Great work to everyone that came out and threw down on PR Day. It was hot and it was awesome. Some of us were so excited after the workout that we decided to let PR Wednesday carry over to our daily commute to work. Sadly Cameron had his personal record drive to the office interrupted by the St. James Parrish Sherriff’s office. It appears the Sherriff could not care less about personal records and does not believe in #raceeverything. We hope that the officer will #justshowsup next week so we can help change his mind.
As we do every month on PR Day, one of our tribe members has written a Member Spotlight Blog Post. This Month’s Tribe member is one of the hardest working and most dedicated members of NPNO. He is an example to all of what we can accomplish when you set a goal and stick with it. So without further ado, here is his story:
“Project Person”
First off, I love “projects.” It’s what I do for a living. I worked in Corporate America for a long time but realized after Hurricane Katrina that I like the nature of short-term project jobs for the variety.
As a claims adjuster, I work on projects to help get peoples lives, businesses, and welfare back in order during a catastrophe. While I love the nature of the work, the profession lends itself to some very unhealthy habits. It’s a life on the road where you spend long hours/days sitting at a computer, endure periods of high stress, have no significant down time, and typically a fast food diet. You go -go -go until the work is done and then you go home and recharge until the next time.
Two years ago, I found myself in Houston working on that type of project. I worked exceptionally long hours that summer. In my down time, I started to work out. First, I was walking and then running on a treadmill in an empty gym. Boring stuff, but I stuck with it. I knew I had to do something to increase my energy levels to prepare for my next big “project” – the birth of my daughter in the Fall. Being an older but first time dad, I wanted to be hands on and help my wife as much as possible with the baby.
After Labor Day, I resigned from the project and moved back home to finish getting ready for the baby (are you ever really ready?). I was still working out, but my energy levels weren’t where I wanted them to be. I knew I had to change my diet – too much fast food and not enough good stuff. As a result, I changed a lot of things about my diet and started taking nutritional supplements. Just in time for the arrival of Eleanor.
I continued to work out sporadically and tried to eat healthy in between diaper changes, bottle feedings and what I like to call the Eating Season – that time between Thanksgiving and Mardi Gras. I will admit that it was nowhere near the levels that I would have liked. It was cold outside and I was still working out on my own. Still not a lot of fun.
After Easter, I started a new project and met Will. I mentioned that I wanted to work out more regularly now that the baby was sleeping through the night. He invited me to The November Project. He explained that it was an all free workout that consisted of running up and down the stairs with 60-120 other people rain or shine or hot or cold. I was intrigued.
My wife jokingly calls me a “joiner” because I have no problem walking up to a group of strangers and joining in to whatever activity they are doing. As with any group, sometimes you’re received well and other times not so much. The strangest thing happened at my first workout, I walked up and complete strangers hugged me and welcomed me. It felt like they were “joining” me instead of the other way around. Personally, I think that is the magic of the tribe. It doesn’t matter your fitness level, whether you’ve been there from the beginning or brand new, been gone for awhile and just coming back, or just passing thru from another city. The tribe is truly happy to see as many faces as possible “just show up “ and push each other to finish another challenging workout.
At that first workout, my fitness level was nowhere near most of the tribe but members kept encouraging me to just keep moving. So I did it again the next week and the next week and again the following week – you get the picture. I was hooked and was excited about working out. One Wednesday, some tribe members were talking about training for a half marathon so I decided set a goal to run one as well. Based on the time needed to train safely, I chose the Big Easy Half Marathon in late November. It became my own personal “November Project.”
I went about eating healthy again, taking my supplements, logging the training miles, and showing up for the stairs on Wednesday mornings. I felt ready to go for race day. Unfortunately, the race was shortened to a 10k because of bad weather but NP’ers always make the best of it. I used to run the Crescent City Classic most years but have never run better than a 1:18. With the help of fellow NP’ers Frannie and Meredith pacing me, I crushed that time and finished at 58:21. I wasn’t sure if I could break an hour but the finish brought me right past the stairs in Champions Square. When I ran past the stairs, I looked over at them and then down at my watch and said to myself – you got this!
Since then, my mile times have gotten faster, my clothes are getting looser, and most importantly, I have unlimited energy to spend with my daughter.
Lastly, I want to thank my wife and daughter for giving me the spark on my fitness “project” and the tribe leaders for providing us their time, dedication, and commitment to making it happen every week.
Amazing things happen when you consistently show up and have stairs for breakfast.
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