Free Fitness Movement. All you need to do is show up!
You’re supposed to learn something new every day. And today I learned that Sarah Ting tells really scary stories.
Amidst my failure today in dismissing everyone before hearing the great history of Stowe Lake/Huntington Falls (also, not taking a waterfall photo? I must have blacked out), Sarah reminded me that she had a story to share about the place.
I missed you guys! I couldn’t stop smiling today.
While traverbaling my way through Boston and DC I got to visit the NP Mecca of Harvard Stadium. I’ve been involved in November Project for almost 3 full years now and this was my first visit to the steps. I have to say, I wasn’t disappointed. Emily, and the Chris brothers led a badass workout called Raceman. Run a section as hard as you can, racing whomever is next to you: fast, slow, tall short, NP-lifer, or newbie. Didn’t matter. If you won, you moved over a section. If you lost you moved the opposite direction.
It’s not always easy living in the most beautiful city in the NP Universe. With it comes certain pressures. Like take the best photos. Just last week B+B hit me up and asked a serious question: “Why aren’t your photos more epic-er?”
That’s why we have InstaGang.
There are a few jerseys in the rafters for this illustrious group. These folks are in the InstaGang Hall of Fame for a body of work spanning years of finding just the right filter and hashtag. You’ve all seen the handles @mariseca, @hittingthehighnotes, and @saminal_. Legends.
There are some mornings where it’s just unfair how amazing this city is. I honestly feel bad for people who stay in bed and NP tribes in less scenic places (that’s like all the others pretty sure).
Seriously, look at these photos. These were take on Laura’s phone for goodness sake.
This morning a Strava film crew came to November Project San Francisco. They filmed us running up and down the steps, crushing burpees and all kinds of other good shit. What they don’t know is that they’re going to get some ridiculous stuff when they go back and look at the film. Here’s how I envision the conversation going in the editing room:
If you haven’t yet, get yourself out for a Donut Monday. It’s the first Monday after PR Wednesday. So basically it’s the first Monday of the month. I don’t know what it is about these magical days but the positivity flows like rainbow sprinkles out of the container without the cap on.
You know when your parents used to go away when you were little, even if just for a few hours, and you had the reign of the house? That’s how I felt this morning. And I decided to have a party. Either that or I was invited to the party–very unclear. Regardless, we jammed this morning. We fulfilled our quarterly quota of going to one place every 3 months that we’re allowed to be loud. Make sure corporate knows we can be loud, Laura.
Today was Jason Levy’s 99th NPSF workout in a row. Let’s think about that for a second. There are 3 workouts a week so that’s 33 consecutive weeks of workouts. Have you even brushed your teeth for 33 weeks in a row? Didn’t think so. On my drive home this morning I was also realizing shamefully that while Jason sits on the precipice of greatness, my own personal streak of workouts is…1. Yikes.
There’s a lot of mystery to our fair city of San Francisco. Some people live in constant fear of the next big earthquake. There’s bars that have stood the stand of time and restaurants that still serve recipes from the turn of the century. Man I feel like a storyteller.
One of the biggest misconceptions is about the more famous curvy street in San Francisco. The one that tourists wait hours in line to drive down and snap selfies on. Lombard Street. So overhyped. We’ve all seen it. It’s over before you know it. Buttt, there’s one street better. That’s Vermont Street and that’s where we were today. Officially the curviest street in SF (look it up!) and one of the sweetest hills we’ve got.
This morning was PR day. Some of you stayed home. And boy did you miss out. Shirts were tagged and PRs were dropped.
Speaking of PRs, all hail the new king, Simon Schmidt. Originally from NPSD but adopted into this faster group, Simon threw down a new PR of 16:55. The first person to break the 17-minute barrier and 15 seconds better than our native Irish son. Paddy to his credit is excited to have a reason to get off the landing and workout with the group. I think I speak for the group when I say hopefully the burpees help bulk him up a month from now.