He improves his self-efficacy daily. He wins his age group at road races; reads countless books; volunteers by tutoring & building life skills with homeless youth; travels on thousand-mile road trips across the US; shows up every Wednesday morning for a run and workout with NP Orlando. I hope to be like Mr. Dick Ashby when I grow up …except that he’s not done growing up yet!
Show Up and Save a Life – Starting with Yours (Guest Speaker: Matt Garrepy)
This week we have a special Guest taking over the blog, Matt Garrepy. Matt has been showing up to our tribe since the very beginning when we were pledging with just a handful of dedicated tribe members. He is also our latest positivity award winner and our entire tribe can agree that Matt has a very strong, kind, and welcoming presence. We couldn’t be more thrilled to have him share his heartfelt and motivating story on why he shows up and challenges himself every week – take it away Matt!
Ramps & Triceps (ORL)
After bouncing and welcoming 5 new faces to their first November Project workout, we all dropped to the ground for a muggy push-up session to the beloved 3-minute 27-second song, Bring Sally UP Bring Sally DOWN (Flower by Moby). Arms on fire.
Before anyone had a chance to pass out after a breath-taking opener, fun just begun. “Grab all your things and head to the parking garage!”
Dog Days of Summer (ORL)
Aaaaaaaah, the dog days of summer — bright and oppressively hot. Our commitment is hotter, and we yell, “Bring on the heat!”
NP Orlando, what I love about you is your intense sense to connect — with yourself in the present moment, the workout and, most importantly, each other.
#Traverbal Guest Blog (ORL)
Seeing your faces Wednesday morning fuels my week. You have no idea how contagious your energy is to me. Thank you for creating this juicy-sweaty-let’s-bearhug-anyway movement just by being here. Let’s keep spreading the positivity throughout our homes, workplaces, neighborhoods, grocery stores, highways (yes, even I-4), sidewalks, everywhere. You do a great job at making that eye contact and smiling (just don’t smile and stare for too, too long like I sometimes do — feedback data from strangers says it is creepy).
FRIDAY PARKING & Transportation Info for Summit 5.0
Q: WHERE DO I PARK? A: OPEN this Google Map
HOW DO I GET TO THE STADIUM? HOW DO I GET AROUND?
If you find yourself asking these questions, let’s thank our local transportation guru Ari Ofsevit for compiling the following info. Read as much or as little as you want (it gets really fucking detailed down at the bottom, and in the middle, and pretty much everywhere) but definitely read the part about parking for the Friday morning workout at Harvard. And give yourself LOTS of extra time to get to the stadium.
Call to Duty & Heroism (ORL)
Meet Jose L. Garcia-Aponte. Member of November Project Orlando, Positivity Award winner, US Armed Forces veteran, Operation Giveback (OGB) founder & CEO.
You will hear him before you see him. Especially if it’s 5:45am Wednesday morning in Orlando, listen for high-tempo salsa music around Lake Baldwin and you’ll eventually run into Jose and OGB friends getting in a few miles before NP ORL bounces.
The Sounds of #NPSUMMIT Weekend
This email serves as a pre-thanks to the two DJ’s who are going to be holding it down for the NPSUMMIT. Number one is local legend Laura Ingles of Boston. Number two is new-kid-on-the-block and Co-Leader of November Project Virginia Beach Barry Clark. Laura will host the rise & shine beatdown inside the Harvard Stadium that will open the weekend early Friday morning and Barry will bring down the house at The Lawn On D Street on Saturday night, which will close the weekend. If you’re thinking, “I don’t know much about all of this that you speak of, this “N..P.. Summit” and I really wish I could click here and find out more details.” I hope that you go back and click there. If you already know what’s up, continue onward/below.
More Smudges, More Fun (ORL)
Each week, you never cease to amaze me.
You jump headfirst into unknowns (what are Travis & Allison planning for us this week?) and make modified improvements to best suit the workout to your level.
You get dirty and don’t even care.
When’s is 80-degree F and 90% humidity, you still push yourself and carry each other.
2017 NP5UMMIT Party
This is the blog post you’ve been looking forward to since the announcement was made that the 5th annual November Project Summit #NP5UMMIT is going down in Boston, MA. The weekend will start off with the stair workout at the iconic Harvard Stadium, followed by some serious trail racing at the North Face Endurance Challengeat Wachusett Mountain, and will commence with the most epic social of the year! I know, the word “epic” is overused in describing anything from fun to exciting, but if you’ve been NPSUMMIT4.0 you know what I’m talking about (even if you haven’t been you know what I’m talking about.)