Monday, Monday

This Monday consisted of at least a two hour workout for both of us.  In addition to our regular Monday evening class with Zach, Jess also took an early morning class at SB and I went for a run.  After class we worked some technique with Zach and our moral support (and talented videographer), Val.  Today's technique work was....slipping! What felt like hours upon hours of slipping.  Here is Jess looking like a beast working the rope:

We also used this funny little bag that I'm sure has a name, I just don't know it.  Here I am looking really awkward using this silly thing:

Oh, were you hoping to see the video where this surprisingly heavy bag hit me in the forehead? Sorry.  Not happening.

Also, take a look at Val dropping it low!

These pictures are surprisingly similar to the dance moves Val busts out during class.  Maybe that's why she's better at slipping than I am!!

Curve Ball

Tonight I got a call from one of the Haymakers representatives saying that my opponent has dropped out of the fight!  Luckily they were able to find another girl to take her place, which is pretty fortunate considering we're almost halfway through the training period.  My new opponent weighs more than I do, so I'm going to have to maintain weight and prepare to fight a bigger girl rather than dropping weight to fight someone smaller.... but at least I still have a match!

I'll take the rest of tonight to think positive, thankful thoughts about this new girl who agreed to step in so late in the game, but then beginning tomorrow it will be time to focus on kicking her butt (Keeping it PG - this is a family blog!).  Thanks new girl!

-Nora

Saturday morning sweat

One of the big advantages we have training out of Striking Beauties is working with Jaime Clampitt, a world champion pro boxer.  To read more about Jaime, check out her bio on the Women's Boxing Archive Network here.  It's extensive, but it basically sums up how awesome she is without us having to list it all out here on the blog (also, how pretty is she?! What is with all these gorgeous girls also being amazing fighters?!).  If you want to get a taste of her in action watch this clip from her impressive win over Mia St. John in 2007:

Jaime vs. Mia St. John

Jaime is incredibly knowledgeable about the sport (obviously) and has a great talent for doling out advice to each of us based on our natural styles.  Working with her is so valuable and we jump at any opportunity to fit in a session with her!

This weekend we made the trek to Providence, along with Shelly, to work out at Balletto's and get in a little technique work with the champ...

Jess working on the bag

Jess working on the bag while Shelly works one-on-one with Jaime

Poor quality (or artsy?) shot of Shelly working with Jaime

One more step in the right direction!  Hopefully we'll get some more time in with her soon!

Good Morning, SB!

The only good thing about trainer Jess's 6am class is that your body isn't awake enough to register the pain she's inflicting on you.

The Gym

As we mentioned before, a large motivating factor for us is to show that we can come from our pink, all-women's suburban gym and represent against the classic "boys' club" boxing gyms.  We have an amazing support system at Striking Beauties from the trainers to our fellow members and we couldn't be doing this without them!

First, let's give a shout-out to our trainer, Zach Reay:

Don't recognize Zach? Probably because he's

not wearing his all-white sweatsuit....

Zach kicks our butt and entertains us all at the same time.  Classes with Zach have almost become too full because the ladies are so drawn to his charm.  The hardest part of our training so far may just be working to resist the allure of Big Z.  Ok, no, it's getting punched in the face by 4x World Champion Jaime Clampitt...that's the hardest part.  But resisting Zach's charm is a close second.

For the past month or so we've also been training alongside Striking Beauties' owner Dena Paolino and member Shelly who are both participating in their first fights in April and fellow members Val and Margie who aren't fighting, but are just awesome!  We've also had lots of amazing sparring partners helping us so far including Haymakers' own Julie Kelly, Southern New England Golden Gloves finalists Amanda and Mel, and World Champion Jaime Clampitt!!  We basically hang out with boxing celebrities, no big deal.

Jess and Nora with Striking Beauties Magen and Tina.

Haymakers for Hope

Haymakers for Hope first came on our radar when "smoking hot redhead" (trademark - celebrity DJ Ramiro from Jam'n 94.5) Julie Kelly started working out at Striking Beauties.  Julie is not just a pretty face and chipper ball of energy, she is also a two-time New York City Golden Gloves champion and cancer survivor.  In 2009 Julie co-founded Haymakers for Hope as a way to continue the fight against cancer and raise money for the Jimmy Fund and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

Julie encouraged a few of us at Striking Beauties to sign up for the event, and after the seemingly rocket science-like task of matching potential fighters based on size, age, and experience, only Jess was matched with a fight.  A few weeks later one of the female fighters dropped out and Nora was able to weasel her way into the event.  In total there will be about 28 fights and only 2 women's matches.

Fight night is on May 17th at the House of Blues (or Hard Rock Cafe as Nora was telling people for an entire night...) but the first important milestone will be meeting our opponents in the ring on March 18th for a sparring session.  Assuming all goes well and we're evenly matched with our opponents then the fight will officially be on and we can begin fundraising!  As soon as fundraising information becomes available we'll have to start our hard-core efforts to get to $2,000 each by May 17th!

About Jessica

I'm 31 years old, married, and the mama to a 16 month old little girl named Emmeline. I'm from Cumberland, RI and recently moved to North Attleboro, MA. I work as a corporate actions analyst for an investment management company in Boston. I'm also working on earning my MBA from Suffolk University.

I'm no crazy athlete - I played soccer in high school. I coached high school JV soccer and played co-ed indoor soccer in college but nothing competitive. I started running and kick boxing in college to stay in shape. I like to run the occassional 5K but I'm definately not looking to win the race (I just want to know I can finish it)!

 I've been working out at Striking Beauties for about 3 years now. I loved the boxing and the Muay Thai classes. The workouts were more challenging and more interesting than hitting the treadmill at those $10/month gyms. I was hooked on SB! I loved it so much that I was in boxing classes through my entire pregnancy. After having a baby I returned to boxing to lose the baby weight.

Now that I'm training for Haymakers for Hope (H4H) life is crazy. My weekly routine consists of running, bootcamp classes, boxing classes, sparring, shadow boxing, and small group training sessions. Balancing family, work, school, and training has been tough to say the least. I wouldn't be able to train for this fight if I didn't have the full support of my husband, Josh, and daughter. We are also blessed with many family members that help make it possible for me to drag myself into the gym. Thank you Gravel's, Joyce's, Pellerin's, and Lamarre's. And thank you to SB for providing babysitting!