My Family

My Family
Photo courtesy of Debbie Montecalvo Photography

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Back from Hibernation

Well folks, dust off those computer screens- it's 2015 and I have FINALLY registered for that half marathon.  I am sure only my family and friends are reading this post (thank you for humoring me :) so you know that a foot injury and subsequent surgery side-lined me for over a year from running.  After recently watching my little brother complete his first ever marathon- which was the Boston Marathon to boot- I have become re-inspired to hit the pavement.  I have never been so proud of him ( and if you knew him you would know that is really saying something!)  And I am happy to say that Danielle and I will be doing this together (this was originally her "thing").  Stay tuned; we have a ways to go.  The half isn't until October but you can bet we will be training now, as I have had to start over on my running journey.  Dare I also mention that the fitness/bikini competition may be in the cards too?  What.  Have. I. Done?!
 
Here is a photo of my family with my amazing brother who went from 10K to marathon, because, well, he can! 
 
Left to right: my son, my twin sister, Deanna, my husband, Eric (back left), my brother, me, my daughter, my dad and mom
 

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

10K

I have taken to Facebook these days instead of my blog (forgive me blog!) but I did in fact complete a 10K! While this is my friend Danielle's "thing", I am happy to report that running is now my thing too. It took a while to come to terms with that (me, a runner? noo...) but yes, it is so. Running isn't about how fast you are or how many marathons you have completed. It's about doing it, again and again, because you want to, because you love it, because you need to. I run for all those reasons (and to avoid stabbing people; that would be bad). Even when I hate it I love it. Running has also become my little brother's thing as well and I dare say that running together has made us closer. He is faster than me and can run farther, but he still runs with me on occasion and encourages me to do my best. I do believe that I run better/father/longer with him and others cheering me on. So, here's a photo of me finishing the 10K that we ran together in November. Sal finished well before me but came back for me at the last mile to see me home. I will note that my time wasn't too shabby either-- I finished in about 59 minutes. Danielle was too busy being pregnant for this round, but rest assured, we will be running together soon! I believe we have committed to doing a 1/2 marathon together. Stay tuned!


Sunday, March 25, 2012

Conditioning, killer crunches, high bars and more!

This is a post about Meridian Gymnastics!!

First of all, a HUGE thank you to the levels 4 through 8 girls and to Jess, Christine and the staff of Meridian for welcoming me into your gym and making me feel right at home.  Most of all, thank you all for your patience for this post.  My delay in posting in no way reflects the great times I had with all of you!!

As part of my week off from work in December (and again in January), I set out to shadow a gymnastics class at Meridian Gymnastics, where my friend Jessica teaches.  I didn't just attend any "class" but rather a level 4 through 8 team class.  These girls compete once to twice per month, year round!  They are no joke.  They train for three hours a night, nine hours a week!  I had a blast, visiting with them.  And if once wasn't enough, I went back a second time to really have some fun with the girls! 

Below are some photos from my time at Meridian but here is a "stock" photo of Jess (right) courtesy of facebook from the 2010 Visa Championships:



Go Meridian coaches!

Here is the schedule for the class I shadowed-- Levels 4 through 8:

Class begins at 5:45 and ends at 8:45, but Jess arrives well before then to prep for class (or should I say, think of ways to torture them ;)

Here are photos of some of the little gymnastics monkeys that I shared the floor with:



Okay, on to my time there!  The class starts with over an hour of warm up and stretching.  Who knew you needed that much stretching and warm up?  You don't have time to be bored because Jess makes sure you are gasping in discomfort the whole time.  I asked the team if they had any affectionate nicknames for Jess (such as "gymnastics Nazi") but they don't.  I on the other hand, dubbed her "evil stretch queen" for her inhuman like-ways of forcing splits, killer crunches and hamstring-stretching h-e-double hockey sticks.

