Check out the blog below by the tall, strong, animated, and incredible November Project Minneapolis Tribesmen, Josh Leibfried! Josh celebrates his one year anniversary with #NP_MSP this month and we couldn’t be more thrilled. Read on!
What a difference a year makes. I would not have dreamed of waking up at 5:30am to bike to a running workout 12 months ago. I certainly would have scoffed at the possibility of getting up every Wednesday and Friday for 52 weeks, no matter the weather and no matter the temperature, going to meet up with the group at November Project Minneapolis.
Last August I was unhappy. A number of friends were moving away from the Twin Cities metro area, I had just ended a relationship, and there were some family issues weighing down my steps. I was badly in need of good company. Enter November Project. My friend Lauren suggested I join a running club. Not just any club. The one where these people get up early and chant and have a worldwide group. I was skeptical. For years I have only been working out alone. When I ran, which was rare, it was at most for 40 minutes. I was hesitant at how I would fit in with not only a fitness group but a running group. Lauren insisted “Just go once. If you absolutely hate it you won’t have to go again.” To bring home the point, she spoke to my cheapskate side. “It’s free, Josh. What do you have to lose.” And so I dragged myself out of bed at 6am on a muggy Wednesday morning in August. Nervousness pulsing through me as the leader Ben had the amorphous mass of people all wearing smiles and clad in running gear form a circle. Then he asked the dreaded question…Was anyone new to November Project and if so would they take a step into the circle. After cautiously stepping forward and weakly stating my name I was surprised to be greeted with clapping and a few cheers. An hour later, I was completely exhausted. Remembering it started with a bounce and ended with sweaty hugs. Most of the middle bit was taken up by running hills with a few burpees thrown in for fun. As I left, I knew not only that I would be back but that I was hooked.
It was not until I started writing this piece I asked myself why I have continued to go to November Project week after week. Even going so far as to attend NP DC while on vacation on the East Coast. To someone with no familiarity with NP the obvious answer might be it was about the exercise. Or perhaps I am a morning person. Or it’s the only time I can fit working out into my busy schedule. Maybe I just love burpees at the top of 12 flights of stairs. All close but not quite.
But for me the answer is the people. There is a camaraderie in this group I have never experienced before. We show up to the workouts because we want to be there. The trading high fives on hills, sweaty hugs, words of encouragement, post-workout coffee, this is November Project in my eyes. The reason I put on running tights, shorts, windbreakers, shirt, long sleeve T, sweatshirt, hat, a set mittens, a set of gloves, and a buff an hour before dawn in -15F to freeze then sweat my ass off on a hill is that I get to see the people I have been lucky enough to know and become friends with. From the bounce to the final second of the last plank I’m having a blast with a group of people who are accepting, affable, and awesome.
Josh Leibfried
Share via socials:
