纽约街头兴起晨练快闪族
日期:2015-04-19 15:31

(单词翻译:单击)

Where most people see beloved New York locales, John Honerkamp, Paul Leak and their merry band of some 100 followers see prime exercise sites.
在大多数挚爱纽约的人看来,很多地方不过是寻常地点,而约翰·霍纳坎普(John Honerkamp)、保罗·利克(Paul Leak)以及约100位快乐的追随者却视这些地方为极佳锻炼场所。
One morning last year at precisely 6:28, the group descended on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art for perhaps the most physical game of Pictionary ever played: Athletes sprinted to pick up clues, held plank poses while team members sketched and performed penalty burpees (an explosive squat/push-up combination) for failing to guess correctly.
去年一个清晨的6点28分,这群人突然来到大都会艺术博物馆的台阶上,他们所进行的看图猜词游戏可能是最剧烈的:运动员们快速跑去捡起提示板,然后在队友们画画时保持平板支撑的姿势,如果猜错了,就罚做下蹲俯卧撑。

They have done wall sits and stair runs at Borough Hall, “mountain climbers” outside Gracie Mansion (where security guards cheered them on) and relays around the Lincoln Center fountain (though they were soon asked to leave).
他们在市政厅练习直角坐墙和跑楼梯;在纽约市长官邸格雷西大厦外玩“爬山”游戏(那里的保安给他们鼓劲);在林肯中心喷泉周围进行接力赛(不过他们很快被要求离开)。
And on a recent 19-degree Friday morning, they used another Midtown fountain for jumps on and off its two-foot-high ledge, although Mr. Leak was already making more ambitious plans for the water.
前不久一个周五的清晨,气温只有19华氏度(大致相当于零下7度),他们在中城的另一处喷泉进行跳跃运动,从两英尺高的喷泉边缘跳上跳下,不过利克已经为这里设计了几项更有野心的计划。
“This would be perfect for an urban triathlon, but there’s not a Citi Bike station nearby,” mused Mr. Leak, 27, whose later-in-the-day job is event management. “We would entirely get in trouble, but we love that.” (Mr. Leak also has designs on the Staten Island Ferry.)
“要是附近有市政自行车出租站点的话,这里会成为城市铁人三项的完美地点,”27岁的利克若有所思地说道。他的正式工作是会展管理。“我们会彻底陷入麻烦,但是我们很喜欢那样。”(利克还就斯塔滕岛的渡船设计了一些活动。)
Mr. Leak and Mr. Honerkamp, 39, are the New York leaders of an early-morning workout flash mob known as the November Project, which began in Boston in 2011 and has since spread to 19 cities in the United States and Canada. It’s a point of pride that the group — not quite running club, not quite boot camp — defies categorization. It blends the intensity of CrossFit, the cultishness of SoulCycle and the weather agnosticism of a Polar Bear swim with the high jinks of an obstacle course and the camaraderie and accountability of a sports team.
利克和39岁的霍纳坎普是一个名为“11月计划”(November Project)的清晨锻炼快闪族的纽约领头人。该计划2011年始于波士顿,之后扩散到美国和加拿大的19个城市。它引以为豪的是,你几乎无法给它归类——它既不是跑步俱乐部,也不是训练营。它融合了CrossFit健身公司的强度、SoulCycle健身公司的狂热、北极熊游泳俱乐部(Polar Bear)的天气不可知性,以及障碍训练的狂欢、体育队的友情和责任。
Workouts in Boston have drawn more than 1,400 people, among them Olympic and professional athletes. Rodale plans to publish a book about the November Project in 2016.
波士顿的健身活动吸引了1400多人,其中包括奥运选手和职业运动员。罗代尔出版社(Rodale)计划于2016年出版一本关于“11月计划”的书。
Sessions open with members — new exercisers and marathoners alike — being instructed to touch the nose of someone they don’t know and tell the person, “I’m happy you’re here.” Handshakes upon meeting are forbidden; this is a hugs-only zone. And because workouts are free and outdoors, there’s no booking hassle, unforgiving cancellation policy or scramble for a spot. Take that, $35 boutique fitness class. (November Project has recently begun working with sponsors: Last year, North Face was among the companies supporting the group’s annual summit, and beginning next week will team up with it on another project.)
