Media Frenzy! Just one day to go!

We've been featured in the Boston Herald! http://www.bostonherald.com/galleries/index.php?gallery_id=5440&p=12

http://bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1347143&srvc=business&position=2

And the Boston Globe!! http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2011/06/22/in_this_corner/

Even rumors of metro interviews today?? WOW!

I'm trying to play it cool and relaxed. Yoga tonight and then SLEEP. I have already taken tomorrow and Friday off from work, so it's a great long weekend for me!

Haymaker's for Hope has been featured in the Wall Street Journal!!

Just three day's to go, check out the article in the Wall Street Journal!!

http://professional.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304070104576396011432586344.html

aaahhhh! just 7 days left!!!

oh man. less than 7 days. oh man. nerves? not even really sure how to describe how I feel! I sparred for the last time before the fight this evening. I took some solid hits. I landed some solid hits. Somewhere around the 4th round I managed to actually hit a groove and do some slipping! I've got this. I'm ready. I hope.


For the next 7 days I am going to devote my energy to fundraising. I've been handing out my fantastic little cards, but now it's time for me to put a really personalized plea out there. Cause this fight isn't just about me... it's about the second anniversary of losing my father to cancer. And every other person who's lost a parent/sibling/loved one to cancer. It's about putting cancer on the ropes and giving it a solid one-two. We have a chance here to make a solid contribution to an amazing charity looking to take cancer out. The Jimmy Fund isn't just a nameless random charity; it has earned nine consecutive 4-star ratings by Charity Navigator. Your donation's actually make it to the front line! 


I was touched last night. Two of the sweetest lil' old ladies on my street each gave me $5 towards the fight. I knew it was a big deal to them, and it almost made me cry! Every little bit helps, so please don't hesitate to donate, even if it's just $1! 


And talking about amazing people, my friend Victoria has organized a virtual bake sale: we're well on our way to raising nearly $300! Get your bids in now, we close tomorrow at noon! Take a punch at cancer and get delicious baked goods at the same time!


Check out my videos on youtube, I've included below my last video provided by Haymakers for Hope. Look how far I've come! Let's work together and put cancer on the ropes!!

The District Chocoholic: Bake Sale to Kick Cancer's Butt: Buy Delicious Treats

The District Chocoholic: Bake Sale to Kick Cancer's Butt: Buy Delicious Treats

The time to bid is NOW! There are some amazing treats up for bid here, including my own taza truffles! Help us take down cancer!

Crunch time! 13 days till my fight!

It's coming faster than I ever would have thought! Luckily, my rib injury seems to be righting itself - I'm working hard to get it to 100%, it'll definitely be there by early next week!

I've made it to nearly 50% of my fundraising goal: I huge thank you to everyone who has contributed so far! Remember, every little bit helps so don't hesitate to donate today! Let's blow that goal out of the water!

Next week we start bidding for the awesome bake sale Victoria over at the District Chocoholic is sponsoring... looks to be some amazing food, so stay tuned!

http://districtchocoholic.blogspot.com/2011/06/taking-cancer-down-bake-sale-style-you.html

The District Chocoholic: Taking Cancer Down: Bake Sale Style (You Can Help)

The District Chocoholic: Taking Cancer Down: Bake Sale Style (You Can Help)

I have some amazing friends. Take Victoria for example. She's sponsoring a virtual bakesale to help me reach my fundraising goals. Gonna be some amazing bake goos... join us now! (Though also feel free to donate/buy tickets at the side bar if that's your thing!)

Cheers to amazing friends!

Making progress.

I've been quite quiet of late, and for that I apologize. I'm in crunch time, for in the next 3.5 weeks I have to absorb as much kinetic information as humanly possible. Skill learning isn't just about the training, it's also about the eating, sleeping and resting to make sure you retain as much as possible. Can you believe it's only been 11 weeks now? Look at how far I've come!

I've come a long way, but I've still got farther to go! I'll be eating, sleeping and dreaming boxing for the next 23 days.

my first fight!

Here's the final round of my very first fight! A special thank you to Essence Denton for stepping up last minute and from a 6 yr retirement to give me this amazing opportunity! The event was an overwhelming success, raising over $3000 dollars for the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center! I feel so privileged to have been part of such an amazing cause and evening. And this was just the warm up!

I now have 5 weeks until my Haymakers for Hope fight. I need to raise a lot of money in those 5 weeks, and I have a lot more training to do! I hope to see you all there! To donate or buy tickets just click the thermometer on the sidebar!

p.s. This fight was a smoker, so there technically is no winner or loser. You can form your own opinions by watching the full fight on my youtube channel.

my nose and a fist.

Are not best friends. In fact, they may be enemies. Specifically with Jen's fist. Last Thursday she landed a blow that left some faint bruising and a definite amount of soreness in the bridge of my nose. When Heather was my only option for sparring on Sunday I bowed out and did all technical work - and trust me, with Lyle, that's not necessarily the easy way out!

