July 22, 2013

Some ABCs and the week ahead!

Moving + HTML/CSS class + Internship = one stressed out Kristen. I know I haven’t been the best blogger lately, but as I work to pack everything up (not to mention the stress of the past week of helping my boyfriend actually find a place for him (and me to crash) has been crazy, so I’ve spent a lot of my free time.

But, everything seems to be working itself out and after the next two weeks are over, everything should be in place. And although my shins haven’t been reacting well to running (well, I was stupid and ran a mile a week ago in 10 minutes–super fast for me)–I’m super excited for a Color Me Rad race with my sister in about two weeks. It’s just going to be crazy in the meantime.

Since my brain’s kind of too stressed out to function to come up with a more substantial post (I’ve got to work on defining real goals for myself for August and seriously get myself back on track–but more on that later), I’ve stolen this introductory ABC post from Amanda at Adventure Year since it’s been awhile since I’ve talked a lot about myself:

A. Attached or Single?

My boyfriend and I at a wedding last year. I make the loveliest faces, I know.

From a wedding over a year and a half ago now. He blogs over at The Active Gamer .

B. Best Friend?

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This girl. Although we haven’t seen each other in months, we text each other nearly every day. Pic is from the Color Me Rad in Philly last year.

C. Cake or Pie?

Cake. Preferably ice cream cake.

D. Day of Choice?

Thursday. Favorite ballet class of the week because it kicks off my weekend.

E. Essential Item?

Ballet slippers and running sneakers. Don’t make me pick!

F. Favorite Color?

Pink and periwinkle.

G. Gummy Bears or worms?

Sour watermelon. Close enough, right?

H. Hometown?

A little town near Allentown, Pennsylvania no one’s ever heard of.

I. Favorite Induldence?

Cheese dip. I love it, and it seems to be the one thing I can’t give up. That and mac and cheese.

J. January or July?

July. Although this heat wave’s been murder, the cold is not my friend.

K. Kids

They’re pretty awesome. Sometimes I miss working at the pool and my camp buddies.

Life isn’t complete without?

Running and dance.

Marriage date?

Don’t have one. What kind of survey question is that?

N. Number of brothers/sisters?
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Just one sister. At her graduation two years ago. Clearly I need to get better at taking up-to-date photos.

O. Oranges or Apples?

Oranges are yummier, although I do enjoy apples, too.

P. Phobias?

Needles. And shots. I cried the last time I needed shots. And I was 18.

Q. Quotes?

I’ve got a lot of favorites, but here’s one:

It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default.

J.K. Rowling

R. Reason to Smile?

There’s a lot. A great family, best friends, a loving boyfriend, the best dance teacher. I’m lucky to have them all.

S. Season of Choice?

Summer, even if I haven’t gotten to the beach yet.

T. Tag 5 people.

Not going to, but fill out this survey if you like. Or leave me an answer in the comments with an answer to a letter question of your choice.

U. Unknown Fact about me.

I’ve did pretty much ever sport/extracurricular activity when I was little, and failed at most of them.

V. Vegetable?

Potatoes.

W. Worst Habit?

Breaking good habits. I’ve yet to be able to stick to a routine and keep falling behind in trying to establish one. Maybe one day I’ll find one that sticks. Like a stretching routine. Or running routine.

X. Xray or Ultrasound?

Never had an ultrasound, but Xrays are relatively quick and painless and I’ve had quite a few in the past year.

Y. Your favorite food?

Right now? Mac and cheese. Can’t. Stop. Eating. It.

Z. Zodiac Sign?

Gemini, but it’s been ages since I’ve followed astrology.

Pick one question to answer in the comments so I can get to know my readers better!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: , , , 3 Comments
July 18, 2013

Philly Love Note: Philadelphia Runner

Here’s my recent Philly Love Note to Philadelphia Runner that was originally posted on Campus Philly.

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Favorite Spot: Philadelphia Runner

I am: A runner practically as slow as a turtle.

Years in Philly: Four

Current Home: Templetown

Back in January, I decided I was going to run the Broad Street Run despite being injured and  never having run much before in my life. I ended up selling my bib to someone else, but I didn’t give up on running. I probably would have though, if it wasn’t for Philadelphia Runner.

