Free Fitness Movement. All you need to do is show up!
A good (and bright) morning to you all!
Although November can be a dark and dreary time of year, this morning was anything but. For the first time in the last month or so, we were fortunate enough to actually able to SEE the stairs while running up and down (and cursing) them. Not sure if it’s better or worse to have a clear vision of just how many more stairs there are to go until you reach the top… but either way, at least your smiling and friendly faces were visible!
The very first point in November Project’s community agreements is “come as you are” and, while this is ALWAYS true, it just happened to be a bit extra entertaining today. This morning, “come as you are” included a chef, a bear, a red panda, a police officer, a security guard, a lumberjack, Boo, a devil, a cat, superwoman, and various tutus and colourful hair accessories that were… too creative to be labelled? All these creatures (and more!) lunged, zombie-walked, crab-crawled, jump-squatted, tricep-dipped, pushed-up, wood-chopped, and otherwise were extremely good sports about doing all this while holding a pumpkin.
Just like that, another month is coming to an end and another PR day is behind us. Running stairs at this time of year isn’t easy (okay, it’s never easy) as each week gets darker and darker. On the bright side, you can only see one step at a time… so you don’t look up and see what seems like an infinite number of stairs to go. On the less bright side, it’s less bright, so it’s harder to see. But we’ve got some resourceful NPers who tough it out with a headlamp, a flashlight, or a phone… or even with a coffee cup (double double impressive).
Oh good, you’re here!
Hopefully by now your brain has stopped singing Justin Bieber’s “Baby” in an endless loop. For those still living with this affliction… might as well lean into it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kffacxfA7G4&ab_channel=JustinBieberVEVO
In other news, we have now had the pleasure of being your co-leaders for 9 wonderful months. This got us thinking about how far we’ve come, thinking about how much further we can go, and…well, thinking about babies.
Good morning, YOWzers! Thank you for sharing your morning with us. We are grateful for Wednesday mornings filled with people like you who think that running up and down stairs in the pouring rain with very limited daylight is a fun activity. We are grateful that you keep showing up, and bringing friends, and convincing those friends that running up and down stairs in the pouring rain with very limited daylight is a fun activity.
Good afternoon, readers! Reader? We’ll take a leap and assume there’s more than one of you out there.
By this time of day, you may be coming down from the Wednesday morning high. The sound of this morning’s alarm and the sight of the beautiful sunrise may seem like distant, foggy memories. Although to be fair, everything was pretty foggy this morning.
Well, well, well… another PR day in the books! Since have yet to see a copy of the aforementioned ”books”, we figured we’d start our own and include all of the wonderful words of wisdom overheard each PR day.
Please read on for Chapter 1: Let’s Go Legs!
The sun is barely starting to rise. A determined group of local NPers gravitates towards the stadium and prepares themselves for what’s ahead. They ask themselves, “why do I do this to myself?” and contemplate the reality that awaits them on the other side. They approach the gate; the nerves, excitement and anticipation grow steadily. They think of everything they know they can accomplish. They also think about bagels. The gate is locked. The moment is quite anti-climactic and no one is able to enter the stadium. This is awkward. Oh, okay. Someone arrives at 6:30. Damn. I mean, phew. …Andd away they go!
Welcome back friends – you’re just in time
For another NP morning of rhymes
See below for a peek at what this morning was about
And then go get moving so you don’t miss out!
(You’ll notice the pics are just a bit blurry
But it’s just from the rain, there’s no need to worry)
Just like that, another beautiful stadium morning in the books! Of course, this is assuming that your definition of beautiful includes early morning wakeups, sweating, and burning legs (if you’re reading this, it probably does).
Today, we added some extra spice to our stairs. Small teams gathered at the bottom of each section of stairs while one runner made their way all the way to the top to pick a card. The runner returned this card to their trusted team, who had been patiently awaiting the return of the runner by holding a plank, a wall sit, or some other enjoyable position of their choosing. Based on the suit and number of the card, the team then had some extra work to do before sending the next runner up to collect another card. Not that there are any winners and losers at NP Ottawa – but the team with the MOST cards at the end of the workout did receive eternal glory. Our sources tell us that the team with the FEWEST cards as well as the teams with ANY ARBITRARY NUMBER of cards also experienced the same warm fuzziness of endorphins and bagels in the morning. Precise measurements of “eternal glory” were not available at the time of this blog post.
Riiiing riiiing the time has come
Another school year has begun!
So grab your shoes and water bottle
Hit the road – no time to dawdle.
You arrived on time, one minute to spare
Your shirt’s on backwards but you don’t care
And before you even pull out a book
You see people bouncing wherever you look