I'm pretty sure I'm glad there isn't any footage of last night, not sure I want to see my reaction when my eyes start watering and I start closing my eyes every time I see a fist coming. Cause when my nose hurts, that seems to be my only reaction. The smarter thing of course would be to get out of the way!

I've had one honest nose bleed in my life. I was about 8 years old and I crashed HARD into a table corner. I was quite shocked. Since then I've only seen a spot of blood here and there due to extreme dryness. Obviously I was quite surprised last night when I wiped my nose to find a faint smear of blood. Stopped almost immediately. One more round in, a few more drops. I suspect my nose just doesn't like to bleed - which is a good thing!

There's some faint bruising on the sides of my nose, the lower cartilage is painful and Lyle's declared no more sparring until it feels better. I feel like a wimp, but I have to agree. If I start cringing and closing my eyes every time I see a fist coming for my face I'm going to be in trouble FAST. (Yes, I realize this is probably the most instinctive reaction to seeing a fist coming at your nose, but instincts would serve me better if they told me to DUCK! SLIP!)

Have your instincts ever led you wrong?

Another week in review. Too much rest?

So last week I talked about how I should focus on rest.  Well, it turns out you may be able to take rest a bit too far. To be honest, I feel like I need to start upping on a week to week basis… I need to be careful, but I do need more than just yoga and boxing, regardless of how epic my sessions are with Lyle. I think there may be a function of having started drinking Gatorade on Tuesday/Thursday’s mid session. Started to realize I need more fuel!

Here's what really happened last week:

2 May, Monday: My back is sore. Shouldn’t have skipped my post session yoga. I went for a 4 miles walk and did the adult thing and got the grocery shopping done.

3 May, Tuesday: Sparring Melissa! I totally freaked myself out, and to be honest, in hind sight I am not sure why. Fight was actually pretty even! Legs felt pretty good, tired by the end of class, need more sugar.

4 May, Wednesday: Awesome yoga class with Whitney! Was feeling limber and fired up! Go dancer!

5 May, Thursday: Head is not in the game… feeling slow and blocky, but despite that the 6 rounds of sparring with Jen went well. Despite feeling like a failure, when I reviewed the video I was actually rocking it!

6 May, Friday: Rest day… kinda. Went out for dancing, 2 hours of solid cardio!

7 May, Saturday: Rest day.

8 May, Sunday: Semi-epic session. Pia followed by Lyle. No sparring all technique.  

Reviewing what I just wrote it seems like I actually had a pretty solid week, but I am feeling like I still need to step this game up a bit.

Rest. While I definitely don’t need as much rest now, I want to make sure I don’t head down the same road of 2 weeks struggling again… have to keep up with myself! Need to balance this with my feeling of too much rest. Let’s throw in 2 short runs.

Sparring: This is KEY to my development. I’ll be joining the kickboxing girls on Tuesday/Thursday at 7 for some technical sparring and hopefully rocking it!

Yoga: Yoga rocks. Embrace my practice and make sure it’s a daily event! Need to continue to work twists into my post workout routine.

So here's how we're going to make these goals reality, the plan for the next week:

Monday: 

am: rest

pm: Be an adult. Grocery shop. Clean.

Tuesday: 

am: short run with Sreenu. 

pm: doubling up at Redline… first an hour of sparring and then skills class with Lyle, finish with vinyasa flow. Keep my head in the game and keep killing this!

Wednesday: 

am: rest?

pm: vinyasa with whitney

thursday: 

am: rest. 

pm: double session! SBC first an hour of technical sparring and then skills class with Lyle, finish with vinyasa flow

Friday: 

am: run with the Redline girls at 6:30am in central. This will be subject to how I am feeling.

pm: rest

Saturday: 

am: rest

pm: rest

Sunday: 

am: Yoga? 

pm: women's class at redline with Pia, sparring/technique work with Lyle post, finish with vinyasa flow

Time to find the balance between rest and overtraining. Wish me luck!

 How do you find the balance between under/overtraining?

making progress.

@ 5 weeks

@ 8 weeks

Damn.

And I still have a long way to go!

Standing tall against sexual violence.

A week ago Pia asked me to write up a blurb on what the upcoming fight means to me. You may be thinking, isn’t that your Haymakers fight? Actually, no. On May 21st I will be participating in a smoker for a really good cause – the fight is at Redline Fight Sports in Central Square, and I hope everyone will be there! I will admit, I kind of fell into this fight. When it was suggested, my first thought was what a good practice round it would make. However, that doesn’t make it any less meaningful – it’s an actual fight and it’s for a really good cause! All proceeds will benefit the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center and I think it’s an excellent way to empower women and raise awareness. Since this fight is not my starting point but a byproduct, I did a lot of deep thinking on what it really meant to me, trying to formulate a thoughtful response. Hopefully I succeeded.