My first time there was about observing what the team does, learning about them, their training and gymnastics generally.  For my next visit, Jess and the girls put together a list of things they wanted me to try (thankfully they were all achievable, AKA level 1--things a 4 year old could do--- easy.  I am grateful!! :)  I tried to be a good sport but of course I couldn't suppress my typical whining for the entire 3 hour class-- some of it was a bit scary! :)  Here is the list of some of the things I tried:

Cartwheels on the floor, floor beam and air trak
Back Handspring down the hill (a triangle-shaped foam "mat" used for training)
Handstands
Walking forward and backward on the high beam
Scale on the high beam (which is this:)


Swinging and casts on the high bar (both of which do this to your hands):


Tuck jumps, straddle jumps and forward rolls on the air trak
Back flips in the belt on the trampoline  (video here:)




 
back "flips" into the pit. As an aside, another kudos to Jess to forcing me to roll backwards into the pit and for calling it a back flip, hee hee. And to top the night off, we played a fun game called bear hug.  It's a fun version of duck duck goose, using wrestling moves (and some ultimate fighting moves if you ask me). You team up with another gymnast and sit in a straddle.  When a person points at your team, the front girl in the straddle needs to get to the "pointer" as quickly as possible, while the gymnast behind her tries to keep her in place.  Here I am schooling one of the older girls (guilt-free):



 
After spending six hours with these girls, it is easy to see why they are some of the best.  I am blessed and grateful to have met them and to have spent two wonderful Friday evenings doing their thing.  Thank you Jess, and thank you Meridian family.   hope to be back soon!

Best of luck on your future meets!!

Monday, January 2, 2012

Fun with running, guns and balance beams

I have been a bit busy since my last post have not gotten my blog on to fill you in.  Here it goes in chrono order:

Fun with Running: On September 11, 2011, I was honored to be a part of a memorial 5K run for those who lost their lives on September 11.  This run has taken place over the last few years in my hometown of Reading.  The weather was beautiful and the other runners were very inspirational.  Alongside me for the race were firefighters in full gear, policeman, the national guard, and many supporters, family and friends.  I also ran with my girlfriends Danielle and Sara (it was Sara's first road race and she did great!)  And my neighbors Mark and Melissa were out in full Reading regalia running too!

September 11, 2011 was also the day that Reading held it's annual fall faire.  Of course no road race would be complete without fried dough at the finish line :) Here are some shots from our 5K:

The National Guard ran and sang the whole time.  It was great!



Hitting the finish line

Me and the girls pre-race

Danielle and Cole!


This race was a great experience for me physically and emotionally.  The love, dedication and determination of those around me carried me through this race all the way to the finish line.  I look forward to running this memorial 5K every year to remember those that lost their lives to make my home a better and safer place.   

Thanks to Danielle and Sara for coming up to run with me!

Okay, on to the GUNS part!

For the first time in my working life, I took the week off between Christmas and New Years and I am extremely happy that I did.  I was able to relax, enjoy my family, and focus a bit on some of my list items.  Of course the kids' daycare was still open so I fully capitalized on that and shipped their butts off to school!  So, with my kids in school, I did what any mom with free time would do.  I went to the shooting range with my husband and shot skeet!

For those of you that haven't read some of my early posts from last year, let me quickly get you up to speed.  Eric likes shooting guns.  Up until last November, I had never shot or held a gun.  I went duck hunting with him and quickly learned that not all guns are created equal and one simply cannot pick up any ol' weapon and shoot it off into the sky (without ear protection to top it off!)   So, this year, it was try, try again for me.  Last year, left duck hunting feeling nervous about guns and this year I set out to change my perspective.  To do that, as I am fully realizing with each "thing" I do, I needed to start with the basics.  With guns, it starts with gun safety, basic handling and of course, shooting.

Eric's friend Charlie was nice enough to open up the shooting range just for us.  Charlie lent me his 20 gauge shotgun (the very gun his daughter learned to shoot with at age 14), and gave me one-on-one, hands on instructions on how to shoot skeet.  He also taught me the basics of loading the gun and handling it after shooting.  Here's a down and dirty explanation of skeet shooting from what I understand (I equate my version of events to the average girl explaining how to play football, but this is the best I can do!) You stand on various yellow squares, which act as shooting stations, and shoot at clay disks which fly out of the "high box" and the "low box".   The disks are called "birds."  The stations are set up in a half-circle shape across the firing field so that you can shoot the clays from all angles.

