Tuesday, May 31, 2011

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.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

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.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

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?

Monday, May 9, 2011

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?

Friday, May 6, 2011

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

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!
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Monday, May 2, 2011

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.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

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?