Standing Tall Against Sexual Violence. This fight is not just about empowering women… it’s about creating an environment where they can be empowered. This journey has brought me into contact with an amazing group of women who give wings to my self confidence. A group of women who aren't just there to fight, but are there to empower and raise each other up. I believe firmly in embracing truth and being open: my past includes its own run-ins with sexual and physical violence. Until now, openness and a willingness to share have been my tools to reach out to other women, and I am honored to have this opportunity to broaden my reach. We learn from our mistakes and I can only hope that in doing this fight, I may be able to give some other impressionable women a brief glimpse of what it means to be empowered and to find your own path.

I hope to see you all there on May21st!

Realization.

I've been in knots for days, my stomach revolting. Words from a kind friend just brought it home to me. I know what I'm scared of, I know what I am fighting for. For the first time since my father passed I have a sense of belonging, a sense of true purpose, something I am fighting for. And I don't want it taken away. And guess what? Now that I know what I am fighting for there is no way I am letting anyone take it away from me! Guess what boxing world, I'm here to stay!

Regardless of the results of tomorrow, I'm not going anywhere. This sense of community is something worth fighting for! A special thanks to the 'family' I've found in the redline fight sports gym.

A week in review. Next week’s plan.

This week started with a semi-epic session with Pia followed with by Lyle. Epic in that I was not prepared for a 3 hrs session… didn't eat anywhere near enough during the day! If Lyle is planning on making a Sunday appearance habit going to have to shape up my Sunday eating habits! I rested hard last week. Not a single run. But I feel ready to go for a full fledged week! This coming week has some serious challenges. On Tuesday I will be sparring the girl they are thinking of having me fight for my Haymakers for Hope fight. She's not only been boxing for over 2 years, she also has 15 lbs on me. I may be a little intimidated… possibly a little anxious. I have deferred the choice of fighting her or not to Lyle's judgement. I'm not here to be destroyed… I want this to be a reasonable fight!
Here's what really happened last week:

25 April, Monday: Tired, mentally and physically. Making silly mistakes at work. Rest day.

26 April, Tuesday: Woke up feeling better. Took my adderall in an effort to get paper work done at work (and it worked!) but it meant I was fighting dehydration during my extra long session with Lyle. I made it to Redline at 7pm for the sparring session. Was just Nicole and me, but wow, what a difference it made. I had time to think and make changes. Lyle decided to hurt us, took the session to 10:30 pm, finishing off with 300 squats. Good luck walking tomorrow.

27 April, Wednesday: I can walk. Wow. Unexpected. SO SORE. Yoga was great! Whitney very kindly adjusted the flow for me, with some shortened standing strength, twists and an awesome hero at the end.

28 Aprli, Thursday: Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Pain is bad. Sparring went well, I felt like I made solid progress. Class luckily was easier. Lots of bruises!

29 April, Friday: Slept in. Rest day. Legs felt SO much better but definitely not 100%. Not up for a run, walked a few miles in the awesome sun.

30 April, Saturday: Rest day.

1 May, Sunday: Semi-epic session. Pia followed by Lyle. Didn't eat enough for a 3 hour session! My sparring was sub-par. Too anxious and in my head about Tuesday's sparring.


 
I killed my goals for last week, here's hoping next week can be as good! Goals for this week:

Rest. While I definitely don't need as much rest now, I want to make sure I don't head down the same road of 2 weeks struggling again… have to keep up with myself!

Sparring: This is KEY to my development. I'll be joining the kickboxing girls on Tuesday/Thursday at 7 for some technical sparring and hopefully rocking it!

Yoga: Yoga rocks. Embrace my practice and make sure it's a daily event! Need to continue to work twists into my post workout routine.


So here's how we're going to make these goals reality, the plan for the next week:

Monday:

am: run? Maybe.

pm: Be an adult. Grocery shop. Clean.

Tuesday:

am: rest.

pm: doubling up at Redline… first an hour of sparring and then skills class with Lyle, finish with vinyasa flow. So anxious about this… sparring Melissa Kelly to establish whether I will be fighting her or not!

Wednesday:

am: Easy/short run

pm: vinyasa with whitney

thursday:

am: rest.

pm: double session! SBC first an hour of technical sparring and then skills class with Lyle, finish with vinyasa flow

Friday:

am: run with the Redline girls at 6:30am in central. This will be subject to how I am feeling.

pm: rest

Saturday:

am: rest

pm: rest

Sunday:

am: Yoga?

pm: women's class at redline with Pia, sparring post, finish with vinyasa flow

Rest is so critical, and I need to be on my A game! I successfully pulled myself back from the verge of overtraining. Now to keep myself on my cutting edge!


 What do you do to overcome performance anxiety?

a quick word about yoga

Inspired by Erica Rodefer's post. Find it here: http://blogs.yogajournal.com/topfive/archives/2011/04/5-confessions-of-a-serious-yoga-student.html

Six month ago I met an amazing yoga instructor that changed my practice forever, Whitney. And every time she tells me to close my eyes so no one else can see me, it brings home that my yoga practice is nothing other than that - mine. While I make it to class only once a week, my practice is with me always... its the honesty in my body and in my heart. My practice my own, and in that I can find it whenever the mood strikes... it is not relegated to the mat but more to every move I make. Whenever I close my eyes, stretch my arms to the sky, roll out my spine... I am in my practice. By being honest and willing to assess our shortcomings we are always growing and improving. Always be honest with yourself and the rest will follow! Erica see's her post as confessions... I see them as the amazing honesty we should all strive for!

