Returning to Relevé

Sometimes I see a fellow adult dancer go crazy town and DO SO MUCH (i.e. take classes at multiple studios, in multiple dance styles, every day of the week), and I start wonder to myself if I'm doing enough/dancing enough. Then I remember how easy it has been for my body to freak out and develop issues ( ahem ) when I overdo it. My body is not the same as their bodies--mine gets grumpy pants if I don't rest. (As an aside, will I ever outgrow this comparison crap? UGH.) But it makes me wonder. Fellow adult dancers, how much dancing is enough dancing for you? I realize that your answer will likely depend on why you dance in the first place; maybe even your "dance goals." As an adult dancer who wants to continue to perform (while I can), I find that I want to dance as many hours as possible so that my technique continues to improve and I stay strong, but not overdo it. Dance is also my happy place, the refuge where all my real-world adult troubles disappear. I...

I was talking to the PT Monday about how I still have a cranky spot deep up inside the back/outside part of my ankle, and she suggested that maybe it was a grumpy ligament that I had mildly sprained. My initial reaction was, "Nah," but then as I thought about it, I recalled how my ankle likes to give out, and how earlier this summer it had given out in class and I'd actually rolled it slightly. OOPS. That may have been the catalyst to setting off this most recent bout of ankle grumpiness. In other news, I'm still being threatened with a boot after the performance if my pain doesn't go away. I'm torn about it, to be honest--on one hand, I'm worried about losing strength, on the other I just want this damn thing to get better.

I mentioned in my last post that my ankle has been bothering me again, and this time the pain was not content to disappear after some minor rest. I've been seeing a PT and a second podiatrist and apparently I have both sinus tarsi syndrome AND peroneal tendonitis, likely due to a large number of factors. While frustrating, it's fascinating to me how connected everything in the body can be--for instance, at my last appointment the PT mentioned how my hips are slightly out of alignment, which may be causing my hamstring to be tight, which in turn is limiting the movement of the fibula, which may be contributing to the peroneal problems. OY VEY. I have yet to determine the starting point of all this chaos, though sometimes I wonder if it stems from my injury/surgery on my left knee several years ago (causing over compensation on my right side). The doc and PT think its very possible. I'm doing a limited amount of dancing (I took a 3 week break awhile back to no ava...