Free Fitness Movement. All you need to do is show up!
Winnipeg Notes:
“On October 3rd, Aaron Samuels asked me what day it was…I said, it’s October 3rd ”. Since THAT DAY falls on an actual Wednesday, you better wear pink biatch! Otherwise, you can’t sit with us. Kinda. Seriously though, if you are reading this, get out your pink attire ready for Wednesday. You won’t regret it.
The forecasts for this week called for rain, and rain was had. In fact, “rain” doesn’t describe the amount of precipitation that took place. Deluge seems a bit more accurate, because things got floody.
It was the type of day where you wake up, see the weather, and think “I’ll stay home.” Which was a terrible choice, frankly. Because the rain made it SO. MUCH. FUN.
Enter Saturday July 21st, we had planned a dragon boat racing event, courtesy of the kind souls at DC Dragons, followed by a dope DIY picnic, then finishing the day at the Pacers Crystal City Twilighter 5K– more importantly known as the Run Club Throwdown, where the strongest, fastest, best team in the DMV walks away with ultimate bragging rights. Seems ambitious, right? Ok now throw in Mother Nature pissing rain all over us for 100 percent of the day.
The concept of #weatherproof was VERY MUCH in play. We rolled up to dragon boating with the most hardcore, bad-ass crew you could imagine– most of whom had never even seen a dragon boat before. With the help of diligent coaches, a relentless team spirit, and that warm, steamy Anacostia River, we were off the docks and into the water in no time. Dragon boating distinctly reminded me of NP in that yes, so much of the motion and the exercise is about the individual, but you will only be successful when you start connecting with and working for the other people in your boat. After working our shoulders and cores tirelessly, which, I later found out was “doing it wrong” we settled back on the not-so-dry land for an indoor picnic.
Ok, here’s the deal, the spread at this picnic was nicer than most wedding buffets. THANK YOU to every single person who contributed. Whether you carried two cases of La Croix through the pouring rain or brought your Mom’s homemade gluten-free pasta salad recipe, we appreciate you. Thanks to those who oversaw the grilling process, and to those who stuck around and helped us leave the boathouse spic-and-span.
Keep in mind, it is raining even harder now. Everyone is soaked to the bone, regardless of the fact that they just put on dry underwear three minutes ago.
We head out to Crystal City, and I’ve never felt more confident that November Project folks would show out for a race. This is what we do. Low visibility? check. Impromptu wet t-shirt contest? check. Hella puddles? big-ass check. Is any of that a deterrent? You bet your ass it’s a MOTIVATING FACTOR. So, we paddle dance our way through the Parade of Nations, by far the most fun pre-race warm-up I’ve ever had, and then we get down to business.
Remember what I said at the beginning about crushing it? I saw it in the middle of the dance circle that formed during warm-ups, I saw it on the race course from the grit and determination emanating from folks on the course, and you KNOW I saw it from the cheer station coming through the line. And hey, who woulda thought, WE WON THE RUN CLUB THROWDOWN, bringing some hardware home as the back-to-back Community Run Club champions.
What we had planned to be a fun, outside of working out social activity morphed into so much more over the course of a Saturday. Y’all make us so gosh-darn proud in myriad ways; showing up to row a boat in a rainstorm, providing charcoal and grilling tools from your home so we can host a successful shindig, racing your heart out and pouring so much enthusiasm into a community 5K. It was a doubleheader to remember.
THANK YOU to DC Dragons, y’all were amazing teachers, and we so appreciate you being #weatherproof like us. THANK YOU to Pacers for another incredible #rcthrowdown, it was an unparalleled night of racing, community and fun. And finally, THANK YOU to every single person who came out, dragon boating, chilling and grilling, racing, cheering, celebrating–you are all crushing it.
Much, much love, DC.
Rhode Island is a boomerang state – the type of place where people leave, and then come back. I’m not sure why, but it’s just hard to leave. I left for a decade, and it pulled me right back in.
