Philadelphia Hot Chocolate 5k/15k & Promo Code

(Disclaimer: I’m an ambassador for this race, and exchange for two posts for it, I’ve received a goody bag and entry into the race.)

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Who doesn’t love hot chocolate and running?

I certainly do. When I heard that the Hot Chocolate 5k/15k team was looking for ambassadors, I knew I had to sign up. The Hot Chocolate 5k/15k falls perfectly on April 6th: about a month prior to the Broad Street Run. You’ll have two options: a 5k or a 15k, both of which start at 7:15am on a Sunday at the Art Museum.

5ks at the Art Museum in Philly are my favorite: even though it’s not as pretty as Fairmount Park, they’re easily accessible for most people in the city without a car (especially for me–I can walk) and the Art Museum and Eakins Oval makes for a pretty cool after party.2013-HC-this-is-your-goodie-bag_WITH-sizing-chart

The race swag seems pretty awesome too–a fleece sweatshirt (we all have too many t-shirts anyway) and an awesome finisher’s mug. There will be Chocolate Fondue, Dippable Snacks and Hot Chocolate at the after party in Eakins Oval too!

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Register here with promo code “BallerinaMug” for an additional travel mug in your swag bag!

Check back here soon for more information and a giveaway–I’ll be giving one reader a free entry to the Hot Chocolate 5k/15k in a city of your choosing!

A Photoless Race Recap: Strides for Stroke 5k

Yup, I forgot to take a single picture. HQ and I ran our first 5k race this Sunday, the Strides for Stroke 5k in Philly.

Well, other than this screen shot of my nike + data.

Well, no pictures other than this screen shot of my nike + data.

HQ agreed to run with me at my turtle-like speed of 12:30 per mile and we did the entire race together. We ran most of it, only slowing down for a few water breaks and when my tummy wasn’t super happy (ugh, it was like that all weekend)–but we got it done. While it was cool to run on an empty Martin Luther King Drive, the slope of the pavement was rough on my shins.

 

My official time was 38:29. I’m already looking at another possible 5k for the end of the month–but the heat was really tough to deal with already at 8:30 in the morning.

This upcoming week HQ and I have tried to plan out our training a little bit more (thank you, Temple University for still letting me have access to the gym this summer) to include some cross training and some indoor running (on an indoor track) to help us beat the heat and this miserable rain. Running outdoors on the track during the summer just isn’t my thing (I still plan on getting some outdoor runs including our weekly long runs). I hope we can fit in a swim either Wednesday or Friday too. Ballet will hopefully happen Saturday morning (Thursday I’ve got friends possibly visiting and Philadelphia Runner’s Urban Scramble)–but I’m also heading home for birthday weekend so it’ll depend on my schedule.

What does your week look like?

 

Beginner Ballet Tips: Sewing Elastic to Ballet Slippers

Roughly one year and one month ago, I picked up my first pair of ballet slippers at one of the local dance stores in Philadelphia and was told I needed to sew the elastics myself. Nothing more. I was clueless. I searched online and was frustrated with every article and how-to telling me how to sew pointe shoe ribbons and elastics. I eventually found this video and sewed on my elastics the best I could:

Looking back at those shoes, my elastics were sewn kind of terribly (not because the technique in the video is bad, but just because I’m horrible at sewing). I wish I had found these tips by Adult Beginner and Dave Tries Ballet to help me out when I needed it. Adult Beginner uses a single elastic, so if that’s what you’ve got, go check her’s out. The video, Dave Tries Ballet, and my tutorial below deals with criss-cross elastics that are already sewn at the back-end. I wear Sansha split sole canvas shoes (I’m looking into trying more, I just bought these because I needed new shoes and knew these would fit if I ordered them online).

Here’s what you’ll need:

Shoes

Pen or Permanent Marker

Scissors

Safety Pins

Needle and Thread (I recommend Bunhead’s Stitch Kit if you don’t already have needles and thread lying around. It’s super thick, strong thread that will make sure the elastics will stay put both on pointe shoes and ballet slippers)

My elastics are pulled tight so that my shoes fit my feet.

Step 1. Tighten the elastic strings at the top of your ballet slipper until you get a nice fit. You don’t want them strangling your foot but you don’t want the shoes to be falling off either.

Step 2. Mark where you will sew the elastics with permanent marker at your arches by stretching them over your feet–I just sew mine to the middle seam in my slipper. Again, you want them to be holding your foot in but not too tight. I sew the elastic from the inside of the foot underneath and the one that comes in from the outside over (I’m pretty sure there’s no rules written in stone about this–I just know it’s mentioned in one of the videos I watched so that’s what I do). I then mark each slipper somewhere on the inside so I can quickly know which one is left and right without having to look super carefully at the elastic.