A special thanks to Whitney for bringing me a bit closer to clarity and opening my mind with her simple but poignant words!

thanks to the girls of redline kickboxing!

So on Tuesday I joined the 7pm Kickboxing Sparring/techniques class at Redline Fight Sports and had a great learning experience. First time I could really start THINKING about what I was doing, make changes, adjust, learn! On Tuesday I had the advantage of it being just Nicole and I - someone I know, but on Thursday there were more girls and I didn't want to piss anyone off my taking their legs out of the equation! To my great relief, they seem to ENJOY being forced to work on their handwork! Was awesome for me, I got some really good work in, took some good punches and hopefully returned in kind. Such an awesome group of girls (thanks again Mel, Mara and Nicole!!)

So the end result is my easy to bruise self is now covered with a nice array of purple polka dots. Go me!

Anyone out there have any recommendations on how to cut down on bruising? 

This particular beauty on my hip is thanks to Lyle deciding to work body shots. I think this is a bit low, what do you think?

maybe not so lucky...

So I may have been a bit quick on the lucky part. Yesterday I went through a wonderful vinyasa yoga flow session with Whitney which felt awesome - my hero was rockin! (For those unfamiliar with the yoga lingo, see the position here - a great quad stretch.) After hearing about the previous evenings multitude of heel raised squats, Whitney kindly put together a flow that transitioned a bit quicker from standing strength than usual and helped me focus on twists (to help with my slip/head turn.) We built a fair amount of heat and I felt great by the end of class. Quads tired but working pretty well!

Before bed I rolled out my legs with my trusty stick, focusing on my quads and calves and giving a quick roll to my back. A little extra love never hurt anyone! (I highly recommend use of the stick and a foam roller, its a great way to give sore muscles a boost.)

So what happened overnight? I had a great nights sleep, and woke up to find stairs suddenly a challenge! Ugh... when Lyle starts yelling at me to sit tonight... grrrraarrrr.

I'm starting to wonder if this delayed onset soreness is age dependent? This is a very recent development for me!

taking a beating... but I keep coming back!

Yesterday was a harsh workout. Harsh I tell you. Lyle thought of all kinds of particularly nice ways to make us fit, but I got to start the evening out right with a little love from Pia. Guess she decided to stop pulling her punches! Yup, beatdown time. Love you Pia!

But if that beatdown wasn't enough, Lyle then proceeded to make us spend 15 straight minutes doing repeated 1-2-1-2-duck-2-1-2-1-duck-1-2.... you get the idea. no rest. seriously, 15 minutes. Turns out even being on the receiving end of that is exhausting! But to finish the night off right there is nothing like doing 25 squats with various pauses. One set? No. 12 sets. that's right 300 squats.

The good news: I can walk. Slowly, but I'm still walking! Wee! Thank god for yoga this evening! (Here's hoping we're not heavy on the standing strength this evening!)

Week in review and this week's training schedule. Rest.

Wow, what an exhausting week… I really paid for that extra run on Sunday. Progress was made, but there can always be more... this time through rest! I'm still fighting the leading edge of over-training.


Here's what really happened last week:

18 April, Monday: TIRED. Somehow managed to get up at 7:40 am run, but when my running partner didn’t show I just did a light 20 minute run, 20 minute walk with some yoga thrown in. Lots of little aches and pains going on in my legs.

19 April, Tuesday: Slept a solid 8 hours, feeling much improved. Class is Lyle was rough, I must have ducked at least 500x… quads will pay…

20 April, Wednesday: Still so tired! Skipped the morning run, just yoga with Whitney’s substitute… slow flow just doesn’t do it for me. Quads exhausted in standing strength.

21 Aprli, Thursday: Exhausted. I somehow made it through class, corner sparring instead of full-fledged sparring.

22 April, Friday: Slept in. Rest day. TIRED. Legs HURT.

23 April, Saturday: Rest day. Feeling a bit better, a bit of yoga. Double downward dog is awesome!

24 April, Sunday: Slept in, had a lazy day followed by a great session with Pia. Was still tired so only sparred 2 rounds with Jen, trying to be more conservative about blowing myself out.

So I see a trend here. Exhausted. Tired. Goals for this week:

Rest. It’s that simple. I never recovered from the last week and it dragged down my training schedule for the entire week. I’m still not even sure I’m recovered. Recovery week is necessary. This week focus on boxing and technique and some yoga and limit the running until I am feeling better.

Sparring: This seems to be key to my development. Trying to up the game here. Pia mentioned joining the kickboxing girls on Tuesday at 7 for some technical sparring and I’m going to try in addition to my Thursday/Sunday routine.

Yoga: Yoga rocks. Can’t wait to have Whitney back on Tuesday! Trying to work twists into my post workout routine.

