Glenora Stairs have welcomed November Project since 2013. I think on our first visit 8 people showed up and I was pumped!!
They’ve been there for us during the first summer months, all the winter months, rainy days, and mosquito fest days. They welcome us back with open arms just as the sun starts to sleep in. And they are relentless! It doesn’t seem to matter how much I train through the summer, those stairs are still hard and make my legs and lungs burn. But wow…it feels so good!
Looks like Nadim worked his photo editing magic this morning to create light. I’m pretty sure that it wasn’t that light out when the picture was taken. Also…did he photoshop Andrew in there? Or has he actually returned?!
I wondered this morning if my eyes were still blurry when I saw that it was zero degrees. Zero…it took me some time to remember what to wear when water can freeze. But the chill wasn’t an illusion, it was a reality. A reality that after today I will try to speak of no more.
It is the little things that make up the big reason.
This morning there were a lot of little things that were shared that reminded me of the big reason I show up each morning to sweat with this amazing community.
The bounce today was LOUD…like really LOUD 👊
One of our kiddos has her kindergarten Terry Fox run today and was excited to wear her grassroots gear to school 👊
It was back to class for NP Canada this morning. With Math, English, Social Studies and Biology on the timetable, you all earned top marks for participation and effort!
If you missed class today – here’s a recap & you can make it up on your own time ✔
We kicked off the morning with our leader’s welcome announcements, aka chant around the Tree of Knowledge before heading to Math class. With a couple of rolls of the die, you worked both your mental math skills and your physical fitness. Kudos to all of the keener students who rolled a 6 for burpees!
And you did! Some of this morning’s runners didn’t even realize that they showed up until they happened upon us as they were about to start their run along River Valley Road!
This morning you made that conscious choice to start your Holiday Monday by gifting yourself with a 6K run and by being present for others. I appreciate each and every one of you who chose to show up. Special thanks to Derek for showing up for me at 5AM to help me mark the turnaround and to Andi who chose to ride her bike and sweep the course, ensuring that we didn’t leave anyone behind.