Step 3. Secure the elastic using a safety pin where you will sew them and try them on again, making sure that you’ve got the right fit. Point and flex your feet a couple of times.

Step 4: Cut the elastics if you need to so they fit into the shoe (I usually leave about 1/2 an inch from the very top part of the shoe so there’s enough to sew securely in). You could probably burn the elastics to make sure they don’t fray but I don’t find it necessary.

I can’t really give you any advice on doing the actual sewing part since I’m a novice at it–some people hand sew, others use a machine. Whichever method you choose, make sure you don’t sew into the elastic string that goes around the shoe by accident.

Step 5: Put your shoes on and check the elastic string for tightness again, making sure you’ve got it where you want it. Some people will leave their strings long and tie them in a bow and then tuck them in (they shouldn’t be left out so your foot doesn’t get dragged over them and/or so you don’t trip on them).Having all the loose strings shoved into my shoe drives me crazy, so I double knot mine (without tying a bow), cut them pretty short, and then burn the ends.

Step 6: Put them on, check for the correct fit (one last time!) and admire a job well done!

What do you wish you would’ve known before starting ballet classes?

PS If you’ve got any tips for how you attach your elastics to ballet slippers, let me know! This is still a work in progress for me!

Review of Zola Coconut Water

Zola Coconut Water were provided by Zola free of charge in exchange for a review. I was not paid for my review.  The opinions contained in this review are mine and based on my experience, and do not reflect the opinions of Zola or anyone else.

Recently I was given the chance to review some Zola Coconut Water through the love ladies who run the Sweat Pink community. Now, I’m not normally a huge fan of coconut water (it tastes a little too sweet to me)–but I’ve love adding it to my smoothies. However, I loved Zola’s Natural Coconut Water.

Coconut water has the following benefits according to Zola:

Coco-Hydration™ Each Sip Offers:

Natural hydration

Essential electrolytes: sodium, potassium, calcium, phosphorus and magnesium

100% Natural & Delicious

Gluten and GMO Free, 100% Vegan

Coco-can

It was extremely refreshing, unlike the Vita Coco that I bought from the local grocery store here in Philadelphia. To my surprise, I drank almost an entire can after ballet class. They also sell Acai Juice (which I enjoyed although it tasted a little grainy–I’m not sure I would get it again) and Coconut Water with Pulp. The Coconut Water with pulp was definitely not for me (I’m a pulp-free OJ girl too)–the pieces of coconut were weird and it tasted more milky to me. But I loved their regular coconut water and I’m hoping I can find it in a store near me soon (you can see if you can see if you can find it using a their store locator).

The only downside is that it the 17.5 ounce version comes in a can and it’s not as easy to keep in your fridge if you don’t finish it all–but to fix this I just poured the can into one of my many reusable water bottles. They also sell it in a liter size that is resealable.

Zola Coconut Water were provided by Zola free of charge in exchange for a review. I was not paid for my review.  The opinions contained in this review are mine and based on my experience, and do not reflect the opinions of Zola or anyone else.

More Life Updates–Busy, busy, busy!

I mentioned going to a journo awards ceremony last Wednesday, but I didn’t mention that I happened to win an award for my dance reviews! The award was called the Sam Singer Reviewing Award, after a critic who worked for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

My latest review was also published about a Philadelphia contemporary ballet company, BalletX.

In other news…

Yesterday’s yoga video, Yoga for Athletes, was really awesome. I’m off to a double whammy of yoga and ballet at my dance studio as long as I feel like my stomach can hold up to it (I didn’t sleep well last night because I wasn’t feeling great). I’m going to try to remember to take a picture of my splits (to use as a comparison for my starting point) when I get home tonight if I’m not exhausted.

I won tickets to the PA Ballet for Friday. YAY!

I have orientation for my new internship tomorrow–also awesome.

The boyfriend and I are running again in the Urban Scramble as part of Philadelphia Runner again this Thursday–it’s a scavenger hunt where you run over the city to collect raffle tickets.

I’ve also signed up for a Nutrition, Health, and Lifestyle: Issues and Insights class on Coursera so that I can learn more about eating healthy (something I really need to do in my life)–hopefully I’ll be able to fit in in with everything else crazy I’ve got going on this summer.

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Lastly, I bought myself a new pair of ballet slippers (mine were getting pretty gross) and some Bunhead Hair Nets (finally after everyone kept recommending them) as an end-of-the-semester present to myself.

Mostly, I’m looking forward to getting lots and lots of sleep–something I’ve been lacking in the past couple of weeks.

I’ve only got one more final to go next week  and I’ve got lots of great posts planned for the upcoming week!

What exciting things do you have planned for this week?