Philadelphia Runner is more than just a running supply store. They carry all of the best running gear and running shoes, and they’re great at helping you find what shoe is best for you. Besides being an awesome store, they also serve as a community for runners by hosting events, workshops, and weekly runs. Don’t fret about joining in on these events if you’re just starting out–they’re very beginner friendly. All paces are usually welcome at their weekly runs and other events.

My favorite event is their monthly scavenger hunt, the Urban Scramble. The Urban Scramble starts at their Center City store at 16th and Sansom, where you receive a list with about 10 businesses, which you must run (or walk) to to collect a raffle ticket to be entered for prizes at the final stop. You don’t have to make it to every business, but there’s usually time to make it to most of them even if you’re slow like I am. The course usually covers 4-5 miles and you’re given an hour and five minutes to complete it. It helps if you bring a map of Center City to help plan out your route once you get the list of businesses. Last time I forgot my map and I ended up running right past one of the businesses (oops!) This is my favorite map to use since it covers all of Center City and parts of University City, which are sometimes part of the course.

All raffle tickets are placed in one big bucket at the end. Most of the prizes are from the businesses you’ve picked up tickets from, but there are usually quite a few Philadelphia Runner gift cards given away too. It’s free and a lot of fun to do with a group of friends. At last month’s Urban Scramble (held on June 20th), the final location was the Schuylkill River Trail where Philadelphia Runner hosted a great cookout afterwards.

While they haven’t announced the next Urban Scramble, they’re holding weekly runs throughout the summer. Young Involved Philadelphia is launching a monthly running club with Philadelphia Runner, with the first one on July 16th. The run will be out to Race Street Pier with a post-run happy hour [with the first round of drinks on Philadelphia Runner]. Don’t miss out on a way to network with other young Philadelphians and runners alike.

Whether you’re a seasoned runner or a beginner like me, Philadelphia Runner is a great store to check out both for the products they offer and the great events they host.

Filed Under: Blog, Etc., Running Tagged With: , Leave a Comment
July 17, 2013

Stretching Series: Stretching Tips and The Back

In my previous posts, as well as on the Adult Ballerina Project Facebook,  I mentioned that I would be doing a post on stretching. I got some good requests and feedback on what type of stretches you’d like to see and I decided that rather than squeeze it all into a horrible 5 page long post or a short one without pictures that I’d do a series instead. So this will be the first of my stretching series and I’m starting with my favorite part of the body to stretch: The back!

83eb6bb7f3e5113d03859d2cf0cfcc79Before we begin with that, I’d like to give some of my general tips on stretching.

1. Bundle up. Ok, this may sound really unpleasant. Especially because it’s summer. But this has been a huge help in increasing my flexibility. When I stretch I typically wear tights, legwarmers, shorts, sweatpants, a leotard, and a sweater. As I heat up, I strip layers but I tend to leave my legwarmers and shorts on to keep my legs and hips nice and toasty. One word of caution if you do decide that this tip is something you’d like to try… don’t overdo it. Make sure you’re hydrated and that you’re not pouring sweat. It should serve to help get and keep your muscles warm, not to make you pass out from heat stroke.

2. Warm up for your warm up. This may sound silly but when I stretch I like to walk around the room fast for a few minutes, do a few jumping jacks, or something similar. Getting your blood flowing just a little bit will help your muscles warm up and be more flexible.

3. Use Therabands to help add some resistance or to help you grab your leg when your arms cant quite reach yet.

4. Make good use of fences, counters, doorways, couches. I love to stretch my legs out by just resting one on my counter like its a barre. When I’m at hotels I use the door frame to help me stretch my back out. Be creative and use whatever is safe that you can use to help aid you in stretching.

5. Don’t push yourself too far. Stretch just enough for a little discomfort and hold for 15 seconds. Then next time hold for 20, then 30 and so on. When it becomes “easy”, then push yourself a little farther and repeat the process. This will keep you from torn muscles.