With memories of my last gun "experience", I reluctantly put the butt of the gun up against my shoulder, put my face on the stock of the gun, and looked down the barrel.  After I made sure my noise-cancelling headphones were securely on, I gave shooting a try.  I was nervous about the gun's kickback at first but after a few shots I learned that the 20 gauge was the gun for me. The gun handled great and fit me much better than Eric's 12 gauge.  With new confidence in my shooting capabilities, I relaxed, focused on the task at hand and started to have some fun.  I actually hit some clay "birds" too, including a double! (A double is when the clay birds come out from both "houses" simultaneously, in two different directions, one from the high and one from the low.  Here are two videos Eric took of me at the range.  One is me shooting at a high house clay bird and the other is a double. (this double I didn't hit though :)





A huge thank you to Charlie for opening the range for us, for his wonderful guidance, and for trusting me with his 20 gauge!  A thank you also to my husband for taking me up on my requests to go skeet shooting, for putting up with my trash talk at the range, and for listening to me talk incessantly about this wonderful experience with everyone we know (and over-using the term "boom goes the dynamite" :)  I am hooked and will be back!

On to balance beams!  I want to dedicate a separate post to this topic so keep reading- my next post is on gymnastics with Jess!

Friday, September 2, 2011

OOOOOOMMMMMMMM

This is a post about meditation!

Who doesn't need a good lesson in breathing sometimes?  For me, controlling my breath yogi-style helped me through two unplanned drug-free childbirths!  Now, when I find myself feeling anxious, I need a lesson in breathing.  But apart from what I learned in yoga classes over the years, no one has ever taught me how to meditate to control my mind, body, breath.   Enter brother in-law, "Moxie".  While his "thing" isn't posted, it should be!  I went to Moxie to learn how to meditate because I want to manage my stress and anxiety better  (I know many of you are shocked to hear that my tightly-wound self ever feels anxious! :) ).  He was surprised by my request to say the least, and threw me a curve ball to get me off his tail for a while.  My first, lesson: read this:


a "practical guide" to learning how to control one's breath.  Yeah right.  Apparently my brother in-law cherishes this damn thing because it's his only copy (Circa 1970's but still in great shape).  I don't think he expected me to get through it  (and neither did I for a while as I paged through illustrations of netti pots and pretzel-yogi poses) BUT I DID! Impressed was he, my brother in-law.  I can't say I learned much from it though, other than "you will never be a meditation master" and "don't try this at home. Seriously, don't."  (Okay, the book doesn't really say that but that's how it made me feel!)

Now I am ready for step two: sitting down with Moxie for stage one in my lesson.  I am a hands-on learner so there is no better way to learn than dive head first in (unless of course I am learning to snowboard...)  However, such lesson will have to wait because Moxie is on his own personal expedition- he is hiking Mt. Rainer this month!  Good luck brother in-law and please don't get hurt because you owe me a full meditation lesson! 

Namaste people!!

Monday, August 15, 2011

An Inspirational Story

Hi all,

I am sure many of you have read today's article about the man that lost his pregnant wife on Flight 93 on 9/11.  http://news.yahoo.com/pregnant-flight-93-victim-honored-by-husband-s-lasting-tribute.html 

A part of the article resonated with me, specifically, that he published a book that his wife had been dreaming about completing called "You Can Do It!"  The book is about teaching women how to accomplish their dreams, from skydiving (check!) to knitting.  Check it out:  http://www.amazon.com/You-Can-Do-Handbook-Grown-Up/dp/0811846350 

Sounds a lot like one of the purposes of my project so I thought I would share! I am probably going to purchase this book (perhaps it will help me with doing your things!)  I welcome feedback on the book from anyone who has already read it.

Thanks!

