Anonymous.

Less than a month til fight!

Due to one belle dropping out and another breaking her wrist, they have had to change a few matches and I now have a new opponent (no longer the girl pictured with me above).  The good news is that I'll now be fighting a righty, and not a southpaw.  This makes training simpler.  But she is anonymous.  I don't know anything about her, and I won't spar her before the fight so it will all be a surprise. Come and see what happens!

I feel great.  Physically, I'm healthy and working hard.  Mentally, I'm ready.  Emotionally, I had no idea how intense the fundraising would be. Reading all of the names that the donations are honoring is humbling, and I'll do my best to honor them by giving this fight 100%.  You guys are making me soft though!  I'm supposed to be tough and the other day I started bawling at the bus stop because an anonymous donor gave a very generous $295 to my page to get me to exactly my goal of $5,000!!!   If that weren't enough to make me cry then here's the message that came with it...

"Strength does not come from winning.  Your struggles develop your strengths.  When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength."  

Are you kidding me?  I'm crying again writing this.  Anonymous, I can't send you a thank you note so I hope that you are reading and know how deeply your generous act of kindness touched me.  Your message dwells within me.  Thank you.  

I have received donations from strangers, people from my past who I haven't seen in years, and of course my very best friends and family who are always in my corner.  Because of you, we have raised nearly $6,000 so far to fight breast cancer.  Double my original goal!  I appreciate that you could donate many places for this cause, and it means so much to me that you have chosen to do it by supporting me as well. Now, if you could just start leaving much meaner messages for me it would be helpful.  Boxers don't cry at bus stops. Stop making me so soft.  :)  

38 days til fight

38 days until fight.   I've come a long way.  You do, indeed, get used to getting punched in the face (but there are still some that make you swear).  My black eye has finally gone away after a month (do I have some sort of healing problem or something?)  I've managed not to get another one.  That's no small victory. In fact, it is pretty huge because defense was very challenging for me at first.  Offense has always been my thing.  From the very first time my trainer saw me in the ring he said "You may live in Dover, but you're all JP in the ring."  (It's where I'm from.) That has stuck, and my boxing nickname is officially "JP".  It's because I can tend to look like a street fighter rather than a boxer.  We've had some good laughs about my gut instincts when I'm behind.  I lift my leg to kick and start throwing wild schoolyard punches...but hey, whatever it takes.  :)

So many emotions.  I am definitely on a roller coaster.  One week I'm on top, feeling unbeatable mentally and physically -  already starting to think about training for the Golden Gloves.  The next week, I can't wait for October 18th so I can curl up on my couch and never think about boxing again.  It's all mental. Juggling this training schedule/intensity and 4 kids with all of their activities, unending requests to eat and have clean laundry is sometimes overwhelming (and sometimes it doesn't all get done...smell my son's football practice pants.).  What I've noticed though is when I go through these short periods of feeling overwhelmed I come back stronger than before.  I come back with a renewed sense of energy and confidence.  I'm giddy in the gym again.  I think they're growing pains from being pushed outside of my comfort zone.

Through these down times our trainer, Sione, has carried me through...knowing exactly how hard to press, and when to give me a day off.  He's shown me my strengths and helped me define my style.  He's taught me about my weaknesses and is training them away.  I have surrendered this process to him and I trust him entirely.  I know first hand how talented he is as a trainer, and although he's humble and quiet about his boxing career, I have learned that he used to be in Holyfield's camp, training with him, preparing him for a big fight.  I know he knows what he's doing, so it's easy to trust him.  Training 3 women for a fight must emotionally exhaust him though, especially when there are tears (and there are sometimes), but he doesn't show it.  He's our big, bad, Tongan teddy bear...or Charlie, as he's been called in the gym, with us as his Angels.  :)  

Anyone in the world could do this if it were easy,  so I embrace some struggle.  The struggle also bonds my team together, and this makes us stronger.  Each of us fighters understands one another like no one else does, and this creates unity.  We support one another but fight each other as hard as we can so that fighting our opponents will then be easy.  We punch without mercy out of love, and want 3 victories (and a crazy after-party!).  There has been some blood and bruises but never hard feelings.

The other night I was lying in bed with a heating pad on my back and ice on my face (surrounded by laundry waiting to be folded), wondering why I was doing this, and I saw a few donations come into my inbox from friends and neighbors, and I smiled.  Just knowing that there are so many of you thinking of me and supporting me through this process energizes me to go back at it again tomorrow, and knowing that your support is helping to raise money for such a great cause puts it all into perspective.  This is a very special and unique time of my life that I'll never forget, and all of your support will be etched into my heart forever.  I'll always remember...my first donation, my family from Florida who are all coming up to cheer me on, my neighbor who brought my family dinner because she knew I didn't have time to prepare anything, my long, lost, old friends who I haven't seen in many years who cared enough to donate, my college room mate offering to make Team Amy t-shirts, a stranger who gave a very generous donation, another neighbor who met me at the bus stop with croissants so I'd have breakfast before training, a gym friend who courageously encouraged me to skip a workout to go to Mass to get my head straight, my whole town that seems to be arranging party buses to the fight to support Katie and me, a former Haymaker who works the night shift and comes right to training and then stays late to spar with us - on no sleep...just because others did it for him while he was training,  those of you who have followed my crazy blog and have reached out to me, those who have shared my story with your friends, everyone who has bought a ticket, my faithful mother-in-law who understands me and wholeheartedly supports me, my amazing Husband and kids...for loving this crazy girl.   I will not forget any of this.