6. If you’re having a stiff day, stretch after a warm bath.

7. You might not look like the hot babes in the yoga pictures you found online- and that’s ok! I get annoyed with this all the time. I imagine myself doing a stretch I see online and when I do it it looks TOTALLY different (and much less cute) than the pictures I saw. But lets get real- that’s what the person in the picture does for a living and they usually have also sat through hair and makeup (and get touched up) and are taking a full day to take like five pictures. Stretching isn’t about the visual product as much as it is making sure that your body is flexible and ready for dancin’.

Ok so now I’ll start with my favorite back stretches. I do these almost daily, if not twice daily. I have found that my posture has totally changed with these stretches and that my arabesque and port de bras have also improved as well.

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1. (Left to right) I start with a cobra pose focusing on keeping my shoulders down and pushing up with my sternum rather than my lower back.

2. Once I’ve reached that pose and have held it for about 30 seconds or longer, I bring my feet up as close to my head as I can get them. It’s ok if you can’t get them to your head yet, just keep trying by bringing them up as high as you can.

3. I always like to reverse my stretches. When I stretch one muscle group, I stretch the opposing muscle group. I find that this helps me avoid soreness and keeps me from having any part of my body from being more flexible one way than the other. Soooo, to reverse these back stretches I do a cat pose, remembering to pull up from the back as well as pushing up from the core.

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4. From there I turn over and do a back bend, feet and hands flat on the floor. After holding as long as you’re able between 15 and 30 seconds.

5. Slowly go down onto your elbows one at a time. I like to put my hands together in the center but you can also put them parallel to each other on the ground. Start by staying on flat feet and holding for a few seconds, then go up on demi pointe. Hold.

6. Walk your feet outward as far as you can to see if you can straighten your legs. I’m still unable to straighten completely but I’m getting there. I find that the easiest way to get out of this pose is to just keep sliding until you’re laying on your back.

7. Last I like to lay on my back and sort of just wiggle around, loosening everything back up. It seems super counter intuitive that stretching would make you tight, right? But I’ve noticed that sometimes with back stretches, your back wants to revert back to it’s previous happy place right away after you’ve pushed it so I just roll out my back, twist around, and try to loosen it back up before I go about my business. 

This is also a great video that can be really helpful. Click here.

What stretches do you do to increase your back flexibility/strength? Also, what parts of the body do you want to see stretches for in this series? (I know that we got one request for knee stretching and I will be certain to get that done!)

Happy Stretching!

**Keep in mind, these are just MY favorite stretches and you definitely need to make sure are careful trying anything new.

Filed Under: Ballet, Info Tagged With: , , , , , 3 Comments
July 15, 2013

Ballet is (almost) like riding a bicycle

Ballet is (almost) like riding a bicycle

4093835537_170cc4a8a9As I’ve mentioned before, I unintentionally took 2 and half weeks off from ballet, starting with birthday plans and my WordPress class and extending all the way to the Fourth of July and bouts of the stomach flu (twice–I’m one lucky girl!). Fortunately, I finally got to go back this Saturday.

What Went Well in Class

The barre went really well. I didn’t have any trouble remembering combinations like I sometimes do when I first return after a break. Usually I’m miserable the first couple of classes back. I think it was a confidence boost that we had a relatively tiny class and the fact I was comfortably tucked in the middle of the barre, instead of my usual end space. My pirouettes seemed to be up to par with what they were (which isn’t necessarily the greatest). It was nice to know they hadn’t deteriorated.

What Didn’t

So I tried to find myself a nice spot in the middle of the floor, but everyone ended up gathering behind me (guess I wasn’t far back enough!) and I ended up being in the front row, and my brain ended up being slightly scattered. Although my balance seemed good during the barre portion, I couldn’t balance on my right leg to save my life. I just felt like I was watching myself struggle in the mirror. Once I left class, I had shooting pains in my lower right leg (it’s been having issues ever since something went wrong on the treadmill a few weeks ago). I have a feeling that’s what’s to blame for my lack of stability. Hopefully I’m able to make up with it with class on Monday (if my leg is up to it) and Saturday.

Future Plans

I probably won’t be updating as much this week, as it’s going to be super busy. I’ve got a few big articles to work on and I’m starting another Girl Develop It class on HTML/CSS that I’m super excited for. Hopefully I’ll be able to fit in some indoor runs this week too (heat wave all week in Philly) but we’ll see. I also stopped with my abs and legs challenge this week because the leg exercises were taking too much of a toll of my legs. But I did start getting back into stretching, which is a good sign.

