The sun had yet to rise in Edmonton, Alberta, and it was over 20 degrees below zero. Tanis Smith bundled up in layers anyway, ready to run up and down hundreds of steps among the trees in the Saskatchewan River Valley.
When she arrived at 6 a.m., ten other people joined her. It wouldn’t be the last time they risked freezing their toes off to get in a workout before the rest of the world wakes up.
“You put pretty much everything you own on it,” says Smith, an accountant. “When you look at the pictures, you don’t know who you are unless you remember what you were wearing.”
Since that winter of 2013, Smith has rarely missed a workout with the group called November Project, a network of free outdoor group exercise classes that started in Boston. Regardless of the month or the weather, participants roll out of bed before sunrise at least once a week and shield their faces from the blistering cold.
Part intense training and part horrendous folly, the project is a model for how to stay motivated to exercise outdoors all winter long.
It started when a few friends challenged each other to exercise every morning for the entire month of November. By the end of the month they recruited others.
“A party is better when there are more people around,” says Bojan Mandaric, who created the project with Brogan Graham in 2011. “We would talk to anyone who would listen.”
Soon their gatherings attracted several dozen people, who then took the idea to other cities when they moved. Now there are 52 chapters in eight countries, including 44 in the United States and Canada.
What do the training sessions look like?
Workouts, which attract all ages and fitness levels, start with a “bounce,” a hopping call-and-response chant to loosen people up physically and mentally. How classes proceed varies by location and day of the week, but most include running and bodyweight exercises such as squats or burpees.
To promote the idea that sports can be fun, they can also weave in activities that would take place in the schoolyard at home during children’s recess.
In Edmonton they played an intense version of duck duck goose, went sledding in the winter and did Slip ‘n’ Slide in the summer. One training in Boston involved a kind of Easter egg hunt, where you sprint for plastic eggs. Open them to find commands that could include: walk like a gorilla, do a cartwheel, or grab grass and throw it on Mandaric’s head.
It’s about lowering inhibitions, allowing people to make connections, said Jason Shaw, co-leader of the Indianapolis chapter.
“No one is cool at November Project,” he said. “Especially at different gyms you always have people who are just so cool, or think they are so cool. We are trying to nip that in the bud.”
Shaw said chapters mark different milestones, much like Scout Merit badges, by spray-painting a label on your shirt so you show up on your first single-digit day, for example.
But they don’t spray when it’s too cold. The paint freezes.
If you don’t have a chapter nearby, many cities offer some sort of running or outdoor exercise group, although many are not free. Furthermore, the November Project organizers offered some suggestions on how to stay motivated to work through the colder months.
Find a workout buddy
Accountability is a core principle of the project. Members verbally promise to show up, and it almost feels like you’re letting your teammates down if you don’t, said Mandaric, who moved to Boston from Serbia to row for Northeastern University.
Invest in some equipment
There is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing, Shaw said. In any case, buy a moisture-wicking base layer that will keep you warm and dry. Avoid cotton, which keeps sweat in contact with your body and makes you feel colder. And add a top jacket with windproof fabric.
Make it a habit
Try to exercise on the same days and times for a month. Creating a predictable routine can help you get into a groove that’s easier to maintain, Mandaric said.
Above all, have fun
One of the things Smith appreciates most about the project is the social aspect. She called it “a chosen family” that was formed in part because they had fun playing sports.
“Fitness doesn’t have to be this harsh, drill-sergeant-type thing,” she said. “You can have fun and get fit.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: Albert Stumm writes about wellness, food and travel. Find his work at https://www.albertstumm.com