  

Thank each and every one of you for carrying me through this, and helping me to reach my minimum fundraising goal.  This alone is a huge relief for me.  It takes away a lot of stress.  Of course, because it is for charity, I'd like to do my very best so I'm setting my personal goal to at least $5K.  If you haven't gotten your tickets yet (they will sell out) please come.  It will be a fun night.  My team went to the Royale this weekend to watch some pro boxing and to check out the venue and it is going to be great.  A real intimate, club setting.  And if you can't come, please consider a donation, large or small.   XOXO http://donate.haymakersforhope.org/fundraise?fcid=252741

 - "JP"

Media Day

Last Sunday all the Haymakers' Belles met at Nonantum Boxing Club in Newton for media and sparring day. It was the big day where we got to spar our actual opponent for two 2 minute rounds to get comfortable with each other and make sure it was a good match.   It was also the day where we filmed our entrance videos for fight night.

Our Haymakers FA Boxing team (Katie, Annie, Sione, Kathy and me) met and headed over together.  We had to go wearing dress clothes so we could take our "before" picture.  It was strange seeing each other in anything other than sweaty, stinky Lululemon.

When we arrived we took a few photos and quickly changed into our workout clothes and began warming up.  I had met some of the other Belles before so spent some time catching up and meeting new ones.  It is a bit of an awkward feeling when you're in a room filled with opponents...who are all working together for a common charity goal...who are all really good people...who you then have to go punch in the face.  Do you become friendly with your opponent?  Do you keep your distance so you can mentally fight her later?  Does she want to talk to you?   Is it okay to be friendly with two Belles who are fighting each other?  All of these things ran through my head, but ultimately decided that we were all part of the same team, experiencing very similar journeys, and there shouldn't be any reason for awkwardness.  After all, my FA Team and I punch each other in the face nearly every day and we are great friends.  In fact, training so hard together has bonded us very quickly and firmly.  I am so thankful to have this experience with them.

Katie (on the right in the above picture) is from my town and church, also has 4 kids, and works full-time at her own company.  She has been training with me since the beginning. She is so focused.  She is the type of person who doesn't do anything half way and sets high expectations for herself and meets them.  I admire her, love her humor that lightens the pressure, and am so proud of her.  When I am feeling overwhelmed she gets it, and that is often all I need...someone who really understands what I'm going through.

Annie (in middle in orange above) is a trainer at Fitness Advantage.  About a week and a half before media day she got a call asking if she would like to jump into Haymakers (1/2 way through training) to replace a fighter who was injured or dropped out.  It was funny because literally the night before we were running and we asked her if she would consider doing it and her answer was "probably someday".  She didn't hesitate when she was asked, and completely threw herself into training, as she is not a boxer.  I have never seen anyone work so hard and improve so much in a week and a half.  She's truly amazing and I can't wait to see how good she is going to be in October.  She's also a Mom and funny enough...we share the exact same birthday!   She never, ever stops smiling and her positive attitude is infectious.  She keeps me going even when I am exhausted.

Both of these ladies are such a blessing, and they'll always be very special to me.  We have formed a solid team and we stood strong together on media/sparring day watching as each one of us faced our opponents and giggling as we posed for pictures.

The three of us were lucky enough to spar first, getting it out of the way.  Katie began, followed by Annie and then me.  I was calm and confident in the ring.  We all did very well. Now we know a little something about our opponents and our trainer, Sione, knows a lot about them.  He's able to use this information to tailor our training to our specific opponents.  This is huge.  One enormous thing we learned about my opponent is that she is a lefty, a southpaw.  This changes some things for me.

After sparring we transformed into stars.  We were posing for still pictures, doing interviews, and taping all sorts of segments for our entrance video...complete with smoke machines, people spritzing us with water, fans blowing our hair, and sledgehammers.  Yes, pink sledgehammers.  You'll just have to come to the fight in order to see it!  (BTW...tickets are selling fast.  Don't miss out.  Get yours here:  http://donate.haymakersforhope.org/fundraise?fcid=252741)

In my video I dedicated my fight to 3 people...my friend Denise, a Mom of 4 young children, who was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer.  She wasn't given very much hope but has won the fight!  When I am overwhelmed or tired all I have to do is image the fight she fought and it inspires me.

I also dedicate my fight to a beautiful little girl named Emily, whose Mother lost her battle to breast cancer.  I see her every week and wish I could change fate for her.  I am inspired by her power to overcome such a great loss, and her incredibly strong father who is raising her alone, and doing it so very well.

Finally, to Dave's family in memory of "Jammy" who lost her very long fight to breast and other cancers.  She battled cancer over and over again and smiled and laughed through it all, truly making each day with her family count.  A lesson to keep close to my heart.

Sadly, I could dedicate my fight to so many more friends who have or are battling breast (and other) cancer. If I weren't so shy to speak on film I would have kept going.  :)   You are all in my heart as I fundraise for this very important cause. Thank you to all of my supporters!

So media/sparring day was a success.  (I can't wait to see the video.) It was more comfortable sparring then posing and filming.  It felt silly and we laughed a lot, but I also took moments to absorb the fun of it because after these 4 months are over I go back to laundry, dishes and carpool...or do I? ...