Claddagh Strong

Don’t mind me but there is something that I want to talk about. I took part in a feis yesterday and I have been working hard on my stamina and I thought I danced really well and I was proud of myself. I thought I would place well. I placed 8th and to be honest, I was a little disappointed. I thought I gave it my all and my stamina was good. I’m glad that I placed; it’s better than not placing, but I thought I placed a little higher. It brought my spirits down.

after the feis, my mom brought up an issue and we got talking. The girls that were in the top three where way longer than me (I’m 26). I told my mom that all the older girls in the comp placed under the top 5 (my comp was 17 and over). I understand that older dancers are staying longer in competing, which is awesome but there is one problem that is really bothering me. When signing up for feis’s, if you are over 20 and still in Prelim, your only options are 16& over, 17& over, and 18& over. There are schools that are offering 20& over for Prelim dancers, but it still hasn’t become more common. Feis’s offer 20& over to Open Dancers but not to Prelim dancers. That’s not fair.

As an older dancer who has been stuck in Prelim for almost 10 years and doesn’t even have one First, it’s frustrating that I cannot compete with dancers my own age. All I want is to finally get to Open and then retire. Do you know how hard it is to compete against someone that is 10 years younger than you? A 16 year old and a 26 year old dance completely different from each other. It bothers me that when awards are given, the younger girls are in the top spots and the older girls are in the bottom spot.

Friends. Help. I’ve had a hamstring injury for the last month and it’s just not getting better. I’ve been seeing a physio and have stopped dancing for the last 2.5 weeks and have been trying everything but it’s just not getting better. I can’t deal with not training right now. Thank god I decided to skip NANs this year but Oireachtas is approaching fast and this is the year I really need to give it my all. I’m getting anxious to say the least.

While I’m not a physiotherapist or a personal trainer, I have found a few things that seem to help whenever I pull something. I did a lot of these after a nasty quad strain injury two weeks before the Montreal NAIDC in 2014.

Rest: Don’t overdo it if your body makes it clear it needs time to rest. It sounds like you’re already giving it the necessary rest it needs.

Stretching: Start with some really light stretches to begin working on your muscle’s flexibility, but keep it simple and let your body dictate its limits. As you begin to work on the muscle, you’ll slowly begin to stretch further and longer as you work on it. Just remember to take it slow and not rush the stretch.

Rolling Pin: I use this one all the time to try and work out my hamstrings when they are too tight. My sister will use her physio roller to roll out my hamstrings while I lay on my stomach. This one is nice because you can control how hard you press, as well as how long you roll out your legs. You could also use a foam roller to get the same results but have more personal control over the amount of pressure and the type of recovery exercise. **I’d only recommend this after your muscle is already on the mend as this could put too much pressure too soon on the injury. I’d check with your physio to see when would be a good time for options like this.**

Massage Therapy: This one is entirely dependent on the dancer and whether they think this is a good option. I found that this has helped exponentially for my own performance, but this is not necessary if you’re already doing physio. Just another solid option with someone who specializes in releasing the tension in your muscles and helping your recovery along.

Taking Magnesium Vitamins: This is something that I started taking that has helped promote good health and recovery. As Irish dancers, we put our bodies under a lot of strain from endurance training and a variety of fast- and slow-twitch movements. Magnesium is another great vitamin that you can include in your morning routine that will help with a multitude of things - joint pain, relief of muscle cramps, a natural electrolyte and more. I’ll PM you a link to some good articles that explain magnesium a little better than I can in a quick response.

So there’s about half a dozen posts floating around about how WEIRD Irish music is, but I thought I’d add my own, based pretty much on my Pandora list this evening:

“Being on a Boat sucks, I wish I was getting laid on land.”

“Being on land is boring and expensive, I wish I was on a boat”

“I robbed a military officer but my girlfriend snitched on me and Now maybe my military brother will leave his job and we can be terrorists together”

“Badly Injured Man Not Done Partying Yet”

“Being poor sucks but at least sex sells?”

INTENSE VIOLIN MOMENT

“Is grandpa dead or drunk?  Who cares, lets solve all the family issues with a fistfight”

“Oh God Why Did I Ever Move To Nova Scotia”

“Oh no, this woman I was planning on knocking up and abandoning has tricked me out of my wealth and reputation”

INTENSE PENNY WHISTLE MOMENT

“My crush doesn’t love me back so I’m going to go die in India”

“I LIED, INDIA IS AWESOME”

“My most Memorable Barfights”

“I left everyone I loved to go to America for a better life but apparently this is where Britain sent all their assholes”

“Ireland is so beautiful, shame about those assholes next door.”

“Alas I did not trick that handsome asshole out of his wealth before he left me pregnant”

LISTEN TO HOW FAST I CAN FIDDLE

“Hey let’s all grab various sharp objects and overthrow the British”

“Whaling was a poor career choice”

“Poaching was also a poor career choice”

“Lets get wasted and try to sing tongue twisters”

“Let’s all get drunk in general”

let’s have a slow flute number about sunsets or butterflies I LIED IT’S ANOTHER JIG

“Love song for a specific beach”

“Paddy Fucks Up”

“Hard labor sucks, I wish I was unemployed”

“Being unemployed is AWESOME exceptforthepartwhereyoudieofstarvationbutthat’snotimportantrightnow”

“Don’t worry!  It’s only me Sexy Stranger and Possible escaped Lunatic lurking in your barn! We should bone!”

FIDDLIN’ LIKE A MOTHERFUCKER UP IN THIS BITCH

So crazy to think that this day 4 years ago I placed in prelim for the first time, and this year I got a recall at worlds.

For those of you who say you can’t do it, wanna give up, or don’t think hard work will pay off, TRUST me on this one. It will! It seems crazy, and honestly pretty scary to think about, but the biggest lesson I learned this year was that if you set your mind to something and stick with it, it’ll all work out.

I was always that annoying person growing up that was a lot of talk and zero action. It’s good to have big goals, but it’s another thing to have unrealistic goals and put all over social media and tell everyone that you’ll reach them. My obliviousness is definitely something I look back on and cringe about.

However, that pushed me to do my best and to always reach for the top. I’m not saying to have unrealistic goals and to be that annoying person, but I think it’s important to always look at the big picture, and push yourself to be the best that you can be.