The Morning Rush
5:00am—Alarm sounds. Hit the snooze button.
5:30am—Out of bed. Hit the shower.
6:15am—Kiss the kids goodbye. Hit the road.
7:30am—Arrive at client site. Hit the laptop to prepare for a full day of meetings.
So begins a typical day in the life of Title Nine customer Zaida Aronovsky, information systems consultant, wife, and mother of three girls. It’s a day that rarely ends before midnight.
Why such long hours? In addition to working full time and running a household, Zaida makes time to pursue her other passion—sports. She began her athletic career on the sidelines in junior high—not warming the bench, but willing teams to victory as a cheerleader. She went on to become a member of the Platt High School cheerleading squad that launched an eight-year winning streak at city competitions throughout central Connecticut. What’s more, Zaida was not just any cheerleader. She was the brave soul at the top of the pyramid. At 5 feet 2 inches tall and 110 pounds, it’s a feat that 44-year-old Zaida could likely pull off even today.
It seems Zaida’s cheerleading days were good training for her current career as a project manager. What do cheerleading and project management have in common? Strategy, teamwork and execution. “I get a kick out of planning, bringing together a group of people, making something happen, making it successful, having people communicate. You have a mission and implement it successfully—that’s what I’m all about, whether it’s professionally or athletically.”
Midday Madness
These days, fitting in a workout often means cutting corners, and for Zaida that usually entails skipping meals. “Working through lunch is the norm. I have a Balance bar and fruit or 100-calorie cookies for something sweet.”
With a hectic schedule like hers, you might peg Zaida for a java junky, but you’d be wrong. “I gave up caffeine when I became pregnant with my first child,” Zaida says, “and I never went back.”
Kickin’ It After Work
After 6:00pm or so, you’ll find Zaida either kickin’ it at home with her kids or kickin’ it on the soccer field with her teammates. Most nights she heads home, helps make dinner, and enjoys some rowdy play time with her daughters—Katrina, Sofia, and Jessica, ages eight, six, and four. At around 8:00pm, she begins the process of putting the girls to bed. It’s an event that often takes an hour. Somewhere around 9:00pm, she sneaks in a 30 to 45-minute workout on her Total Gym, using both the weights and the bike. Then she snags some quiet time with her husband Nate before settling in to work on soccer league business and answer emails for a couple hours.
One special night a week, Zaida plays soccer, a sport she picked up 15 years ago when she attended a co-ed drop-in clinic run by former All-American Dave Fromer. Her soccer career quickly evolved into a quest to create the perfect soccer league for women—one that would be both competitive and accommodating to women of all skill levels.
What began as a team of eight friends posting flyers has grown into two leagues—the Marin Women’s Soccer League and the more competitive Golden Gate Women’s Soccer League for players over 35. Together, the leagues have enabled hundreds of women to build sports into their lives in a fun and accessible way. They have developed Zaida’s game, as well.
“When I began at thirty-something they started me up front, but I didn’t have a lot of skills,” Zaida says. “I learned. I learned quickly. I realized eventually that I liked playing defense.” Now Zaida is versatile—she plays fullback on the wing, stopper, and sweeper.
A big reason why Zaida plays is to be a good role model for her girls. “I think it’s important for them to see that I’m active.” Nate often brings the girls to watch Zaida’s weekend games and they love hanging out on the sidelines. “It’s just the best feeling when you are coming off the field after the game and you have this kid running to you screaming, ‘Mom!,’ and they give you a really big hug.”
Getting Some Girl Time
Soccer nights are special for more reasons than one. After the game, usually around 8:00pm, the team heads out for a beer and a bite. It’s some cherished big girl time that Zaida describes as a highlight of her week. The women Zaida has met through soccer are more than just teammates; they are among her closest friends.
By the time Zaida gets home at 9:30pm or so, the girls are already in bed. Needless to say, Zaida skips the Total Gym on soccer nights. Otherwise, her nighttime ritual is largely the same as any other evening—some alone time with Nate, attending to soccer league business, and answering work emails.
Sometime around midnight, it’s finally lights out. In a handful of hours, Zaida will be up and at it all over again. You go girl!
