May 8, 2013

A Huge Accomplishment–I Completed a 5k!

Well, for me at least, given all the troubles I’ve had with my legs/ankles.

photo.

 

I’ve written here multiple times about how I’ve dealt with horrible shin splints. I attempted to run a 5k back at the beginning of April and didn’t even get a mile in before giving up because it just hurt THAT bad. It was embarrassing.

So I’ve been working on doing a Couch to 5k Program for the past few weeks, and recently I’ve gotten frustrated with the set of intervals I’ve been on (as well as treadmill running–which I DETEST because I can’t seem to move fast at all), so today my boyfriend and I decided to run on the indoor track at my college’s gym. I decided that we’d be doing a two minute walk/two minute run interval kind of arbitrarily (knowing that the previous intervals of 1:30 were too easy and 3:00 was slightly rough on my shins)–BUT it worked. After doing about a mile and a half (which has been our normal distance without warm up or cool down walks with C25k, I decided we should keep going and try to complete a 5k and I did it, in around 34:00 (the GPS was slightly off between our two iPhones, 34:00 is the average).

I just feel so happy to have been able to come back after what felt like such a failure over a month ago.

What exciting goals have you accomplished lately?

Filed Under: Blog, Etc. Tagged With: , , 4 Comments
May 7, 2013

(Almost) 30 Day Yoga Challenge

EDIT: Oops. It appears I can’t find today’s (May 7th) yoga video anymore, so pick one you’ve enjoyed so far or try a new one! (I did yesterday’s since I was in a yoga class yesterday). I will find replacement videos for the other times this one appears in the schedule.

I’ve decided to go with a yoga challenge for the month of May, since it’ll help with my general flexibility (and for those of you who voted for splits challenge, I focused on a lot of leg yoga stretches). They’re all beginner level videos, so feel free to participate no matter what skill level you are at!

Here’s the challenge:

mayyogachallenge

All the videos can be found on my favorite yoga website, www.doyogawithme.com. Just do a quick search using their search tool and you’ll find the video. I still think I’ll try to post photos of my flexibility throughout the month for motivation.

How are you challenging yourself during May?

Filed Under: 30 Day Stretch Challenge, Ballet, Blog, Etc., Info, Outside Class Tagged With: , , , , 11 Comments
May 6, 2013

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.

bh420

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?

 

Filed Under: Blog, Etc. Tagged With: , , , , , , 4 Comments
May 5, 2013

Weekly Recap: 4/29-5/4

It’s been a really long and difficult week. My legs are seemingly rebelling against me after I had two really great ballet classes last week. Sigh. Anyway, here’s what it looked like:

Monday:

It was rainy and yucky out so we went to the gym and I got one of my Couch to 5K workouts done as I  clung to the sides of the treadmill the entire time. But, I got it done. I spent the rest of the day going over my presentation for one of my English classes.

Tuesday:

Because of being tired and needing to get some last minute work done, I take today as a rest day from working out.

Wednesday:

I had another rough Couch to 5k day out on the track here on campus, but I get it done. I had planned on going to the new jazz class at my dance studio, but since my journalism awards ceremony took forever (and I stuffed my face with both with sushi and a quesadilla afterwards because I was STARVING from not having eaten) I decided to rest at home for the remainder of the day. But, I am pretty proud that I won an award for my dance reviews.

Thursday:

Ballet was kind of rough because the class was packed and I kept forgetting combinations, but it wasn’t horrible and my legs feel alright.

Friday:

My boyfriend and I head to the gym so I can test out the treadmill again–but this time it doesn’t go nearly as well and I can’t even finish my workout. I feel like I’m somehow just pushing myself harder than I should be on the treadmill given the speeds I set the treadmill to.

Saturday:

The first part of the ballet class is rough. I’d forgotten to take my allergy medicine so I’m stuffy with a headache. I just feel tired and my arches are killing me for some reason. My leg isn’t happy either, so I do pointe class, sadly, in flat shoes so I don’t kill my leg. I get through 20 minutes of the yoga for today when I take a break to head to the gym with the boyfriend and make up for the rest of today with a really slow and painful #C25k, but I get it done.  I know by the time I get home I’m way too tired to finish  yoga, and I call it a day.

I ended up sleeping for about 10 hours last night, so I feel a lot better than I did yesterday. So hopefully I’ll be able to fit a #C25k workout into today along with some yoga and a lot of paper writing.

How do you recover from a really challenging (and disappointing) week of workouts?

Filed Under: Ballet, Blog, Etc. Tagged With: , , , , , , , 2 Comments
May 3, 2013

Help me Pick a May Challenge!

Yoga Class at a Gym

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So I’ve used challenges recently to try to get me to get more motivated to actually do the exercises I need to be doing, but I’m kind of clueless about what I should be doing for May (yeah, I know, it’s already May 3rd, but I’ve been busy bee). So, while I’d like to keep it kind of related to ballet–a lot of things do, when it comes down to it–pretty much anything is fair game. I will create a post detailing the challenge as well so anyone who wants to join in can. No matter what I end up doing, I plan on updating at least once a week with how I’m doing.

Here are a few ideas I’ve come up with (I’m slightly leaning towards yoga or the ab challenge, but don’t let that influence you):

-Mile a Day (I’m still going to be doing #c25k, but this would push me to get a little extra mileage on my off days)

-Ab Challenge (I’ve done planks for about the past month, but this would mean doing more exercise ab-related exercises)

-Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred (it’s $8.99 on iTunes and could help me get in better all around shape, something I really need)

-Yoga Challenge (A different yoga video everyday to help improve my overall flexibility)

-Split Challenge (Yes, I’ve done it before, but if this wins I promise to give you photos on bi-weekly basis)

Vote in the poll below for one of these options, or leave your own suggestion in the comments.

If you suggest something new and exciting and I pick it, I’ll send you a pair of pink shoelaces from Sweat Pink as a reward!

Filed Under: Ballet, Blog, Etc. Tagged With: , , , , , , , 3 Comments