每次锻炼前,组织者会引导会员们——锻炼新手、马拉松跑步者等——去触摸一个他们不认识的人的鼻子,说:“我很高兴你能来这儿。”大家不允许见面握手,在这里只能拥抱。因为锻炼是免费的,在户外进行,所以没有预订的麻烦、苛刻的取消政策或地盘争夺。想想看,精品健身课程可要35美元一节(“11月计划”最近开始与赞助商合作:去年,北面[North Face]等公司赞助了该组织的年度峰会。下周起,北面将和该组织合作另一个项目)。
Brogan Graham, 32, a former college rowing coach who is one of the group’s founders, said: “Some people need their exercise to be certified and sanctioned and expensive. We just want to have more fun.”
32岁的布罗根·格雷厄姆(Brogan Graham)是该组织的创始人之一,曾是大学划船教练。他说:“有些人需要那种经过认证批准的昂贵的健身项目。我们只是想获得更多乐趣。”
He added, “We’re making people be people and put their” — expletive — “phones down.” (Said phones do reappear at the end for the obligatory postworkout group photo, promptly posted to social media.)
他补充说,“我们让人回归本性,放下该死的手机(他说,锻炼结束后手机的确会再次现身,以便拍摄强制性的健身后合影,并立刻发布到社交媒体上)。”
Kaitlin Fuelling, 23, who moved to the Lower East Side from Pasadena, Calif., in 2013, said November Project friendships account for the majority of her social life.
23岁的凯特琳·菲林(Kaitlin Fuelling)2013年从加利福尼亚州帕萨迪纳市搬到纽约下东区。她说,在“11月计划”结交朋友是她的主要社交活动。
“I did the stint with a gym, but I was looking for people I could kind of relate to,” Ms. Fuelling said breathlessly between “hoisties” — November Project lingo for squat jumps done while pressing one’s palms against a partner’s. “Everybody thinks it’s a little crazy, but once you go you can’t even explain how much fun you have.” She has kept her membership at 24 Hour Fitness, but “just for the shower.”
“当时,我在一个健身房定期锻炼,但是我想寻找能跟我产生共鸣的人,”菲林在蹲起运动(hoisties)的间隙气喘吁吁地说。hoisties是“11月计划”的一个内部术语,指两人一组,交叉握紧双手,从坐姿升起为完全站立。“大家都觉得这有点疯狂,不过一旦你去了,就能获得说不完的乐趣。”她保留了在24小时健身俱乐部(24 Hour Fitness)的会员身份,不过“只是为了去那儿洗澡”。
Leaders of each city’s tribe, as the November Project calls its affiliates, are volunteers with athletic backgrounds whose only instructions are that locations must be epic and that workouts must start at 6:30 a.m. (or before), be scalable for all levels of fitness — and unpredictable.
每个城市的部落(“11月计划”这样称呼自己的分支)领袖都是有运动员背景的志愿者,他们只得到这样的指示:健身地点必须宽敞,锻炼必须在早上6点半(或之前)开始,可以进行各种层次的出人意料的健身活动。
In San Francisco, organizers drew a version of the board game Chutes and Ladders on the cement of Alamo Square, requiring different exercises to traverse the board.
在旧金山,组织者们在阿拉莫广场(Alamo Square)的水泥地上开展了一个类似棋盘游戏滑梯和梯子(Chutes and Ladders)的活动,参与者必须完成不同的运动才能穿过棋盘。
A San Diego session in January involved teams of four pushing Toyota Priuses, with participants instructed to stand between the cars’ rear taillights so feet couldn’t be run over, recalled Mr. Graham, who was visiting at the time. (No one factored in a slight downhill to the course, so the workout involved an extra cardio challenge: chasing runaway cars.)