Friday, July 22, 2011

"Fun" Run 5K in 99 degree weather!

Running in the heat and humidity: fun, you ask? Yes! With the promise and allure of free pizza and slush at the finish line, despite the heat, I ran an impromptu 5K last night with my neighbor Melissa.  Here is a photo of me with my biggest fans (aka- the "party crew"):

I did it to gear up for my 10K training with Danielle (and Sara --- yes, Sara, you ARE doing it with us!) and to continue the momentum of getting back on track.  Also, to prepare for my beatings from my own personal "Jillian", my sister Gina! (She is threatening to post a "before" bikini photo of me online.  If that isn't motivation I don't know what is!)

Getting back to the 5K thing, Melissa and I have searched the neighborhood for 5K's offering good, free food at the finish line, and so far our favorite find is the "On the Border" run in Woburn.  Free tacos and margaritas!! Hell ya! I think this run is every Tuesday night in Woburn.   Email me or leave a comment if you are interested in joining us!

Cheers!

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Getting back on track

It's been a while since I have posted and that's because things at work have been busy. The summer months are promising to be less hectic so I hope to get back on track with doing your things. Check in with me and let's see what we can get accomplished together! I think the next big project is Gina's thing which is fitness and nutrition. Hopefully my workout regimen will allow for some beer and summer fun :)

Cheers everyone!

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Would you do it again? What have you learned? Have you learned your lesson? What's next?

Those seem to be the questions I get most from doing this, and my answers are:

(1) Would you do it again? 
Yes, yes yes, and in fact I am doing some of the things again (except the snowboarding, BUT I would take a boarding lesson);

(2) What have you learned?
I have learned a whole bunch! But what I have learned from each and every experience is this:  If you do something, do it RIGHT! Put your whole self into that experience and don't waste the opportunity when you have it to do that thing to the best of your ability and efforts!  I find this mantra popping up in every aspect of my life, from work to motherhood, and this experience is no exception.  In hindsight, I learned that I was too preoccupied with accomplishing the task that I didn't take time enough to enjoy it!   I wanted to check things off my list and continue on my way, often missing the point of this project in the first place.  I am taking that valuable lesson with me as I continue on my journey through your things!

(3) Have you learned your lesson?
I hate that question, as if I am supposed to be "punished" for trying something new!  NO, I have not "learned my lesson"! Just because I didn't like something or got hurt doing it, that does not mean that I will shy away from it.  The lesson learned was that these things are your things that take time and energy and effort and I took that for granted.  (See my answer to number two!!)  I won't snowboard again, not because I got hurt, but because I didn't enjoy it.  Isn't that what counts?

(4) What's next?
Stay tuned as what's next is beginning my fitness training with my sister and combining that with my efforts to run road races with my friends!  AND, this time, I am hiring a trainer and seeking professional nutrition and fitness advice from my sister, who I am sharing this "thing" with!!

I am taking a break at the moment due to my broken elbow which is quickly on the mend, but also due to my hectic work schedule (do it right or don't do it at all, remember :) )

Thanks for reading!!

Friday, April 8, 2011

Show's over! No broken legs but a broken elbow!

JH is over and what a blast that was!  Thankfully I didn't literally break a leg, although I am told I did tear it up on the stage :)  However, I DID manage to break a bone doing the next thing on my list---snowboarding!! In an attempt to barrel-ass down the bunny slope, I broke my right elbow.  Here is a lovely "before" photo:


Don't we look super cute and excited?

And here are, sadly, the after photos:




 I learned a lot from that. mostly:

(1) I don't like snowboarding
(2) snowboarding is hard
(3) spring skiing in New England is kind of crappy
(4) don't try something new and dangerous without lessons
(5) always wear your helmet on the slopes and
(6) I don't like snowboarding!

I hope to write more on the subject as well as more on doing the play but I am typing with one hand at the moment which sort of stinks if you don't know already.  Check back in with the blog in a week or two! I will post more on JH and snowboarding.

Thanks for reading!
Yours truly,
the one-armed writer