June 20, 2013

Birthday Celebrations–Urban Scramble and more!

Birthday Cake

Today is my 22nd birthday (yes, cue the Taylor Swift music now). In the afternoon, I’ll be covering Campus Philly‘s Opportunity Fair via social media (both via their Twitter, Instagram and Vine and mine as well) but I’ll try not to overwhelm them.

After that’s over, I’ll be heading to Philadelphia Runner‘s Urban Scramble. It was supposed to be last week, but a chance of severe thunderstorms made them reschedule it (it barely rained, so I got to go to ballet class instead). I know some people were upset that the Urban Scramble got reschedule, but I was pretty happy. It gave me something fun and exciting to do on my birthday instead of just heading to work. So it getting rescheduled for today was kind of a win-win for me.

Other birthday weekend plans include going out to fancy dinner at White Dog Cafe (and using up some of a gift card to there ages ago) and ballet early on Saturday. Hopefully I’ll be able to squeeze in another run (besides the Urban Scramble) along the Schuylkill river trail, but I’ll be pretty busy this weekend because I’ll also be attending a Girl Develop It Philly workshop on WordPress which I received a scholarship for to cover the costs. I’m excited to continue to improve the look and functions of this website as well as to continue to spread the community aspect of it. I’m still looking for guest bloggers and people to interview, so if you’re a blogger, runner or adult ballerina (or instructor) and you’re interested in participating in some aspect of Adult Ballerina Project , make sure you fill out this Google Form.

What do your weekend plans consist of?

Filed Under: Blog, Running Tagged With: , , , , 7 Comments
June 14, 2013

Calling all adult ballerinas, runners, and my bloggers!

I’m currently working on a slight re-branding here at Adult Ballerina Project (with hopefully a move to self-hosting this blog in the future–I know, this means more to me as it means I get to customize more). But don’t worry. I’ll still be posting about ballet (and running too). I’m just working on changing my mission statement and layout and re-organizing a bit.

I’m looking for people to interview and profile like I always have been (but I’m opening up to runners, ballerinas, and bloggers) as well as people who are interested in contributing (or guest blogging), whether it be a one time thing or a regular contributor.

Fill out the Google form here and I’ll get back to you with what the next steps will be!

Filed Under: Blog, Etc., Interviews Tagged With: , , , , , Leave a Comment
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?

 

Filed Under: Blog, Etc. Tagged With: , , , , , , , 4 Comments
May 29, 2013

June Challenges (#RWRunStreak Alternative)

Life always likes to get in the way of my monthly challenges. See: College graduations, job interviews, and a back muscle strain/pull. But, here I am again, trying to plan one for June. Unlike the other challenges I’ve planned, this one is just going to include my personal goals for developing my overall fitness.

I’m finding myself desperately wishing I could handle Runner World’s #RWRunStreak, where the goal is to run at least a mile a day between Memorial Day and Fourth of July. No matter how badly I want to do it, I know I shouldn’t attempt it because of how injury-prone I am. So instead, my #RWRunStreak alternative is:

  • Have a decent run at least three days a week (by setting a goal of at least 30 minutes a day, instead of a distance goal, so I don’t push myself too hard)
  • Complete 3 days worth of Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred a week
  • Attend at least 2 ballet classes a week (there are 3 offered at my studio)
  • Stretch everyday for at least 10 minutes (baby steps, since previous goals have just led me to give up).
  • Have a dedicated rest day.

I’ve planned my goals at like this so I can try to get in better general shape and fit in some sort of cross-training in now that I’m gym-less (not that I really ever did much at the gym either). I might try to squeeze in some swimming as well, since I (probably) still have access to the school’s pool.

What are your June goals? Are you attempting #RWRunStreak?

Filed Under: Ballet, Blog, Outside Class Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , 6 Comments
May 27, 2013

FlipBelt Review + Giveaway

FlipBelt provided by FlipBelt free of charge in exchange for a review. I was not paid for my review.  The opinions contained in this review are mine and based on my experience, and do not reflect the opinions of FlipBelt or anyone else.

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Last week when I arrived back to college, I got a cool little package in the mail, my FlipBelt! I was super excited to try it out–I can’t stand using the armband I got (my iPhone + Otterbox just feels so damn heavy).

Belt_Close_Up__11345.1349754553.1280.1280

But as you probably know, last week was a terrible week weather-wise. It rained most days in Philly and on the one nice day, I  had a job interview that involved a fair bit of travel, so I opted to lay around for the rest of the day.

Finally, Thursday I got a chance to try it out on the track at my university, but only for a mile or so because a huge group of people came on to the track for practice (I’m a slow runner and I felt like I was going to get trampled). Since I had ballet that evening (and it felt like it was starting to rain), I decided to call it quits. But, I LOVED using the FlipBelt. It didn’t slide, and with my phone slid to right in front of me (versus off to the side) it didn’t feel awkward and I could barely tell it was there. My headphones didn’t annoy me because there wasn’t too much slack like with my armband. My keys didn’t bother me either. My Otterbox makes it a bit heavy and tough to get into the FlipBelt, but once it’s in there it’s not moving.

I took to my neighborhood again to test it out for a bit of a longer run and it worked just as well. My only issue with it this time was because of the material the FlipBelt is made out of (an athletic one) and my athletic (and for some reason extra slippery) leggings, it slid a little in the beginning of my run. Once I got it to a good place on my hips (I ordered a medium so I could wear it on my hips versus my waist) it didn’t bother me at all–and stayed perfectly in place on my shorts on Sunday’s 5k run as well.

Want to try one out for yourself? Enter “ABP” at checkout until 6/27 for 10% off or enter to win one from FlipBelt here!

FlipBelt provided by FlipBelt free of charge in exchange for a review. I was not paid for my review.  The opinions contained in this review are mine and based on my experience, and do not reflect the opinions of FlipBelt or anyone else.

Filed Under: Etc., Outside Class, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , , 14 Comments