So here's how we're going to make these goals reality, the plan for the next week:

Monday: 

am: rest.

pm: Be an adult. Grocery shop. Clean.

Tuesday: 

am: rest. 

pm: doubling up at Redline… first an hour of technical sparring and then skills class with Lyle, finish with vinyasa flow

Wednesday: 

am: rest? Easy run?

pm: vinyasa with whitney (somehow that sounds like a palindrome)

Thursday: 

am: rest. 

pm: double session! SBC circuit training followed by skills class and sparring at Redline with Lyle, finish with vinyasa flow

Friday: 

am: run(?) with the Redline girls at 6:30am in central. This will be subject to how I am feeling.

pm: rest

Saturday: 

am: rest

pm: rest

Sunday: 

am: Yoga? 

pm: women's class at redline with Pia, sparring post, finish with vinyasa flow

Rest is so critical, and I need to be on my A game!


How do you pull yourself back from the verge of over training? 

Sunday with Pia

The week in review and next week’s schedule

Was a great week overall. Got a lot done, learned a lot and I even had a decent sparring session on Thursday!


Here's what really happened last week:

11 April, Monday: Sunny. 70 degrees. I went running and couldn't seem to stop! Ran a total of 7 miles.

12 April, Tuesday: Woke up EXHAUSTED. Skipped the circuit, took a 20 minutes power nap which luckily kind of got me through Lyle's class at Redline. I was beat.

13 April, Wednesday: Slept like the dead, no run. Feeling a bit better, went to yoga in the evening and had an awesome session.

14 Aprli, Thursday: Didn't sleep so well. Pretty tired. I spent an hour or so at SBC, shadow boxing and mitt work mostly before heading off to Redline. The sparring actually went great, I really held my own against Meredith for at least the 1^st round. 2^nd round was tough but I hung in there!

15 April, Friday: Running! Relatively short, maybe 4.5 miles. Tired, looking forward to rest!

16 April, Saturday: So much for rest… couldn't resist a naked run with Chris McDougall. I'm going to regret it later but it was awesome to feel the pavement under my toes!

17 April, Sunday: Slept in till 1pm. Needed the rest! So ridiculously tired. Quads and calves are aching in weird ways. Really showed in my sparring, just didn't have the energy to get in there and move.

 

Goal fulfillment for the week was great. I ran a total of 17 miles, sparred twice and had some awesome yoga. Let's keep on this track! My goals for next week are to keep up the good work and make progress. Don't let everyone need to share their opinion stress me out.



The plan for the next week:

Monday:

am: run. Relatively short. 4-6 miles.

pm: unspecified. (hot)

Tuesday:

am: rest.

pm: double session! SBC circuit training followed by skills class and sparring at Redline with Lyle, finish with vinyasa flow

Wednesday:

am: run: 3-4 miles; focus on intervals

pm: vinyasa with whitney

Thursday:

am: rest.

pm: double session! SBC circuit training followed by skills class and sparring at Redline with Lyle, finish with vinyasa flow

Friday:

am: run with the Redline girls at 6:30am in central – 2.5 mi run to and there so definitely a long one! We weren't even just running home!

pm: rest

Saturday:

am: rest

pm: rest

Sunday:

am: rest

pm: women's class at redline with Pia, sparring post, finish with vinyasa flow

There's a good possibility I am going to have to create a break for myself somewhere in this schedule… I'm exhausted, my legs are having weird muscular pain… all signs I am pushing myself too hard at the moment. Can't afford to end up overtrained! Time to use that orthostatic heart rate test!

What's your favorite way to rest?

This week hurt on goal fulfillment.  Purple-Toe limited my ability to run. The toe is back to human color and I can almost bend it. Almost. I plan on running on it tomorrow morning. Well. Bending at least.


Here's what really happened last week:

4 April, Monday: Purple-Toe ridiculously swollen and unhappy. Despite ideas that rest might be good, I only skipped the evening workout at SBC and did adult like things like grocery shopping, probably an hour of active rest.

5 April, Tuesday: Was late to the session at SBC due to work stuff, given that Purple-Toe was not overly concerned. Only mild protest was voiced. I went light at SBC and did the full session at Redline. Was good. Purple-Toe requested only minor modifications to my normal routine.

6 April, Wednesday: Well, the extra rest resulting from my toe apparently results in AWESOME, rocking, great yoga sessions. Felt super strong and rocked the class, apparently I could further my yoga practice if i rested. Winning.

7 Aprli, Thursday: Did the entire 60' circuit at SBC and completed the entire class at Redline. Lyle decided Purple-Toe was reason enough to skip sparring, will wait till Sunday on that. Probably a good call.

8 April, Friday: Toe still swollen, rest day. Some light naked dancing.It feels good to keep moving even when recovering.

9 April, Saturday: Rest day! Managed to get my room cleaned up, super useful day.

10 April, Sunday: By not working out I have somehow become amazing. Happily amazing. Somehow 2 days of rest allowed me to start figuring out slipping! Rest really does work! Didn't translate to my 3 rounds of sparring as I would have liked, but it was good.

