October 30, 2013

November is National Novel Writing Month

Nanowrimo

But what does ballet have to do with National Novel Writing Month?

I’m not sure.

I’ve been a “writer” for a lot longer than I’ve been a ballerina. I always wrote stories as a little kid and decided to pick “journalist” as a career despite knowing that I’d have a tough time finding a job. I’ve wanted to participate in NaNoWriMo for years now, however, things such as high school and college have always gotten in the way. November was usually one of my toughest months–juggling finals, final projects, and usually a cold or three (including mono in high school and not one but two cases of strep-like symptoms last year). There just was never time to participate.

Now that I’m unfortunate (or fortunate in the case of NaNoWriMo) to no have a full-time job, I’ll be participating in NaNoWriMo–especially since I can’t run quite yet and my ballet practicing is limited. Don’t tell my PT I’ve been practicing balances en tournant constantly in my living room trying to get them right.

Maybe I’ll even write a ballet novel if enough people beg me too! Otherwise, I don’t have too many ideas just yet…even though NaNoWriMo starts in two days.

If you’re participating in NaNoWriMo, let me know and we can be buddies! My profile name is Kristengilmore (I was a huge Gilmore Girls fan and I’ve had a profile for five years now).

What activities/hobbies do you to keep yourself occupied when you can’t dance or run?

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October 28, 2013

Ballet Shoes and Arch Supports

Thank-you so much to everyone who commented on my post last week on FOMO with words of encouragement! I didn’t make it to ballet on Thursday (I was sore and feeling sick), but eventually made it on Saturday again. I changed my schedule with my PT this morning so that I’ll hopefully be able to go Monday and Friday and hopefully avoid being super sore again and be able to get back on track and not have to miss any ballet classes because everything hurts too much.

In other good news, I seem to finally have found arch supports for my sneakers/other shoes that finally seem to not slip around everywhere. I also wore elastic arch supports to ballet, and even though my arches were killing me (like they have been since my return to ballet) during the beginning of ballet, I feel like they’re helping me to overpronate less. If they seem to continue to help, I’m looking at a couple of additional options for ballet shoe support:

MDM Adult “Intrinsic” Canvas Split-Sole Ballet Slipper

mb100_inset2These look like they have really good arch support and have great reviews, and they’re not too badly priced for an entire new set of slippers. Even though I just bought new shoes not too long ago, it wouldn’t be terrible if it helped save me some pain and bulk in my shoes from elastic arch supports

 

 

 

Dr. Roth Arch Band Supports

201fabsxAlthough these are about the same price as the slippers, they’re tempting because they could be worn with my current pair of slippers and pointe shoes (if I even ever wear pointe shoes again). They could even be worn around the house, in sneakers and with other shoes.

 

 

 

Do you have any experience with arch supports in ballet or tried one of these? Any recommendations for slippers with good arch support?

 

 

Filed Under: Ballet, Blog, Clothing and Gear, Info Tagged With: , , , 10 Comments
October 24, 2013

FOMO: Fear of Missing Out

I first really learned what FOMO is thanks to Dance Academy. In the episode, Tara’s leg is finally beginning to heal, but she  begins to fear missing out on 2185782normal teenage things, like dances and boys while at the academy.

My FOMO, or fear of missing out, is a little bit different. I’m worried about missing out on things in ballet class and fall behind with running.

I finally did the math and I’ve missed more than 20 weeks of ballet class in the past year thanks to this injury alone, and I’ve missed even more from being otherwise sick and holidays. I know I’m falling behind all the women in my class who are already en pointe, and are doing pretty well en pointe, too–because they started over 8 months ago. I’ve only been able to attend about three pointe classes, and they don’t seem to be happening in my future.

But it’s more than just falling behind in class–I recently learned that a couple of months ago I missed on getting together with some of the women who go to ballet class because I wasn’t there because I was injured. Although I’m slowly getting back into the swing of going to classes–I’m afraid I’m going to miss out on something this again if I have to take a break from classes again.

