Forgive me for this somewhat unrelated post, but I really want to share this with you guys.
So, this past weekend I participated in the 14th annual UNC dance marathon, which is where we danced/stayed on our feet for 24 hours to raise money for the For The Kids foundation and the North Carolina Children's Hospital. Yes, on out feet for 24 hours. No sitting, no sleeping, just standing, dancing, from 7:30 pm Friday to 7:30 pm Saturday. You might be thinking, dear god, these people are insane, and yes, perhaps we are. But I can proudly say I did it and it was such an incredible experience that I would do it again in a heartbeat. It was the best one night stand of my life! :)
The For The Kids (FTK) foundation supports kids and family at the children's hospital when they can't support themselves. They provide money for gas so the family can come visit the sick child, money for food and unpaid bills because they know that a lot of families spend every last cent on their child's medical bills, and other things like that. You can look them up online for more information.
There were hours of the morning where I thought I couldn't do it. I was standing around at 3 am thinking, I'm tired, I still have 16 hours of this left, how on earth can I do it. Then they showed us videos of our kid co-captains, the kids who have benefited from us standing to raise money, and I remembered why I was standing. It was hard, I won't lie, but being there with almost 2000 other students made it worth it. To see why we stand, watch this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAZyoWtqrvk&feature=related
We raised $483,210.36 FOR THE KIDS.
We met our kid co-captains at hour 23 during family hour (after we watched UNC beat Clemson to keep a 56-0 home record against them- go heels!) and it was truly inspirational. I think I almost cried when this little 2 and a half year old boy got up on stage, all decked out in Carolina gear, and sang his favorite song- the Alma mater. Too much cute bundled into one little boy. Anyways, all of these kids had different stories. Different adversities they had fought to overcome, or were still fighting against. But they were all smiling, and thrilled to be with us. It was the small things like that, that reminded us if these kids can live it up while fighting something terrifying, we can make it 24 hours on our feet, and we can remind ourselves how lucky we are that this is the only thing we have to complain about. And to top it off, we had videos from the kids encouraging US to keep going, to keep dancing. Even Trey Songz sent a video encouraging us, telling us to keep dancing. Apparently he heard about our cause, wanted to come visit but couldn't rearrange his schedule so had to settle for a video to us. How cool is that!
This experience also reminded me that no matter how much pain you're in, and no matter how much your feet hurt or your legs ache, you can always keep going. I kept going for 24 hours, through an 8 am flash rave and hours upon hours of dancing. I'll be sure to remember that when I dance tonight. You can always keep going.
Please check out our official site, http://www.uncmarathon.org/ and explore the blog. If you're ever looking for any inspiration to do something, or to keep dancing, just check this out and find videos online :)
We're also not the only university to do this! Many universities have their own form of dance marathon- Penn State has thon weekend- a 46 hour event that raise...wait for it... $10.68 million. That's incredible. UNCDM can only hope to be that successful some day.
Alright I'm done gushing about my weekend, I hope you enjoy reading about this as much as I enjoyed doing it.
Happy Monday!
Monday, February 20, 2012
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Compromises
Hello again!
My apologies for this being quite delayed- schools sprung midterms on me and I've only just found time to breathe!
First and foremost- the 5k. It may not have been the most pleasant experience, but I certainly learned some things about myself.
1. I really, really do hate running.
2. Irish dancing has made my calves awesome- my shins...not so much.
3. My quads are surprisingly weak for a dancer who loves jumping
4. I have a lot more trouble keeping on running than I do keeping on dancing.
5. I hate running in the town I live in- because it is ridiculously, ridiculously hilly, with more out of place bricks and roots than you could imagine.
6. Dancing has trained me to be a sprinter- I really need to stop kidding myself that I can run long distance. 600m tops, and I am painfully reminded of this whenever I try to run further!
A note on the shins- I've discovered that perhaps doing both dancing and running in large amounts may not be the best idea, considering how high impact both of these activities are. In dancing, when we land from jumps, the ground clearly does not give way enough for there to be no shock, so something has to absorb the shock of hitting the ground. This would be the shins. This is also the root of why dancing on concrete is so horrible compared to a sprung dance floor- there's no give in the concrete, putting a lot of pressure onto shins, and causing shin splits- an ailment I'm sure many dancers are familiar with. For those who are not, this picture is a very simplified image of the location of the bones vs. where the symptoms are felt.
