All week I’ve been trying to balance resting, cardio, boxing and attending the fights. THANK GOODNESS I have an awesome boss who gave me the whole week off so I could focus on my training and deal with the up in the air schedule of the Golden Gloves.
Monday
On Monday I knew I wouldn’t have to weigh in no matter what. Even though I have a sub, my students have an important audition later this week so I had to pop in and rehearse them. Also, I never had time to get them in to costumes, so I stayed and did that too. Next thing I knew, it was almost lunch time. So I packed up at work and went to find some lunch. After wandering around target for what felt like FOREVER looking for food I knew I could eat, I finally settled on some low sodium lunch meat and a few side snacks. I sat and ate my lunch outside, enjoying the sunshine. All the while, everyone I know is texting me to find out if what my fight schedule was. Same answer: still waiting. Then I stopped by what I call my Sweat Gym. For the last 6 months, there has been a handful of times that I wished I could go for a run but it was nasty outside. Recently, I have to stick to a strict cardio schedule regardless of the weather. So a coworker told me about her gym close to school. I got the 3 day pass. Of course, they offered me such a good price that I ended up joining. It’s going to be nice having access to good equipment when I need it. They also have a pool and sauna. I didn’t work out, just signed paperwork. Next thing I knew, it was time to train.
I went to boxing training and did my fight week workout. It’s still intense but in different ways and is training my mind as much as my body. Don’t want to give out any secrets………… My coach thought it would be a good idea to attend the fights that night, even though we didn’t know anyone who was on the bout schedule. It would be a good way to get nerves out. After my workout I stopped by home to grab my premeasured meal and headed to the fights. When I got there, I saw the brackets and full schedule were posted. I was so relieved! At least I’d have an idea of when I was fighting!!! I even got a bye on the first round, which means my opponent will have already fought once. I stood texting and calling my fellow fighters for about an hour, figuring out the schedule for the week. I didn’t stay for the rest of the fights because I knew I’d be back the next night.
Tuesday
On Tuesday’s I do 4 am cardio. (Yes I read that in a Mean Girls voice) I’ve been doing it for a few weeks now and recently I’ve taken it indoors for a few different reasons. So I got up at 4 am, out the door by 4:30 and hitting it by 5:00 at the Sweat Gym. (Privately owned, swanky, they even have TVs 🙂 ) I do 45-50 minutes or so of cardio, depending on traffic because I know by 6:00 AM I need to be in the sauna if I want to have a long time to shower and putz around before I go to work. BUT TODAY I don’t have to go to work! I get to go weigh in my fellow fighter! So I follow the above schedule to make sure I’m on time.
I head to Starbucks to get my coffee and cram a protein shake. I had to sit at Starbucks and send a few emails to prep everything for the day. Then I head to the Colorado Golden Gloves Gym (CGGG) to weigh in Dawson. I had already texted him to make sure he was at weight and on the way. No trash bags for him, phew. (See my first weigh in experience here, next weigh in for me is Friday) The CGGG is about 30 mins away and I make it 2 seconds before him. We go in. He weighs. I ask about his opponent, we leave. It was really quick. Then I headed to Trader Joes and prepped all my food for the days to come. Time to train!
Boxing training on Tuesday felt really strong. I’m feeling really ready! Again….no spoilers here. Then it was time to get Dawson ready and all the gear ready for the fight. When you are in a sanctioned fight, there are lots of pieces to consider. There’s a long list of supplies, snacks, and equipment you need and I’m very list orientated. So I made up a gear bag list with my coach and packed it to make sure we have everything. That sucker is packed. Also it eases my type A mind for when it comes time for my fight FRIDAY. Before I knew it, Dawson was at the gym and it was time to go.
Again, I stopped at home for my preportioned meal. I made two stops on the way to get things we forgot. Behind the scenes of a boxing fight is very interesting and I witnessed everything first hand. I think I’ll make it it’s own post based on the length of this one. Dawson fought around 9:15 and lost in a split decision. It took me forever to get to bed.
Wednesday
The plan was to get up and go to work because I didn’t have a sweat workout or weigh in to do, why not use the morning to go to work where I already have a sub? Well, I woke up to about 4-5 inches of snow and blizzard conditions. School was closed. There was no where to go. No where to feel guilty about not going. Weird. Back to bed.
The next step in the plan was to get some equipment I needed. Jump rope and cocoa butter Vaseline. (Essentials for a boxer, obviously!) So we got up at a normal time and headed to Target. It was bad but not BAD outside. I’m from the midwest. By the time we got home however, it was really bad. Blizzard bad. No wonder they are calling it a blizzard!
Step three in the day: boxing training. There was no way my car could possibly make it that far without getting stuck. I felt horribly guilty about canceling on my trainer but I had to. I think this was the first time ever that I’ve canceled the day of. Later in the day, the gym was officially closed anyway! So again, nothing to feel guilty about. Weird. I couldn’t go if I wanted to now…
Step four in the plan was to attend the fights again. No one from my team was fighting but the first round of my competition was so of course I’m going to attend. In the early afternoon they cancelled the fights. The blizzard has now shut down my whole day. SO I was stuck in limbo again. If they are rescheduling all the bouts from today, what does that mean for my bracket? What does that mean for the other guys going from my gym? Argh! I had just felt some relief from knowing when I was going to fight and now everything is messy again!
Overall the Golden Gloves have been quite the journey. I feel like one of those girls after she gets cut from the Bachelor but I’m learning so much about myself! I’m better at some parts of it than I expected and worse at others. The waiting, the lack of sleep, the workouts, the diet…….I’ll have so much to say when this is all over. But for now Golden Gloves, I still accept this rose.