Although it’s a little harder to miss out on running, I’m worried I’m going to fall behind my boyfriend and my sister, and that when I can finally return to running, I won’t be able to run as fast as them anymore. While HQ hasn’t gone running without me yet, he’ll probably go soon, and I haven’t been given the clear to run yet. While he has always run faster than me, I’m worried I’ll be even slower and it’ll take me longer to get back to the same level I was on.

Have you ever dealt with the fear of missing out? How did you deal with it?

 

Filed Under: Ballet, Blog Tagged With: , , , 4 Comments
October 14, 2013

Shin Splints and Dealing with Injuries Emotionally via Pointe Magazine

Image via Pointe Magazine by Colin Fowler.

Image via Pointe Magazine by Colin Fowler.

I should really subscribe to Pointe Magazine.

I bought an issue about 6 months ago while I was working on a design project (one of my assignments was to transform the layouts of an already established magazine to fit my own, for adult ballet dancers). I love some of the things that are written (a lot moreso than some of the other dance magazines).

For instance, this is one of my favorite articles on shin splints. So often, most articles mostly talk about shin splints and running. And while I’m doing all that I can to help prevent shin splints on that front (I finally have insoles and will probably get fitted for my next pair of sneakers once I’m up and running again)–the problem still persists in ballet because of my super flat feet. This article helps address what causes shin splints in ballet dancers and gives some really good tips for treatment–I love my pinky bouncy ball for massage and using a cup filled with ice to ice massage.

I’ve been in PT for about a week now, working on strengthening my feet, ankles and calf muscles to get back to ballet. Hopefully, this will finally help me get better and I’ll be able to dance (and run) pain free.

I also loved this column about dealing with emotions while injured. I had such a tough time coping with being out of ballet back in April when everyone around me was seemingly really busy. It seemed like I was always  at home watching TV while people were out having fun because the boot made it really tough to get around and I couldn’t go to ballet or run to keep myself occupied.

Luckily, thanks to PT I should be back soon and I’ve been pretty well occupied since I’ve stopped running or dancing (after the Rescue Run 5K). I may even be able to start barre as soon as Thursday or Saturday!

Filed Under: Ballet, Blog, Running Tagged With: , , , , , 2 Comments
October 8, 2013

Sponsored: U by Kotex Review

I have to admit–I’ve always been kind of squeamish about my period. It’s not something I like to talk about publicly. Although that’s improved over the past few years, especially with being a college student–I still get shy when I have to talk about it or when I have to grab tampons to take to the bathroom with me. Luckily, the Kotex samples sent to me, U by Kotex Sleek Tampons, made my latest period a lot easier.

U by Kotex Box

Super cute box for super easy to use tampons!

Here’s some quick facts about the tampons I was sent:

  • U by Kotex Sleek Tampons have a no slip grip for “just right” placement and a smooth tip for easy insertion
  • A full-sized tampon that’s easy to hold on to for “just right” placement
  • Slim size for your comfort
  • Available in Regular, Super and Super Plus absorbencies

As a reporter, recreational dancer, and a runner, I often find myself running–quite literally–between the different parts of my life. I try to always be prepared for all situations–including an unexpected period. This means I’m completely dependent on always storing tampons in every single one of my bags–without taking up too much room. U by Kotex Tampons were perfect for that. I threw some in my bag for work as well as my dance bag and forgot about it until it was that “time of the month.”

ballet-bags-with-tampons

Some tampons stored inside my ballet/PT/everything else bag, ready to go!

My period struck on one of my busiest days–Thursday. I have both work and ballet, which means I’m out of the house from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm and 6:30pm to 9:00 pm, with just a short break in between. Occasionally, I even fill that time with a quick run too, so I get all of my stuff ready to go the night before.

UByKotextTampons

My sample box came with regular tampons in two different colors: green and purple.

I loved using these–they were super easy to use (the packaging rips open super easily) and offered the perfect amount of protection for super active and busy day. It was also super easy to discreetly pull one of them out of my bag and bring with me to the bathroom no matter where I was.

Learn more about U by Kotex through Facebook and Twitter.

Have you ever used Kotex? How do you prepare for your “time of the month”?

I wrote this review while participating in a content series through Clever Girls Collective on behalf of U by Kotex, and received products to facilitate my post and compensation for my time to participate.

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