格雷厄姆回忆说,1月份他去圣迭戈时,参加了那里的一个活动——四人一组推动丰田普锐斯汽车。参与者按照指示,站在车的两个尾灯之间,这样就不会压到脚(谁也没料到中间有一段轻缓下坡路,所以那次锻炼多了一项有氧运动:追逐下滑的汽车)。
Like many crazy ideas, the movement grew out of a late-night bar chat, this one in October 2011, when Mr. Graham and his former Northeastern University rowing teammate Bojan Mandaric, 33, decided to head off the winter tendency to slack on exercise by making a pact to train every day before work the next month. They tracked their workouts on a Google document named the November Project.
和很多疯狂的想法一样,该组织也起源于一次深夜酒吧谈话。这次谈话发生在2011年10月,格雷厄姆和他在美国东北大学的前划船队友、33岁的博扬·曼达里奇(Bojan Mandaric)约定在之后的一个月里,每天上班前训练,以防冬季越来越懒得动。他们在一个命名为“11月计划”的谷歌文档中追踪记录锻炼过程。
“We thought if we did it, we’d become morning people and also more connected,” Mr. Mandaric said. “Even if it’s your best friend, people get busy. But nobody is busy at 6:30 in the morning.”
“当时我们想,如果我们做到了,那么我们就能变成晨型人,而且我们的关系也会更密切,”曼达里奇说,“即使是最好的朋友,有时也会因为忙碌而疏于联系。但是,早上6点半,谁都有空。”
As they kept the project running past its intended expiration date, they created a blog and Twitter account, and people they didn’t know began showing up for what became their signature Wednesday morning session: running the stairs of all 37 sections of Harvard Stadium, a workout known as the “full tour.”
在原定的截止日期之后,他们继续执行这个计划。他们创立了博客和Twitter账户,原先不认识的人也开始出现在他们标志性的周三晨练中:跑完哈佛大学体育馆的全部37组台阶,这项锻炼被称为“全程游览”(full tour)。
One early convert — whose huge Twitter following helped spread the November Project gospel — was Andrew Ference, then a defenseman for the Stanley Cup-winning Boston Bruins just trying to stay in shape during the 2012-13 National Hockey League lockout.
安德鲁·费伦茨(Andrew Ference)是较早参与“11月计划”的人之一,他的Twitter账户拥有众多粉丝,帮助扩散了该计划。当时,费伦茨是斯坦利杯冰球锦标赛(Stanley Cup)冠军波士顿棕熊队(Boston Bruins)的防守队员,他只是想在2012至2013美国全国冰球协会(National Hockey League)停赛期间保持体形。
“I didn’t know what was going on with the hugging and hooting and hollering, but everyone was really cool,” said Mr. Ference, who learned of the group from a bicycle shop. “I went and chased these fast dudes around the stadium, and I just kept going back.”
“之前,我不知道他们为什么拥抱、喊叫,但是每个人看起来都很酷,”费伦茨说。他是在一个自行车店听说这个组织的。“后来我也去了,在体育馆周围追逐这些跑得飞快的伙伴,后来就一直参加他们的活动。”
He has since moved to Edmonton, Alberta, where he is the captain of the Edmonton Oilers and a November Project leader. He is also the creator of November Project’s most coveted badge of honor: a Boy-Scout-like circle patch with “-30” written in blue. It is given to anyone who shows up to a workout when the thermometer reads that number or below. So far, no November Project workout has ever been canceled because of weather.
他后来搬到加拿大艾伯塔省埃德蒙顿市,担任埃德蒙顿油工队(Edmonton Oilers)队长,也成为当地“11月计划”的领头人。他还创造了该组织最令人艳羡的荣誉徽章:一个童子军式的圆臂章,上面绣着蓝色的“-30”。它授予所有在气温低于(或等于)零下30华氏度(大致相当于零下34摄氏度)的天气参加锻炼的人。到目前为止,还没有“11月计划”锻炼活动因天气原因被取消。
Anyone who has promised to come (“dropped a verbal,” in November Project parlance), and then doesn’t, appears on the “We Missed You” page of the blog. No matter what the excuse, the November Project makes it look as if the absentee was out partying by pulling old photos from a Facebook page that show him or her drinking or eating nachos. It is a shame theory of accountability that featured in a TEDx talk Mr. Graham and Mr. Mandaric gave recently.
