Free Fitness Movement. All you need to do is show up!
I’m too old for this shit…You mean sitting on your couch, wasting away, getting more unhealthy because that’s what all the cool 40-somethings are doing? -Sometimes, I forget to act my age. I’m 42 and I was unhealthy as fuck at 39 when I found November Project Virginia Beach. I drank too much, I ate like shit and I wasn’t around people who hoped for my success.
Our incredible Jemal ran his first half-marathon without really expecting to. Here is his story, enjoy!
– Laurent
Leaving my house around 7h30pm for a night run, I didn’t really set a goal for how long to run. Caught up with a running buddy in Chinatown, we headed to Parc Jean Drapeau over the amazing Jacques Cartier!
So how did our little NP Montréal team, Le Cirque du Sore Legs, fare against the fierce competition in the RunAround125 relay race last weekend? Well, let us tell ya…
– Dora
July 6, 2019: What a day. Branded as Le Cirque du Sore Legs, the November Project Montréal community came together as a team, and achieved an amazing feat at the RunAround125 race last Saturday.
“I’m not sure why I’m staring at the ceiling wide awake. It’s 3am, and I’ve already listened to this “Toxicity” album three times since laying down. My body feels like it’s ready to collapse in on itself. I can’t get comfortable. It’s okay, if I fall asleep in ten minutes, I’ll have had 4 hours of sleep. That’s plenty. What’s it like to die? I don’t have much to do first thing. Maybe I should have not listened to music before going to bed? Maybe I should have smoked a little more before… I feel like I needed to smoke more. Does weed mess with my, mind? I’m going to go smoke more. Shit. Now I’m too high. Maybe I’ll play some videogames. Will I fail if I don’t do the homework I didn’t do? What’s that going to hurt? What? It’s 5 A.M.? Oh well. May as well stay up. I can tell the teacher I am sick and get out of class, maybe even get dismissed early. All I care about is band anyway. I’ll just take a nap before I go to work. Should I just quit school? Do my friends notice I wear the same American Eagle shirt three days a week because my mom found it at a salvation army and it’s all we can afford?” Me: Age 15
So there’s this RunAround125 race happening like… Tomorrow! Organized by our good friend Gophrette Power, this 125km relay race around the entire Island of Montréal is going to be a lot of fun! Some of our members saw The Speed Project happen from far away this year and so were excited to try this mini-version right here in our backyard!
And so, Le Cirque du Sore Legs was born! How was this team picked? Well, they were the first ones to put their hand up when they heard “… run 125 kilometers… blablabla … relay … blablabla … a ton of fun … blablabla … it will be really hot!”. And so now, for the next act of the NP Montréal circus, I present to you the team!
– Laurent
This week, our dear Mehrsa looks back at her experience over the last few months here in Montreal and how we went not believing she would ever look forward to waking early on Wednesday to exercise in the cold to loving it! Enjoy!
– Laurent
I moved to Montreal for my studies, but studying was not the main challenge. Until then, I had always been under the protection of my parents and friends in my hometown. I saw myself surrounded by responsibilities at once in a totally new context, out of my comfort zone. I had to deal with adulthood, immigration, and the tough school programs all at the same time, and most importantly, I needed to step into the new society.
People of my age realized that when we were young, by and large we earned our living at the expense of our health/ fitness: work, business travel and family pressure did not give one much free time. When we were old enough to retire, we tried to buy a little health/ fitness. Furthermore, the fitness industry was quite sketchy 30/40 years ago with its service providers lacking in quantity and quality. Therefore I signed up with a personal trainer in a local gym and began training in 2014, when I was 62. That was probably one of the best investment in my life. I thought that I was at my fittest in 30+ years – not that I was very fit now (and far from it), but that I was so unfit in my younger days.
You can hear his voice from miles away, his laughter is contagious, he know how to hold the attention of the crowd.. he if fit as f*ck, fast as f*ck and funny as f*ck.
He knows the words to Britneys’ hit me baby on more time’ ( thank you NP karaoke night for teaching us this gem )
He never steps away from a challenge and is always ready to #raceeverything !
In less than 40 days he will be at the starting lines of the Lavaredo Ultra Trail, barely recovered from injury but hey, who would pass up on a day froliking in the Italian mountains for 87 – EIGHTY SEVEN – kilometers!
Here’s a guestblog by our favorite Italian on ‘going Dutch’ 😉
Today’s blog is a guest post from Johnny Fikru, a positivity award winning member of November Project Seattle
THIS ISH REALLY WORKS!
Let me back up.
In 2017, after undergrad, I moved from Seattle to Philadelphia to experience something different. Seattle is the city that raised me and I knew it was important to get out of my comfort zone by moving. As a millenial, the first thing I did after hearing about November Project was a quick online search. found phrases like “free fitness” and “meeting new people that is also bright n early.” That had “me” written all over it; I’ve always considered myself both a people-person and an early bird. I also love working out.
It’s hard to believe that it was only 5 months ago that I moved across the country – to this vibrant city that is Montreal.
Well, let’s be real, it didn’t seem so vibrant at that time. It was the dead of winter, and boy, was the harsh Quebec winter a lot for this Vancouverite to handle. Oh, and I had exactly zero friends!