 

Purple-Toe wouldn't allow for running. Rest will make a difference! Now for the goals for the coming week:

Increase running mileage: Wasn't this listed last week? Yeah, nullified by toe Plan from last week will be instituted this week.

Sparring: The girls at SBC have invited me to spar with them T/W/Th, hoping to get at least 2 day adherence there. I plan on sparring Thursday with Lyle and Sunday with Pia.

Yoga: Yoga rocks. Will attempt to continue on this follow through.

So here's how we're going to make these goals reality, the plan for the next week:

Monday:

am: run. Relatively short. 4-6 miles.

pm: unspecified. (hot)

Tuesday:

am: rest.

pm: double session! SBC circuit training followed by skills class and sparring at Redline with Lyle, finish with vinyasa flow

Wednesday:

am: run: 3-4 miles; focus on intervals

pm: vinyasa with whitney (somehow that sounds like a palindrome)

Thursday:

am: rest.

pm: double session! SBC circuit training followed by skills class and sparring at Redline with Lyle, finish with vinyasa flow

Friday:

am: run with the Redline girls at 6:30am in central – 2.5 mi run to and there so definitely a long one! We weren't even just running home!

pm: rest

Saturday:

am: rest

pm: ibid

Sunday:

am: Yoga? 

pm: women's class at redline with Pia, sparring post, finish with vinyasa flow

 So how do I take that new found information on how much rest seems to help me, physically and mentally? Not sure, that will definitely be a blog post on Tuesday. I feel like a sexy bitch today.


How much rest do you need? 7.

My pretty face and a fist, the conclusion.

It's not so bad. Really. It isn't. 
Okay, first a quick replay of what happened last Thursday evening. I was paired against Heather, a former Golden Glover. Taller than me, but definitely lighter.

Round One: First couple hits she lands aren't so bad! She was going easy on me. I land a few solid punches, and bam, Ms. Nice Girl checks out and the Golden Glover appears. Knocks the ill-fitting head gear right off my head! Other than the multiple readjustment of headgear, I managed the first round pretty well. Finish winded but raring to go.

Round Two: We've appropriated different headgear that seems to stay on better. (Despite being sweat soaked, shower time please!) There will be no breaks in this round! First 2 minutes pass in a flash, I'm breathing heavy but I'm still moving. A solid cross connects to my right ear; my neck and shoulder scream and then I start running. Yes, running like a girl. The punches kept coming at my face and I couldn't seem to get myself oriented… so I ran! The last minute was not pretty.

Conclusion: There is a metric TON to learn, and it'll only come from experience. Gonna have to do a whole lot more of this! I'm game to learn and planning on sparring a minimum of 2 times a week. Hopefully more. Despite the purple toe saga (twisted in Pia's Sunday class, still swollen, still discolored but getting better) I plan on sparring tomorrow evening with Lyle at Redline. Too bad it's my lead foot, anyone who thinks to stomp on it better plan on Jaryn swinging to inflict pain. Seriously. I may do something I regret if that case comes to play. Jaryn angry isn't pretty. Third person reference not pretty!

I picked up my new head hear last night, Rival's High Performance Training Headgear in a small (grey/black.) Fits well, there will be no rest for it falling off! Review to follow!

What's your favorite post fight/spar ritual?
(Post note: thanks to the copious application of ice my screaming neck and shoulder were happy in the morning. Ice like it's your job!)

Training review, schedule for week of 4 april 2011

So the good news I can say I made progress on the goals I had laid out, and while not 100% fulfillment, my schedule held up pretty well. 


Here's what really happened last week:

28 March, Monday: Ended up being an 'active' rest day, with an hour or so of brisk walking. Work ran late and morning run was traded in for sleep.

29 March, Tuesday: Circuit at SBC (60') followed by 10' of abs and headed over to Redline. Great session at Redline, nearly 2 hours of work! Turns out they already have the head gear I was planning to order on the way, go Redline – glad to give you the profits! Lyle decided I would be sparring on Thursday – nervous!

30 March, Wednesday: overslept till 7:50 am but still made it to the Cambridge Joggers meet up run – I'm supposed to be the organizer, doesn't do to be late! We had a great run, a nice pace for about an hour! Other than the one hill my legs felt surprisingly good… tired, but good. Vinyasa yoga with Whitney was amazing… it really does feel like it's massaging my insides! Need to expand my twist work during the week.

31 March, Thursday: slept in till 9 as was the plan, woke up to an email informing me all plans were scrapped, this would be a long day! I packed EVERYTHING I possibly thought I would need at the end of a long, wet snow/rain, sparring packed evening and headed into work. Felt like a pack horse! Managed to wrap work up by 7ish and headed straight to Redline, let myself just slowly work my head into the game. Sparring went well! It's a whole nother post I feel, but I'm definitely raring for more!

1 April, Friday: April Fool's snow/slush/snot! Run in vibram's in over an inch of slush? I think not! I woke up, took one look outside and went back to sleep. Became an unofficial rest day just that quickly when I didn't get home from work till 7pm. Thanks to consistent icing of my neck, I ended up not being too sore.

