Author: Patrick

PR Day. Your chance to prove to YOURSELF how #trainingforlife and showing up to NP every Wednesday to get fit and create community can lead to some BIG results. As Nick said before the workout, “this is the only event at November Project that you are focused on yourself.” While we love to have fun and get weird (speed skating kisses anyone?), we also want to ensure that November Project is a group that you can come to every week and be guaranteed an ass-kicking workout. PR Day is a testament to the hard work that you all put in every week, both at and outside of NP. You all should know how proud Nick, Syd, and I are of every. single. one. of. you, for making Wednesdays the best part of our week. read more

#NPSUMMIT gave us a slew of new ideas to bring back to the Baltimore tribe. Some of these ideas were recruiting-related, others workout-related, and, as is featured in this post, some ideas were ways to keep our neighbors (the ones who decide not to join us…LAME) happy while still being weird and fun. read more

Sometimes, workouts seem a lot easier when you’re planning them out. So, when Nick suggested doing three sets of burpees, squats, and push-ups – 5, then 10, then 15 of each – as part of our Fed Hill circuit this morning, I thought it sounded as easy and delightful as a stroll along Jones Falls trail on a crisp Sunday morning. You would think that after doing November Project for 10 months now, I would be able to pick out a hard-ass workout when I see one. Not so, my friends, not so. With stairs, planks, and suicide sprints thrown in with the burpees – which I am declaring as the unofficial mascot of NP_BAL – I left Fed Hill this morning sweatier than a polar bear in the Arctic (too soon?)
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One of the rad things about November Project is that if you happen to find yourself in one of the 17 cities where we are plotting our world domination, you can be confident that if you attend a NP workout there–and I don’t understand why you wouldn’t–then you will be welcomed with open arms (I use that phrase in the most literal way possible) into each city’s motley, passionate, and sweaty crew of attendees. So, when Manzur (NPDC), Can of Spaghetti (NPDC, soon to be NP Boston), and Casey (formerly of NPDC, currently NPSF) showed up to our workout this morning, we made sure we caressed the back of their hands oh so sensually during the best part of our bounce: the hand hug. With the City vs. City 5k coming up in just over a month, however, that’s about as much love as we can allow ourselves to give them right now. Sorry friends, it’s nothing personal; we just know Barry Obama and Co. would be way better off living in a rowhouse in Baltimore than in that D.C. House that happens to be White. read more

Oh, the hand hug. We at November Project Baltimore are so glad that this phenomenon has rapidly evolved from an unknown entity to a fixture at every American family’s dinner table. What would Wednesday (and Friday) mornings be without this beautiful gesture of intimacy and comraderie? It makes my insides tingle, and the ridiculous workout that follows it tops off a beautiful morning. read more

Recently, Nick commented on how the tribe grew up during his two weeks away while he was busy growing his lettuce and slinging his spoon around at the World Lacrosse Championship. Having been away for the past two weeks myself, I wondered what shenanigans the tribe had been up to in my absence and what I could expect for today’s workout. read more

It’s not often that you find yourself skipping hand-in-hand with another person when, all of a sudden, you realize you have no idea who this person is.

Unless, of course, you’re at November Project Baltimore.

The workout: each tribe member partnered up with another beautiful person, and while one partner held a plank or a squat, the other partner sprinted to one of three sombreros filled with scraps of paper detailing exercise goodies and ridiculous antics. Exercises included classics such as burpees, squat jumps, jumping jacks, and leg lifts, all mixed in with activities like carrying a tribe member back to the start on your back, getting a close-up photo from the photographer, and finding and kissing a picture of our fearless co-leader, Nick Rod. read more

Photos from today’s workout here!

While we aren’t being sought after for running advice by the Huffington Post like other NP leaders, your leaders at NP_BAL believe we kind of know how to make you, as Britney Spears beautifully put it, Work B****. This morning’s workout was no exception. We rode the wave of Saturday’s hugely successful #bmore_BMore race into today’s workout, and while it may have taken us some extra time to wake up or get over the humidity our tribe did not disappoint. Today featured some throwbacks (Fed Hill stairs, whaddup Project Morning Mayhem) in addition to some new folks who fit in to the group as well as I fit into my #bmore_Bmore outfit on Saturday (that is, incredibly well). We threw in everyone’s favorite childhood game “Musical Box Jumps & Sprints” as well as the ever-reliable mix of burpees, squats, mountain climbers, and hoisties to top it all off. If you weren’t sweating by the end of everything, then please go see a doctor because your body does not react to humidity. read more

#respectthebell.

Today was rowdy. Today was groovy. Today was everything that Nick Rod and I could have asked for. Gosh darn do we just want to squeeze all of you tight (but not Lenny from Of Mice & Men tight, don’t worry).

We burpeed. We sprinted. We box-jumped. We scurried through the sand in our bare feet. Hell, we’d have given Pamela Anderson a run for her money during Baywatch auditions back in the day. A series of six stations left all of us thoroughly exhausted but ready for more, as always. We caught the attention of a lovely woman who inquired about our ridiculous antics. She tried to excuse herself from a #verbal on account of her status as a grandma. We promptly informed her that NP_BAL knows no boundaries, only hoisties and sweaty hugs. We hope to see her, her children, and her grandchildren very soon. read more