任何答应要来(用“11月计划”的话说是“留下口信”)但是没来的人都会出现在该组织博客的“我们想念你”(We Missed You)页面。不管因何种原因未能赴约,“11月计划”都会弄得好像缺席者是出去玩了,该组织从缺席者的Facebook网页上找到他们之前喝酒或吃奶酪玉米片的旧照片,放到“我们想念你”页面上。这是格雷厄姆和曼达里奇前不久在TED大会上演讲的主题——责任羞耻理论。
“It’s in jest but it works,” said Peter Kruse, 27, who lives in Midtown. This winter, he arrived three minutes late to a workout when the wind chill was minus 10 because the ski goggles he wore had fogged up and he missed a turn. The group had left, but Mr. Kruse raced to catch up.
“那是开玩笑,但是很管用,”27岁的彼得·克鲁泽(Peter Kruse)说。他住在纽约中城。去年冬天的一个早上,寒风凛冽,气温只有零下10华氏度,他的滑雪护目镜起雾了,所以他错过了一个路口,迟到了三分钟。大部队已经离开,但是克鲁泽快跑追上了。
“That was a real low point,” Mr. Kruse said.
“那真是让人沮丧,”克鲁泽说。
To start a chapter in a new city, there is a strict pledge process. (At least it’s strict by November Project’s freewheeling standards.) Aspiring leaders spend a year proving they can attract a following before they are allowed to use the November Project name. They start with a Wednesday morning workout — Wednesday because no one is recovering from the weekend or getting on a plane for a coming weekend — and eventually add Fridays, then Mondays. They are encouraged to start in the dead of winter, to attract a core group of die-hards, because summer members can be fair-weather participants.
要在一个新城市开分部,需要经过严格的证明过程(至少以“11月计划”松散的标准看,算是挺严格的)。有抱负的领头人要用一年时间证明自己能够吸引追随者,然后才能使用“11月计划”的名头。他们先从周三晨练做起——因为在周三,人们不会尚未从周末的散漫状态中恢复过来,也不会早起搭飞机开始周末旅行。最后加上周五和周一。他们被鼓励在冬天最寒冷的时候开始,以吸引一批铁杆核心成员,因为那些在夏季参加活动的人可能只在天气好的时候参加。
On a recent Friday, about 30 members of the New York group, most of them in gear spray-painted with the graffiti-like November Project logo, huddled in a passageway in Midtown near the Fox News studio.
前不久的一个周五,纽约分部的约30名成员在中城福克斯新闻演播室附近的地下通道里挤作一团。大部分人脸上喷着涂鸦风格的“11月计划”标识。
They warmed up by jumping up and down, turning in midair and yelling “Fox” on the ascent and “Friends” when they landed. They ran past Radio City Music Hall calling to people they passed to “have a spectacular day,” and they face-planted on the concrete after their arm muscles failed from seven minutes of push-ups and triceps dips before 7 a.m.
他们的热身方式是上下跳跃,在空中转身,跳起时大喊“狐狸”(Fox),落下时大喊“朋友”(Friends)。他们跑过广播城音乐厅(Radio City Music Hall)时,对遇见的行人大声说“祝你这一天过得精彩”。七点前,在练完七分钟俯卧撑和支撑臂屈伸(triceps dips)后,他们的臂部肌肉实在撑不住了,一头栽到水泥地面上。
Mr. Honerkamp urged them closer. “We need subway close; we need the 6 train close,” he yelled. “If anyone’s new, it might be a little awkward, but that’s the point.”
霍纳坎普鼓励他们挤得更紧些。“我们要像挤地铁那样靠近,像在晚高峰地铁上那样挤,”他喊道,“新来的人可能觉得有点不好意思,但我们的目的就是让你不再不好意思。”

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