I don’t necessarily think Zaida’s schedule would work for me, either but I don’t think that’s the point. The story was inspirational and displayed how even an extremely busy person with a job and kids can fit in regular workouts and girl time. Don’t look for why it won’t work for you but how it can. Thanks for the great story, I’m looking forward to more.
I make time to climb at my local climbing gym, and it’s almost always the highlight of my week–whether I have a good night of climbing or not. It’s not a team sport, per se, but I climb with a partner and we push each other and encourage each other to reach our goals. When I was working a stressful job, climbing was my outlet and my therapy. Now that I’m freelancing, climbing has become more of a physical challenge and less of a mental break. It’s my life and my passion. I couldn’t do without it!
I agree about the sleep part–there’s no way I could function on 5 hrs. of sleep on a regular basis. I’m a stay-at-home mom, wife, author, and tennis player. I’ll admit, I struggle to ‘do it all’ and still maintain a working marriage. My husband has hobbies of his own, and we’re both happier when we get to do them, which of course translates to happier kids as well. If Zaida can keep it up, then good for her!
I wish Zaida well.
I also wish Title IX would remove the “height” and “weight” question from their format. who cares? what does it matter? what’s that about? we already know that women of all sizes can do whatever they set their mind to doing. Recommend rethinking this as part of the identity of your subjects.
thanks.
Probably should have given more thought to listing height and weight, so now I am. So, I’ve got 2 thoughts…for now
1. We list height and weight as one of many identifiers that fill out the picture of who Zaida is.
2. Weight in particular for women is charged, but perhaps it shouldn’t be. I wonder if the reaction would be similar if we’d been featuring a guy?
Missy, 5′ 7″ 130 pounds
Title Nine Founder
My 2 cents. “To each their own.” Zaida has created a life that makes her happy and obviously it works for her. Yup, its on less than the avg. amount of sleep, so be it, everyone is wired different. She skips a “normal” lunch occasionally for a workout and a quick snack replacement. Is that worse that a high calorie lunch out and no work-out? Really? I assume her other 2 meals are more substantial and make up for it. Come on we all skip meals, we all over indulge. It all balances right. I don’t think skipping a full meal here or there is such a bad thing.
Tina : )
a “healthy” 180 lb. 5’9″ and proud of it. Proud of every lb. of muscle I’ve worked, burned and sweated for, every lb. of fat I’ve eaten and enjoyed. Up or down a few lbs I’m still happy and okay with me and proud to share it.
I admire Zaida’s energy, focus, and discipline dn applaud her devotion to her family, her work, her health. To answer the first two posts – some folks don’t need 8 hours of sleep a night. For those who need 9 to 11 hours, Zaida’s life would be an impossibility.
I need more sleep than Zaida and have a career that guarantees odd hours, so team sports don’t ‘fit’.
If I can’t do something outdoors, I make sure that I walk many (20-40) flights of stairs each day. Because I work from home, this is surprisingly simple. For example, I can trot up and down multiple flights just while the computer is booting up in the morning. Adding a knapsack w/ some books for extra mass helps to increase the intensity.
So I don’t really ‘do’ sports, but I try to stay active.
I agree. How is 5 hours of sleep and a balance bar for lunch a healthy lifestyle? I suppose if it works for her . . . but I would be falling asleep during the day after a week like that.
I need at least 7 hours if I don’t like to look like a zombie.
Same here. 5 hours doesn’t seem healthy for the long term, at least not for most people. To answer the question, no I don’t make time for a team sport but would love to play field hockey again some day 🙂 3 kids + working full-time is a major time sink – I admire her dedication!
My thoughts exactly. Can many people do that?
So, Zaida lives on 5 hours of sleep per night? And you think this is a good thing? Ick.
Well, Zaida is unusual. She is a good friend and teammate and even I was surprised (and intimidated, inspired…) after reading her interview!
Working In Working Out is a series dedicated to the real lives of our very real customers. There are over one million of you out there and I’m certain each one of you is unique- having unique sleep patterns, unique lunch choices and unique heights and weights. Our goal is not to endorse any one lifestyle or any one body type but to share with you the stories of how real women are juggling their hectic lives and getting it all done.
I hope you’ll be patient with how these stories unfold and also share with us your own unique tips and tricks to “Working In Working Out”
Renee
T9’er