March 27, 2013

Squat and Plank Challenge and April 30 Day Challenge

 

Through the Sweat Pink Ambassador network I found an awesome Squat and Plank challenge–which I figured would be super useful for helping to get my core muscles and my legs into better shape. It’s being run over at Live. Sweat. Sleep. Repeat. (you can find the chart on her blog!).

 

Plank on The Mat

Plank on The Mat (Photo credit: lululemon athletica)

 

It starts off fairly easy–but at the end of the 6 weeks it gets more intense (Hello 3 minute plank!). I’ll probably be adjusting to do more squats each day (say, like 3 sets of X) and cutting the plank time in half of what’s planned and doing two of them instead (I’m a wimp, okay? And planks are tough.)

 

There’s also a super awesome Facebook Support Group for it as well which I’m part of. Motivation for a workout challenge never hurts.

 

I’ll also be doing another 30 Day Challenge for ballet-related muscles (the idea sprouted from Thanks & Kittens). Like she recommended, I’d suggest working on whatever you feel you need to. Back Flexibility? Splits? Turns? Do it. I’ll be making a slight adjustment and making my goal to wake up every morning and do this runner’s yoga regime, since it will help with my hip flexibility as well as help prep me for running.

 

If you’re doing either of these challenges, let me know and if you have a blog, link me to your challenge posts! I love hearing about how everyone else is doing and we can motivate each other.

 

Filed Under: 30 Day Stretch Challenge, Blog, Etc., Info, Outside Class Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , 6 Comments
March 26, 2013

My First 5k and Some Shin Splint Tips

My boyfriend and I just signed up for our first 5k–well his first 5k and my first “real” 5k. I ran a Color Me Rad 5k last June which wasn’t timed and wasn’t really a 5k–it was more like 2.7 miles. We’ll be doing the Catch Karl 5k in University City on April 7th. It was a cheap 10 dollars to sign up–which was a super important reason for us since we’re broke college students. The race benefits Camp Kesem, a free week-long camp for children whose parents have or had cancer. Karl is the camp’s caterpillar mascot. It’ll be a nice easy commute via public transportation from my apartment which should make the early time we have to wake up a bit more bearable.

526926_3404806403272_885316337_n

From last year’s ColorMeRad Race taken by my BFF Sarah

Something I’ve had to keep in mind while training for running is shin splints. I ended up with a really bad case in late January/February from ballet and had to take some time off, so I’ve tried to be really careful as I go back to ballet and work out in other ways.

One of the best ways I’ve managed it is stretching and icing. You can find more information on some stretches  from Self Magazine. Other stretches I’ve done that have been so helpful include using my therabands to stretch my foot in a flexed position as well as the yoga position downward facing dog. These stretches will also be helpful in stretching out your calf muscles if your ballet instructor as been throwing a whole bunch of calf straining barre combinations at you like mine has been.

How do you stretch out your calf muscles and shin splints?

PS. My blog and I were featured on Fit Approach’s blog in the Ambassador Spotlight. I love being part of this program, and if your interested, they’re currently accepting applications to be a #SweatPink Ambassador.

Filed Under: Ballet, Blog, Etc., Info, Outside Class Tagged With: , , , , , , , 2 Comments
March 25, 2013

Want to #SweatPink? Shoelace giveaway

pink shoelacesToday’s going to be both a rest day for running and for dancing for me. I’m hoping to squeeze in some pilates and some stretching, however.
As I mentioned before, FitApproach sent me a bunch of pink shoe laces (which are already in two pairs of my shoes!) and I’ll be giving away some pairs of shoelaces this week. To enter, just do some (or all of the entries) below. Good luck!

Enter the giveaway here

Filed Under: Blog, Etc. Tagged With: , , , 6 Comments
March 22, 2013

Ballet Class and Weekly Workout Roundup

MAN, my legs are sore…But in a good way.

Between elliptical training and ballet, my quads are killing me. My severe shin splints have been kept relatively under control with compression socks/compression sleeves, stretching and a little bit of ice. I tried to avoid any activity in class last night that I’ve known has aggravated my shins (ie jumping and moving quickly in and out of a releve position).

For the most part, I attempted to hang out at the middle of barre/back of the studio so that no one would have to watch/follow my clumsy self. That was, until my ballet instructor had me move to the front of the studio in the middle of our center work and to explained to everyone who probably didn’t recognize me (since I haven’t made it to a class in about two months) that I was just back from an injury.

I was relatively pain-free–except when I accidentally attempted a pas de chat when I forgot that I was supposed be taking it easy because I was excited to be in the front of studio. For the most part, muscle memory kicked in and I remembered the moves, but I did have some moments where I thought to myself “Uhhh what exactly are you trying to do there, Kristen?” as I completely messed up a combination.

Overall, I’m really happy with the way the class went.

The rest of my week was:

Monday: Job interview, so other than the mile walk to and from the train station in the cold, I didn’t exercise and came home and crashed after being up at 6:30 am.

Tuesday: My boyfriend and I decided to try the manual treadmills in our school’s fairly new gym but neither of us really cared for them (note: I’m terrified of treadmills. Someone please help me get over this fear). The ellipticals here were kind of pointless because the resistance option was broke on all of them–so we left with me only roughly getting a ten minute workout in.

Wednesday: Finally getting into the swing of things, I did 30 minutes worth of interval work on the elliptical using a Couch to 5k running plan.

Thursday: Ballet class and another easier 30 minutes on the elliptical as to try to not wear myself out.

Friday: An easy 28 minutes  on the elliptical following my schedule. I’ll be doing some foam rolling and stretching tonight to help out my legs a bit.

This weekend the plan is:

Saturday: Ballet class in the am if I feel up to it followed by taking a really easy 30 minute work out on the elliptical.

Sunday: More elliptical training, hopefully a pilates class as well.

Part of what has helped kick me back into high gear with my workout plan (and back into blogging!) has been that I recently became a Sweat Pink Ambassador. They’re an awesome community of women who run fitness blogs.

pink shoelaces

 

Plus, they sent me a bunch of pink shoelaces some of which I’ll be giving away next week!

Tell me, how do you motivate yourself to get to dance class or workout?

 

 

 

Filed Under: Ballet, Blog, Info Tagged With: , , , , , , 9 Comments
March 21, 2013

Back to the Barre

After over a month of sitting around (trust me, it’s been killing me), I FINALLY get to go back to ballet tonight. As excited as I am, I’m also super nervous. It feels like forever since I’ve been at a barre and that my body will have forgotten everything.

amethyst

amethyst (Photo credit: McBeth)

Things like….

What if I forget some of the moves?

What if I can’t keep up anymore?

What if I’m in pain again?

…keep running through my mind.

I know I’ll make it through the class just fine (my teacher is super supportive and so are the women I take ballet with!) but I tend to be a nervous nellie. I’ve returned from long gaps between classes before, and I know I’ll work myself back up to the level I was at before. Unfortunately things like jumps (even though I hate them anyway) and pointe are probably out of the question for a while–but I’m still excited to be back in a ballet studio!

I’ll post an update with how the class went tomorrow!

How do you get yourself prepared to return to an athletic activity you haven’t done for a while?

 

Filed Under: Ballet, Ballet Class, Blog, Etc., Info Tagged With: , , , , 11 Comments