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