WOW. BEYOND WOW. Holy GUACOMOLE Ottawa. That was unreal. Can you believe that we get to head back into that stadium next week? Can you believe that you will run that PR Day again and try to complete one more section or finish two full tours in 29 minutes and 23 seconds? Lots of firsts this morning, for some it was your first bounce, your first introduction to the culture and community of November Project but for every single person that showed up this morning it was yours and our first stadium PR day. Sharing this morning with you, the stranger beside you and the person you cheered on in the section beside you was undeniably the best part of our day and probably week, that is until next Wednesday. But before we head back into the stadium did you leave it all out there this morning? Was there anything left in your tank?
It happened! For the first time in November Project Ottawa history we made history. Actually this is a lie we have made a lot of history over the past 54 workouts, endless coffee gatherings, social events, cheer stations and connections. We skated, lunged, pirouetted and completed star jumps on skates.
Workout
Iced-out. An odd mix of ice-covered everything, a fog-snow front, and ice-crystal pellets couldn’t stop this #weatherproof bunch. Sure we took the speed down a couple notches, but a couple bruised backsides was well worth the fun… says a guy who isn’t currently icing his tailbone.
Slightly amended workout went like this: 4 burpees on the N platform, WALK the stairs to the sidewalk, travel in some fitness-related way to the W landing and knock out 4 leg-lifts, to the SOUTHSIIIIDE for 4 tricep dips, to the E landing for 4 push-ups, back to the N and step the reps up to 8 for each spot then 12 then 16, etc. Sally squats to cap it off and burn it out!
Notes
This time around, snow fell overnight, and it seemed like the city wasn’t prepared… (really Atlanta, really?)
While running the two miles to the workout from Midtown to Old Fourth Ward, I was one of a few footsteps that graced through Piedmont Park. Roads were covered in snow, not a grain of salt or sand in sight.
However, the winter wonderland brought 12 brave souls out to the workout. Our original plan to do a #destinationdeck was canned due to the snow, as playing cards, heavily gloved hands, and wet snow wouldn’t mesh. I had ideas to just make it short and fun: Sebastians (aka 7 minutes of burpees) and a snowball fight.
After Sebastians, which definitely warmed up everyone, I made the suggestion for the snowball fight, but surprisingly, our tribe members were not satisfied. “I drove through icy roads and snow, I want a WORKOUT!”
Well, Christian and I had to think on our feet. Good thing for us, we have a repertoire of workouts that are easy to explain and easy to improvise, so we pulled out an old circuit workout that involved stairs (covered and without snow on them #safetyfirst), lunges and squat walks, a short hill and abs. The tribe was pleased!
By the end of our circuit, everyone was too cold for a snowball fight, so we took the classic NP Snow Throw pic (GIF BELOW) and called it a day!
Good for all 12 of you NP ATLiens – YOU ARE WEATHERPROOF. You are why us tribe leaders show up!
It’s a scary time in Atlanta…. when the forecast says “SNOW.” I mean, let’s remember the 2014 #Snowpacolypse that hit the city and had every other city laughing…
Okay, now that we got that out of the way, we can proudly say this time around Atlanta faired much better. When it does snow in Atlanta, you don’t expect it, so no matter where you’re from – transplant from Boston or Minneapolis, or born and raised in Atlanta – you feel giddy. Snow just feels weird in Atlanta. And with snow, you feel like a kid again.
Great work showing what being #weatherproof is all about. For those of you that had no intention of being weatherproof this morning and were caught off-guard by Indiana’s three seasons in three hours BS, here’s a handy guide to layering brought to us by our friends up in NP Edmonton; that will hopefully encourage you that, when properly outfitted, suffering through a little nasty weather is well worth the full, energetic day (and badass mentality) that follows…once you’ve warmed back up anyway.
Workout
It went a little something like this: pumpkin push-ups, medicine ball style; lunges with pumpkin shoulder presses; pumpkin tricep dips; pass-the-pumpkin-between-partners sit-ups. Get rinsed by the ever-changing precipitation and repeat. Those that dressed up and brought pumpkins, great job! Those that dressed down and didn’t bring pumpkins or smashed them while doing the pu[nt]pkin pass […and kick contest], not as great a job; still, you #justshowup’ed and proved a little (lot of) wind, rain, sleet, snow, and freezing weather won’t stop you!
Notes/Announcements