2 April, Saturday: Rest day! And it was awesome, ran around on errands with fellow fighter Bryan Yong and in general just tried to smile and be happy. Probably got 3-4 miles of walking on along the way!

3 April, Sunday: Conscientious rest day more than worth it! Even post Pia's class my legs feel great! I even did something crazy and agreed to fight in Pia's May 21^st fight for rape awareness – will be a great training fight! For the not quite as good side of things… managed to twist my left big toe on a jump rope handle… hopefully careful application of ice helps this one along as well! I have an 8am running commitment tomorrow morning and vibram's aren't so forgiving on toe injuries!

 

There were some great highlights to the week, got some running in, yoga… now for the goals for the coming week:

Increase running mileage: I will continue to lead the meet up group morning runs on Monday and Wednesday, but will be switching my Friday run to a Redline girls run @ 6:30 in Central Square with Pia and Emily and others!

Sparring: Hopefully spare at least 2x a week! Pia invited me to join them for post Sunday class sparring and I am definitely in for next week, hopefully with a Thursday spar as well!

Yoga: in addition to Wednesday vinyasa yoga with Whitney I need to be sure to go through my flow and integrate poses post class. Especially twists… I noticed in class my twist flexibility was hurting on my right side.

So here's how we're going to make these goals reality, the plan for the next week:

Monday:

am: run. Relatively short. 3-4 miles.

pm: mitt and class at SBC.

Tuesday:

am: rest.

pm: double session! SBC circuit training followed by skills class and sparring at Redline with Lyle, finish with vinyasa flow

Wednesday:

am: short run, just 3-4 miles focus on intervals

pm: vinyasa with whitney

Thursday:

am: rest.

pm: double session! SBC circuit training followed by skills class and sparring at Redline with Lyle, finish with vinyasa flow

Friday:

am: run with the Redline girls at 6:30am in central – 2.5 mi run to and there so definitely a long one!

pm: rest

Saturday:

am: rest

pm: rest

Sunday:

am: Yoga?

pm: women's class at redline with Pia, sparring post, finish with vinyasa flow

 

Here's hoping for even better adhearance than last week! Do you think this is realistic? What would you do differently?

My pretty face and a fist.

I have never taken a punch to the face. 


Ever. 


Yet, today, I am putting myself in the way of flying fists.


Why would I do this? In honor of my father, to raise money to put his killer on the ropes. 


My last post spoke about the loss of my father… It was quick: six weeks from diagnosis to death. A sudden infection took this competitive racquetball player down fast.  Before we knew it he had lost 20 lbs and within six weeks he was gone. In those weeks my father, who was 57, went from looking about 40ish, fit and athletic to looking like a withered 80 yr old man-- I still cannot bring myself to look at those final pictures of him. 


In the year and half since his passing I’ve been trying find ways to honor him as best I could.  I simply didn't feel comfortable asking people to contribute money to the usual charity runs, rides and races. These are things I do anyway-- can I really ask people to donate money for doing what I do every day?  Along came Haymakers For Hope, which raises money for the Jimmy Fund and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.   Given my father’s passion for wrestling and his life long devotion to sports, I finally have found a way to raise money and awareness in a way I feel he'd respect and appreciate.


Which brings us back to why my face and a fist have a meeting this evening. I’ve reached the point in my training where it’s time for me to spar! This is something completely new to me, totally outside my comfort zone… a whole new skill to undertake. Sure, in only four weeks, I've learned a lot of punches, a few slips, a lot of technique that I am still struggling to absorb.   But now it’s time to find out what happens under pressure and learn from it. Cause all the technique in the world won’t help me if I just crumble under pressure! I’m really excited… and understandably scared.   While I’m hoping to avoid remodeling the nose my father gave me, I do know that taking a punch is inevitable – and the sooner I do the better I will be at it! 


So here’s to taking down cancer with a solid one two punch!

Poll: Have you ever taken intentionally (or unintentionally!) taken a punch to the face?

http://haymakersforhope.com

A few thoughts that came to me today

So I just read a blog entry by Jody Schoger (http://womenwcancer.blogspot.com) that got me doing some heavy thinking on the ‘blame game.’

He has esophageal cancer. Oh. Did he smoke?

She has skin cancer. Oh. Did she lay out?

We are a society that seeks to assign blame and reason to everything, probably in most cases in hope that by assigning blame to some outside factor we’ll somehow be safe from the indiscriminate heavy hand of cancer, just by avoiding said factor.

About 18 months ago my father died from esophageal cancer. After reading Jody’s article I’ve come to realize whenever I discuss him I often find myself mentioning his risk factors even without being asked. Yes, he had been a smoker. Yes, he was a recovering alcoholic. But he had quit both 5 years before! But he was only 57 years old! But he worked out at least 3-4 days a week, a competitive athlete! Should the tragedy that befell my father really be summed up by what his risk factors were? Should my mind really dwell on those things quite so much? There are enough cautionary tales out there to make clear that no matter what the risk factors, good people who do all the right things fall to cancer every day.

