Author: Will

Today we played Roshambeaux New Orleans style. We want to make sure everyone knows that we did not follow the way Urban Dictionary describes Roshambeau…”A common trick to settle things. During an argument  such as who gets the last pizza slice, one will say “Look, let’s settle this. I’ll Rochambeau you for it.” When the other asks how one plays Roshambeau, the first says “Easy, I’ll go first.” The first player then kicks the other in the redacted (nuts) as hard as possible while yelling “ROSHAMBEAU!” Then the guy who’s balls aren’t hurt runs off with the pizza and avoids the second guy while he’s hurt.” read more

Indeed it is… If you haven’t lived through a full Mardi Gras, then it is tough to fully explain the toll it takes on your mind, body, and spirit. Contrary to the highly acclaimed documentary series Girls Gone Wild, its almost all positive (except for that one time in college that everyone claims to have been too blacked out to remember but secretly does. The hair growing out of the mole on his/her upper lip was surely a figment of our imagination). We digress… Mardi Gras is on some level about celebrating the excess in life before the purge and self reflection of Lent (Note: No theology majors amongst the NP_NO Leadership and CCD was often forsaken for Saints games, so please allow the artistic license). What we mean is that Mardi Gras is something different to each person, but at its base its just fucking Awesome. We could think of no better way to kick off Lent and purge the sins of the past few weeks than by waking up this morning to shake off the hangovers and cobwebs with the most fucking awesome people we know. Yes, it was a struggle this morning for all New Orleanians but very few had as much to look forward to as the NP_NO tribe members that #justshowedup to continue the general DGAF spirit (also known as Le bon temps rouler) that permeates the Big Easy. We rolled right off the parade routes and parties into the steps and didn’t look back. Another Mardi Gras down and an entire lifetime of fitness just one more set of stairs ahead. read more

Things got Merry quickly this morning at November Project NOLA. Cameron and his elf, Will, got the bounce started with some reindeer runs, Santa squats, and Snowman hugs similar to those given to relatives that you only see once a year. The newbies might have thought that the snowman hugs were a bit strange but its all part of the holiday spirit that occurs each and every Wednesday with NP_NO. Just like the song the 12 Days of Christmas, Cameron had something special for each day and each day had to be repeated while counting down similar to the jingle.  Although nobody finished and got their full 12 days in, it was one hell of a workout. The push-ups, jump squats, lunges and stairs that were all contained in the first five days of Christmas will have some wobbling tribesmen tomorrow as they recover.

Today the positivity award was given to somebody extra special that has been a part of our tribe since the beginning. Deborah tried to sneak out of the work out early and Cameron had to do some Quick verbal judo to keep her there for the award.  Therefore there was no lollygagging or water breaks after the 12 days were wrapped up and we went straight into a picture and the award while tribe members were still huffing and puffing. Deborah has been very supportive in our mission to remain at the Superdome. She misses only when she must and makes sure we know her reason why she was not there. Her recruiting skills are great and she continues to bring new people to our workouts. Keep it up Deborah and we will see you next week read more

Wow, a lot has happened since last Wednesday.  It’s hard to even know where to start, so let’s just catch everyone up on the week that was.

Will, Cameron and Kate attended the #NPSummit in Madison, Wisconsin (Preston missed out with some weak ass excuse about a baby).  Leaders from all 16 November Project tribes converged on Madison for a weekend of meeting, bonding, racing everything, and a little twerking.  Flying in on Thursday/workout with the Madison tribe Friday morning/ meeting all day Friday with leaders from other tribes to see how to make to make this group even more badass/ race on Saturday morning/ celebrate Saturday night/ back home sunday.  Sprinkle in a lot of Hugs, quite a few drinks, and the rumor that 2 of the NPNO leaders went swimming Saturday night in freezing water….you can safely say it was an awesome trip.  Will and Cameron represented the Tribe well at the North Face Endurance Challenge Marathon Relay race on Saturday, finishing in the top 10 and proving that us flat landers can manage to navigate an incline larger than Monkey Hill when needed. read more

Thanks to Tribe members Joey and Darin, NPNO was drawn into the ALS ice bucket challenge.  Lots of different think pieces going around about the efficacy of these efforts, but the issue is close to our hearts here in NOLA with Team Gleason and #NoWhiteFlags being one of our City’s own.  So we accepted and we are in turn challenging all of the other 16 tribes to raise awareness in each of your own ways as well.  To provide meaning to the fun, we here at NPNO will be making a donation on behalf of NPNO to the Team Gleason organization in addition to dumping ice on our heads (which also felt really freaking good after being out in this humidity). Thanks to all of the Tribe members that were willing to get wet with us today! Good luck and goodnight, until next week and the NP world takeover. Peace read more

8-12-14 was a monumental day for NP_NO and its co-founder Preston…he became a Dad. Looks like life was telling him it is finally time to grow the fuck up! So what did the other 3 co-founders decide to do??? Use it as a reason to incorporate that date into our weekly workout, you’re damn right we did. We wanted to make sure that everyone knew about Baby Evie’s arrival as the newest NP_NO tribe member. We can also be sure that no one is going to forget her birthday after that workout. read more

Talk about a group of people that can make the best of any situation. The tribe members of NP_NO and our out of town visitors proved today that they can make the most out of any situation.

Since its inception, NP_NO has aimed to make Champion Square our permanent Wednesday morning home for whatever off the wall workout this group can drum up. At first we were small and pretty much flew under the radar. Since that time, NP_NO has grown to a formidable group of loyal followers and fresh faces that have caught the attention of many around the city including some of the higher ups at the group that manages the State owned Superdome.  The management company has raised some issues about our use of the space and we are attempting to work with them to satisfy all parties to continue our Wednesday assault on the stairs. read more

If we have learned anything over the past few months, it is that Will loves the ramps.  We are not sure if it stems from some fond childhood memory or he has grown into this affinity, but he definitely implemented them today. A warm-up of multiple ramp runs and stair climbs got the group started.  Then, after a quick break, the group was back at the ramps.  Only this time, tackling the ramp doing a bear crawl.  And why the hell not do a bear crawl? Bears are awesome.  Then just when you think you have conquered the ramps and the workout, you get slapped with 7 minutes of heaven (burpees).  To quote Mr. Stuckey from this morning “Pain is weakness leaving the body”, in which case we eliminated a good amount of weakness today.  A great workout to get the Tribe through this Humpday. read more

IT LOOKS LIKE WE MADE IT”…that song just kept running through our heads as we gathered the group to start today.  The co-leaders of NP_NO had a goal to reach triple digit participation by the end of the summer.  Of course, summer in New Orleans lasts until Mid November, so we had some buffer to make things happen.  While we won’t engage in discussing specific numbers for fear of Bojan starting WW3.  We can say, as a former President once declared: Mission Accomplished.  All of the credit goes to the NP_NO community that continuously pushes others to just show up (and a few people that have used their position to more or less force others to get their ass in gear).  The tribe is growing and the tribe is un-freaking-believably strong! Our ability to multiply thus far would make a family of rabbit’s blush, so thank you to everyone that has begged, insisted, or threatened your friends and family to just show up. read more

To celebrate National Running Day, NP_NO came out and did just that. We took our lap and hit the stairs to get the heart pumpin and legs moving.  We then went station to station with half the tribe running suicides and planking and the other half getting reacquainted with said stairs.     We swapped stations every five minutes and were all excited when Preston called time after 4 rounds.  Baby Josie even made a return cameo this morning so we must be doing something right… read more