What are your plans for this week?

 

Filed Under: Ballet, Blog Tagged With: , , , , Leave a Comment
July 11, 2013

Guest Post: Plus Sized Ballet

Plus Sized Ballet

When most people picture ballerinas in their head, this is what they see:

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It intimidates a lot of people.  Can you blame them?  Look at the strength, the balance, the grace.

But this is what I see when I think of ballerinas:

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picture courtesy of Festival School of Ballet

That’s me on the right. All 200+ pounds of me.  At my heaviest I was 260 pounds.  I never saw myself as that heavy but I also never thought of myself as ballerina material either.  Boy was I wrong.

When I first started my weight loss journey, I felt like I didn’t know my body anymore.  When I lost 30 pounds I knew I had to do something.  I felt like a clutz.  Not at all like the graceful person I knew I was.  So I started searching for an adult ballet class hoping to reclaim some of that grace. I just wanted to go through the basic positions, do some barre work and maybe, one day, try some floor combinations.  But please, don’t make me wear a leotard and tights.

Do you know how hard it can be to find an adult ballet class like this?  Well around me, it took me well over a year.  Every time I called a studio that had an adult class, I would ask the same two questions:

How advanced is your adult class? 

Most of the time they were full of former dancers.  I was told as a beginner I was welcome to try and keep up or I could take their little ones basic ballet.

Do you have a dress code for the adult class? 

The minute they said yes, leotard and tights, I said thank you very much and hung up the phone.  I wanted to try ballet and I was insecure enough about that.  But throw in my insecurities about being in a leotard and tights at my size and it was just too much to overcome.

I was lucky though and finally found a studio that said, come as you are! Yes, there are former dancers in the class but also people who have never danced before.  Come, try it!

I have never felt more at home than I did at that first class.  I wore my workout capris and a t-shirt.  I did invest in a pair of ballet shoes since I wanted to make the point, I wanted to work my way up to dance.  I didn’t just want the barre workout or a ballet booty class.  Those are great options, don’t get me wrong, but I wanted the grace of ballet to help me learn my now rapidly changing body.

I started with one 90 minute class a week.  Turns out floor combinations were always part of the class so I stumbled, tripped and slouched through my first weeks.  Slowly but surely, however, I got the hang of it.  I was doing floor combinations!  Already!  Next thing I knew it was two classes a week and hoping for more.

I found ballet was seeping into my everyday life.  I stood taller and in better alignment which in turn made lots of other things take on a whole different meaning.  My walk became more efficient since I was standing taller and using more of my lower core.  My biking became more challenging.  I had to add more tension to the stationary bike to accommodate my stronger legs.  And something very simple, but major happened – I don’t slouch anymore.  My core and back feel so much better.

Leaving class is one of the best feelings I’ve ever had.  I spend 90 minutes stretching, lengthening, reaching.  I feel so tall and lean at the end of it all.  I feel so confident and self-assured.  And let me tell you, THAT feeling will change your life in ways you could never imagine.

Why should plus size people try ballet?  It’s a great way to build lean muscle mass.  The entire class focuses on your core and the large muscle groups of your legs.  So even at the barre, you will burn lots of calories.  It’s an excellent way to build your lung capacity and stamina.  It teaches you about your body and how it works.  So no matter how big or small you are, your body will work better for you.  If you think your weight makes you appear clumsy, ballet will teach you to control your body better.  Even if you never lose an ounce, you will naturally become more graceful and self-controlled.

And most importantly, it is empowering.  When you feel confident, graceful and in control, nothing can stop you.   Anyone can do ballet.  There is nothing special required.  But ballet can certainly make you feel special.  There is nothing holding you back from trying it except you!  So get thee to a ballet studio and start dancing!

PS:  I’ve been doing ballet now for almost two years and I’m still not wearing leotard and tights.  But I’m starting to consider tights, believe it or not.  And maybe a leotard under a big tshirt?  I think I might becoming confident enough to try.

Filed Under: Ballerina Profiles, Ballet Tagged With: , , , 13 Comments