June 11, 2013

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?

 

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June 7, 2013

Any advice on overpronation?

Ballet shoes, showing the dancer's feet in fif...

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Overpronation is when your feet roll inwards too much towards the big toe side of the foot. It happens a lot when dancers try to “fake” their turnout using their knees and ankles instead of their hips (guilty here). It was brought to my attention last class that I should instead be trying to distribute my weight equally among my toes and place it more back on my pink toes as well (people in this dance.net forum recommend the same thing.) I tried to maintain this throughout class, but it was tough–and I feel like the rest of my technique suffered and my arches were crazy sore throughout class. Sigh.

My overpronation is probably the cause of all my ballet-related shin splints which have been really bad as of late and haven’t been much motivation for me to get to ballet class. Since getting new sneakers and running more often, my running shin splints have been reduced to almost nothing (almost).

I know that overpronation can be created by forcing turnout (you can try it and see for yourself) but I also know I overpronate when I stand “naturally”–which I figured was caused by the fact I am one of the most flat-footed people ever–especially since new sneakers have helped. So I took to the Internet to try to get more of a solution…and pretty much came up with a variety of different explanations…and no real answer.

Some say that overpronation is purely a technical problem (sure, I can correct it, but it’s still how I naturally stand and feel like I have for a while). Others say it’s caused by being flat-footed. Others, ankle weakness.  A lot of websites recommended orthotics (which won’t work with ballet) others say if it’s not caused by flat feet, that’s not a solution. My head is spinning.

Advice anyone? I’d appreciate help whether you know about overpronating in runners or dancers.

 

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June 5, 2013

A Crazy #NationalRunningDay

I know, I know. Enough with the running, this is a ballet blog. I promise there will be more ballet things soon, running has just become a big part of my life and has helped get me more and more in shape (which is helping with ballet too).

Today is National Running Day, and although I got a later start than I would have like (it was already starting to warm up a fair amount), HQ–my boyfriend if you don’t already know that–and I set out to run on the Schuylkill River Trail here in Philly instead of the track here at Temple University. While it’s nice to have a nice, soft, flat surface to run on, running in circles kind of drives me crazy. It doesn’t do much for my motivation either–I always want to quit early. Running on a trail means I essentially need to keep going because I have to get home somehow.

On our way there, while waiting for the subway, we heard a cop tell the subway attendant that a building had collapsed in center city and were interested to see if we could see anything of what happened during our run. We stopped in 30th street station (I had to pee as usual) before heading down to the trail and saw how crazy it looked on the news.

Anyway, it was a good run (albeit slower than I would have liked) and we stopped to take some pictures along the way by the river.

HQ by the river!

HQ by the river!

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And Me!

We decided to run around lunchtime because I learned on Twitter in the morning that my favorite lunch truck in Philly, Mac Mart, was going to be at The Porch at 30th Street. I LOVE this truck–and since my favorite mac and cheese was on the menu for today (Bacon, Ranch and Tomato aka BRAT Mac) I knew we just had to make it part of our running trip.

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The most delicious mac and cheese.

We had planned to walk to Ulta to get some things we had planned to pick up before (but we didn’t have coupons with us–hello broke college student/broke college grad status), so we got to cross over by where the building collapse had happened.

How often is it that you find you can just walk straight down the center of the Market Street Bridge?

How often is it that you find you can just walk straight down the center of the Market Street Bridge?

We were then detoured down to Chestnut Street (which was the direction we were headed anyway) on the foot bridge that connects Market and Chestnut (which I sadly never knew existed despite living in Philly for four years). They still had the rode blocked off there.

An empty Chestnut Street near where I used to work.

An empty Chestnut Street near where I used to work.

Finally we made it to Ulta, which I love now that we finally have one in Philly. I even got an extra workout here as it’s three stories and I probably went up and down them 4 times to get different things. Overall, our journey ended up taking us about 5 miles (3 of them running on the trail). I’d say it was a successful National Running Day!

How did you celebrate if you’re a runner?

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June 4, 2013

Weekend Workout Fails

It was ridiculously hot in Philadelphia this past week–but that’s not really the reason for my workout fails–a couple of other things have gotten in the way as well. This week has been:

Monday (Memorial Day): No ballet ’cause of the holiday and I had just ran on Sunday and Saturday so I squeezed in Day 02 of 30 Day Shred before heading back to Philly.

Tuesday: 2 Mile morning run. Seems like I’m on track, right?

Wednesday: Day 03 of 30 Day Shred, which starts to get a little bit easier. My boyfriend and I avoid running outside cause of the heat.

