About a year and a half ago, fed up with terrible life choices (too much food, too much booze, too little sleep, basically no exercise), I signed up for ClassPass in an effort to get in shape. I had no idea that decision would set off a chain reaction that's led me here, fundraising for an opportunity to get punched in my pie hole, on purpose, and be psyched about it.

I had been to several heavy bag classes in my Tour de Fitness of my neighborhood over the year and after a while I found I liked boxing for fitness better than cycling and yoga and picking up weights just to put them back down. I even got a little bit of an ego about it because let's face it, smashing something heavy repeatedly with your fists makes you feel good. You feel powerful. I was basically the Oscar De La Hoya of my neighborhood. Small dogs would cross the street when they saw me coming. It gave me enough confidence to finally try Back Bay Boxing in September 2018. The reviews for the class were all great, but everyone agreed, it's a brutal work out. Tucked in a basement on bougie Newbury Street, Back Bay Boxing is the anti-gym. I walked down the stairs and was instantly hit with a cloud of humidity that I would soon learn is created straight from the sweet sweat of human suffering. Instead of being greeted by some distant collegiate, too busy to look up from Snapchat to say "hello" or "is this your first time here?" I was immediately greeted by Coach Johnny Irish himself. Expecting to just be able to walk in, head down, do my own thing, and walk out without speaking to anyone (which was my experience in 95% of other gyms in Back Bay), he stopped me and we had a conversation. While he wrapped my hands, I searched again for my inner Floyd Money Mayweather swag and he told me not to be nervous, I'd do fine. He was half right.

He was right, I shouldn't have been nervous, the BBB community is the nicest and most welcoming gym in the city, but he was dead wrong about being fine.That first class was the hardest work out I've ever had in my entire life. First it's 30 minutes of cardio followed by 30 minutes of mitt work with a partner. Try holding your hands up for 3 minutes straight. Hard right? Try doing it for 30 minutes after you've done about 100 push ups, a bazillion mountain climbers, and a torturous amount of burpees. I was dying. Sweat poured from every inch of my skin. My fat was literally crying. But the whole time you are working with someone encouraging you, telling you not to quit. Push! One more! Yeah! Fist bumps abound. I learned people's names; they knew mine. That rarely happened in the studios I had been going to for months. The instructors barely knew my name. Back Bay Boxing is different. It's a community. Well, more like a a crazy circus, with Coach Johnny Irish as the ringleader. I was hooked. I started going 3 times a week, then 4, then as many times as I possibly could.

In October, a few of us from the gym went to Belles of the Brawl and I half jokingly said to CJI, "what if I want to do that next year?" and he laughed and kind of brushed it off because at the time, I could barely make it through the warm up. But I couldn't get it out of my head. The the electricity in the House of Blues that night was amazing. At the time I didn't really know much about it--I just knew it was chicks boxing for charity. I didn't realize until I was actually there that through the Jimmy Fund, Haymakers for Hope's main beneficiary is Dana Farber.

A lot of you reading this page are my friends and some of you know this because you were with me when I found out, but it's not something I share openly until now. My mom, Sharon, has been a patient of Dana Farber and the Mugar Center at Cape Cod Hospital since she was diagnosed with follicular lymphoma in 2012. It is located primarily in her abdomen and around her spine.

The great thing about follicular lymphoma is that it is a slowly progressive disease with an average life span from time of diagnosis of 10 years.

The shitty thing about follicular lymphoma is that it's a slowly progressive disease with an average life span from time of diagnosis of 10 years.

It's like having a live hand grenade in your purse that can detonate at any time. Her affected lymph nodes are in places that surgical removal is not an option. It's a waiting game. Luckily, Dr. Fisher and his team at Dana Farber are experts in this particular subset of oncology. If you are unlucky enough to have lymphoma, being within driving distance to Dana Farber for diagnostics and treatment is the best thing you can hope for. Thanks to Dana Farber in conjunction with Dr. Wade at Cape Cod Hospital, my mom is doing awesome and living her best life.

I can't wait to represent Back Bay Boxing because this wacky and wonderful community has become such a huge part of my life and I couldn't ask for a better team to lean on for support. I can't wait to make them proud. I also can't think of a better way to to give back to the Mugar Center of Cape Cod Hospital, Dana Farber, and all the hard working researchers, physicians, nurses, and support staff that make these hospitals awesome. They have given my mom the best possible care and treatment out there.

If you have an extra $5 bucks lying around, please consider donating to my page. Anything helps. My fundraising goal is $10,000. $1000 dollars for every extra year Dana Farber's early diagnosis gave me with my mom. Even better than giving me your spare couch change--come see me punch and get punched (ideally more of the former) on October 9th at the House of Blues. Tickets will go on sale late this summer. Use my code GORMAN when purchasing tickets and those proceeds will go towards my fundraising goals! Follow me on the Instagram @gormanically as I start to overshare my daily routine. Pictures of morning proats and all!

This one's for you Shar, even if you aren't happy about it. It's your fault you raised two tough broads.

- Sarah The Stormin' Gorman