By keeping our eyes focused on risk factors, we marginalize the tragedy… My father was a healthy, vital man who up until 6 weeks before he died no one would have ever thought he was sick. He was a doting grandfather, a racquetball player extraordinaire, the smartest computer engineer I knew. We all make mistakes over the course of our lives… let these not be the things that define our mortality, but instead focus on the humanity.

Even if we don’t seek to assign blame but rather to understand, be aware of how asking these questions can cause us to trivialize cancer… and cancer will never be trivial! 

Do you ever find yourself to focussed on the how and why?

training for the coming week 3.27.2011

It’s Sunday evening. My legs are suitably tired from a 90 minute session with Pia over at Redline Fight Sports. My belly is making small murmurings of happiness around the blue burger from All Star Sandwich Bar. (That first bite post Pia’s session was ORGASMIC – perfectly rare, tender beef slathered in buffalo sauce and blue cheese… mrrrow.) Ten quarts of chicken chili are simmering on the stove. (Two weeks’ worth of protein powerhouse meals.) I have a bottle of Original Sin hard cider in my hand and the world is good. Guess that means it’s time to write a post about the week in review. J Flo Rida’s ‘Club Can’t Handle Me’ which seems an appropriate sound track – I did get yelled at for dancing TOO much last week! J

Last Sunday I posted a training schedule, and I have to say, for better or worse, what actually happened was drastically different. Here’s what actually happened and why.

Monday:  Woke up with my belly sour and very unhappy. Took an extra  hour or 2 of sleep, which really didn’t help. Despite feeling like crap and tired all day the session at SBC wasn’t so bad but legs were very heavy – not a promising way to return after 3 days rest! (Maybe the Saturday dancing storm WAS a bit much. )

Tuesday: Slept in, felt a bit more rested but nowhere near a ‘catch up.’ Strange muscle twitch all day in my left forearm. Double session at SBC followed by Redline (6 to 10pm)– double the plyo’s! was probably a total of 40 minutes of plyo’s not even sure how I was moving at the end of the session at Redline – but I was! I really enjoyed w’s teaching style, definitely going to try to see him more. He has a Wednesday morning session @ 7:15… it’s a thought… but not sure how I will handle being at Redline only 9 sparse hours after leaving!

Wednesday: Slept in. Missed yoga, no thanks to work. Did a 30 minute stretching session at home. Caught up on groceries and home stuff.

Thursday: Woke up EXHAUSTED. Is there no end to this week? Can’t I get enough sleep? Double session went surprisingly well. I showed up feeling tired and unmotivated but at the end of the circuit Dan had us running lines like mad, which left me feeling great! Apparently if I’m feeling down it’s time for a run!! My mental tiredness showed through on mitt work with Jeff but legs still felt awesome as I made the trip over to Redline. Lyle put me through my paces, was definitely tired at the end of it all! By 10pm I was ready to just lay down but stuck around to get some slip drills to work on/visualize on my own.

Friday: Interview in the morning and meeting Andrew in the evening! I knew I was going to have a nutty morning, was up at 7 feeling pretty rested. No real workout for the day but ~5 miles of walking around and about. A good active rest day.

Saturday: Rest day!!! Woke up at 10 am already feeling a ton more rested. Other than walking the dogs kept mostly off my feet and made it a real rest day.

Sunday: Slept until 10am, first day in a while woke up feeling RESTED. Let’s see if I can hold that feeling more than 23 hrs this week. Decided since Saturday became a rest day to ease into things with Pia’s women’s only class at redline, having heard good things. Given it was at 5pm, seemed a great way to ease into the week of training. Was well worth it! Pia gave a great cardio session with a great amount of technique worked in. I finished it off with an AWESOME well earned burger at the all star sandwich bar. Orgasmic. Amazing. I’m gonna do this every Sunday. What a way to start the training week.

So where do we go from here? What is the plan for next week? Well I think it’s become obvious the lifting schedule is benefiting no one. I need to work my running back into the schedule and for the most part retire most of the lifting, except for shoulders and upper back. So let’s try to put something together, shall we?

Goals for next week: Start ramping up the running schedule again. Work in a shoulder/upper back lift. DO NOT MISS YOGA.  Here’s a schedule to accomplish that.

Monday: 

am: run. Relatively short. 2-3 miles.

pm: mitt and class at SBC.

Tuesday:

am: rest.

pm: double session! SBC circuit training followed by skills class and sparring at Redline with Lyle

Wednesday:

am: short run, just 2-3 miles focus on intervals

pm: vinyasa with whitney

Thursday:

am: rest.

pm: double session! SBC circuit training followed by skills class and sparring at Redline with Lyle

Friday:

am:  short run, just 2-3 miles focus on intervals

pm: rest

Saturday:

am: rest

pm: rest

Sunday:

am: rest

pm: women’s class at redline with Pia

Here’s hoping this is a realistic schedule, opinions anyone? What exercises would you recommend for my shoulders and upper back?