Thursday: Ballet in like 100 degree weather. Tough, but doable. I still wore my legwarmers, but for the first time in months I wore just my leotard. My instructor actually STOPPED class to ask if I’ve lost weight. I feel like I have (and I think that I have) even though the scale hasn’t shown much of a difference (5 lbs, maybe, and it fluctuates a LOT). I definitely look toner.

Friday: We got a late start, so a 1 and half mile is super painful. I was dehydrated and HQ was having leg problems, so we decided to call it quits.

Then over the weekend…I failed. I did nothing. It was a super rest weekend I guess. I was supposed to go to ballet Saturday morning–then I slept in because of lack of sleep. So to make up for it I had planned a 3 mile solo run for Sunday, and I didn’t go again because of lack of sleep.

Monday: Supposed to wake up for #MondayRunday (haha). I woke up at 6:45 to thunderstorms. It only kind of clears up throughout the day (so the track we run on probably stayed wet). I did fit Day 04 of 30 Day Shred in though–but I need to look for cardio alternatives to do during the cardio segments (The video has you doing 3 sets of 3 minutes strength, 2 minutes cardio, 1 minutes ABs). My legs HATE jumping jacks and things on my hardwood floors (it was fine at my parents on a cushioned carpeted basement floor). So I’ve kind of come with a substitute list thanks to Google: walking planks, diver push-ups (aka Hindu push-ups), steps (I’ve just got to find something to step up onto–I live in a studio apartment), swimming (on the floor) and punches (which are already featured in the video). If you’ve got alternative leg-easy cardio recommendations, lets hear ’em.

Plan for the rest of the week: two more 30 day shreds (probably Wednesday and Friday), an easy 2 mile run Tuesday, a 3-4 mile run with Philadelphia Runner to Rita’s for National Running Day, ballet on Thursday, 3 miles Friday, ballet again Saturday but no pointe…because of 5k race on Saturday. AND lots and lots of stretching and foam rolling. Hopefully HQ and I can stick to this schedule…we’re so bad at making a plan to get things done.

What is your weekly exercise plan? How do you plan out your workouts?

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June 3, 2013

Guest Post: Meet Caysie!

Caysie is going to be a regular contributor to Adult Ballerina Project in the future–check out this cool introduction she wrote about herself!

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dHi everyone! I am so excited to get to be writing for this blog today. Just a while back I was browsing the search results for adult ballet classes in my neighborhood and was completely shocked to find this website. It’s so wonderful to know that I am not the only brave soul willing to put in the work to learn ballet as a “grown up”.

A little about me: I’m Caysie. I’m 23 and currently in my second year of my master’s program learning to become a therapist. I am getting ready to start seeing clients as a trainee, which is exciting and scary all at once! One thing we talk about a lot (when I say a lot, I mean A LOT) at school is a term called “self-care”. Ok, ok, I know this isn’t a totally new term to most of you but the value was a new concept to me. It’s important, not only as therapists but as busy adults, that we take time for ourselves on a regular basis so that we can feel fulfilled outside of work and school. I sat and thought- most of my hobbies are so product related (DIY projects on Pinterest, home improvement, etc) and are good for some quick fun but they aren’t really things that I can sink my teeth into and be passionate about. I had to find something that would keep me sane and happy, something I could love forever.

Enter my love affair with ballet.

I took dance as a kid–tap, jazz, ballet, you name it!- but I ended up not pursuing it beyond elementary school. I stretchbasically forgot about it until when I started my undergrad degree and started nannying for a 12-year-old ballerina. I had to drive her to both of her studios daily and watch her dance through class after class. I fell in love with it. Unable to make time for classes, I picked up doing ballet related exercise through the NYC Ballet Workout DVDs and the Mary Helen Bowers Ballet Beautiful series. I’ve seen my mood and my body change in such wonderful ways over the past few years but it wasn’t enough. So, I ditched my last ounce of reservations and found myself an adult ballet beginners class. I’m not far in, but I’m loving every second of it. I’ve even set up my own little “studio” space in my apartment where I can go to tendu and plié to my heart’s desire.

I’m excited about the possibility of getting to share my journey of not only learning to do ballet, but learning to live ballet and to bring the grace and strength from the art into all aspects of my living.

Just for fun, here are the answers to the questions for profiles that I didn’t yet cover!

What is your favorite part about ballet? 

It’s a way to just lose yourself and totally enjoy creating art using nothing but your body.

What is your least favorite part?

The muscle pain! Haha.

Who/What is your ballet inspiration?

Maria Kochetkova and Mary Helen Bowers

What motivates you to keep dancing?

The sense of pride in the amazing things my body can accomplish!

What advice would you like to give to those who want to start ballet or have just started? 

Don’t be afraid to look silly when you first begin. Ballet is about grace, but it takes time!

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