For a much more educated and detailed description, visit Feis Fit's posts on shin splints! http://feisfit.com/2011/12/03/legs-from-hell-shin-splints/ (I would highly recommend reading everything else on this blog- coming from a science geek I find everything on there very interesting! Certainly a great perspective of dance you don't see as much- something I'd love to get into though.)
As for the other comments on running- it became very clear to me midway through about the second mile that running 5ks is NOT the way for me to get my endurance up. I'd only end up killing my shins or breaking my ankle as I trip over the bricks in this hilly town.
So, is there a compromise? Well as I read the Feis Fit blog I took particular interest in the commentary on interval training. The workout was tailored specifically for Irish dancers and building up the endurance and strength to get through those 2 1/2 hornpipes or that set dance. Doesn't this sound wonderful? A practical workout- for once! I have no doubt it'll be grueling at first, but maybe it'll become easier if I keep at it. So, I'll try that in the upcoming week at let you know how it works.
Last but not least, I've noticed that many Americans don't know what hot water bottles are. Well these wonderful rubber bottles full of hot water radiate heat, and I'm mentioning them because mine is currently one of my most used possessions- especially after a feis. Mine has a nice fluffy cover, and after a long day when my legs are achy there is NOTHING better than lying down and having a fluffy source of heat soothe your muscles- it can also help stop legs from cramping if they're feeling like they might. In my opinion, a must have for Irish dancers- or any athlete really.
Until next time: http://pinterest.com/pin/223561568972333654/
Thanks for reading!
My apologies for this being quite delayed- schools sprung midterms on me and I've only just found time to breathe!
First and foremost- the 5k. It may not have been the most pleasant experience, but I certainly learned some things about myself.
1. I really, really do hate running.
2. Irish dancing has made my calves awesome- my shins...not so much.
3. My quads are surprisingly weak for a dancer who loves jumping
4. I have a lot more trouble keeping on running than I do keeping on dancing.
5. I hate running in the town I live in- because it is ridiculously, ridiculously hilly, with more out of place bricks and roots than you could imagine.
6. Dancing has trained me to be a sprinter- I really need to stop kidding myself that I can run long distance. 600m tops, and I am painfully reminded of this whenever I try to run further!
A note on the shins- I've discovered that perhaps doing both dancing and running in large amounts may not be the best idea, considering how high impact both of these activities are. In dancing, when we land from jumps, the ground clearly does not give way enough for there to be no shock, so something has to absorb the shock of hitting the ground. This would be the shins. This is also the root of why dancing on concrete is so horrible compared to a sprung dance floor- there's no give in the concrete, putting a lot of pressure onto shins, and causing shin splits- an ailment I'm sure many dancers are familiar with. For those who are not, this picture is a very simplified image of the location of the bones vs. where the symptoms are felt.
For a much more educated and detailed description, visit Feis Fit's posts on shin splints! http://feisfit.com/2011/12/03/legs-from-hell-shin-splints/ (I would highly recommend reading everything else on this blog- coming from a science geek I find everything on there very interesting! Certainly a great perspective of dance you don't see as much- something I'd love to get into though.)
As for the other comments on running- it became very clear to me midway through about the second mile that running 5ks is NOT the way for me to get my endurance up. I'd only end up killing my shins or breaking my ankle as I trip over the bricks in this hilly town.
So, is there a compromise? Well as I read the Feis Fit blog I took particular interest in the commentary on interval training. The workout was tailored specifically for Irish dancers and building up the endurance and strength to get through those 2 1/2 hornpipes or that set dance. Doesn't this sound wonderful? A practical workout- for once! I have no doubt it'll be grueling at first, but maybe it'll become easier if I keep at it. So, I'll try that in the upcoming week at let you know how it works.
Last but not least, I've noticed that many Americans don't know what hot water bottles are. Well these wonderful rubber bottles full of hot water radiate heat, and I'm mentioning them because mine is currently one of my most used possessions- especially after a feis. Mine has a nice fluffy cover, and after a long day when my legs are achy there is NOTHING better than lying down and having a fluffy source of heat soothe your muscles- it can also help stop legs from cramping if they're feeling like they might. In my opinion, a must have for Irish dancers- or any athlete really.
Until next time: http://pinterest.com/pin/223561568972333654/
Thanks for reading!
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