Note: Written in April 2018, forgot to post!
Today, I feel compelled to write about cross training. No, not that cross training. Well, kinda, sorta, not really.
Following the Train Like a Mother HR 101 plan, I run 5 days a week and do 5 min strengthening circuits 5 days a week. There are two built in rest days, although one can be a cross training day – but it cannot involve running or anything cardio that gets your HR over 140 bpm. They suggest yoga, pilates, or some other gentle exercise.
In addition to running, I am a ballroom dancer. I dance, on average, 3-6 hrs/week depending on how many lessons I take and how much social dancing I do. Given my husband and I are currently preparing for a competition in a month, it’s closer to six-ten and sometimes even more hours/week right now. Ballroom dancing IS my cross training.
If you are not a ballroom dancer, or any kind of dancer, you may not realize that ballroom dancing is a work out in and of itself, and usually keeps your heart rate in the fat burning sweet spot. It’s a cardio work out for sure, just try dancing cha cha for 3 minutes straight. In heels! It also takes significant core and leg strength, coordination, and control, which means learning where your weight should be. All while controlling your posture, foot placement, body rhythm, staying in time with the music, arm styling, head position, and remembering to breathe! There are actually many similarities to running in it’s most basic elements.
In preparing for this upcoming competition, I searched for reviews of this particular event, as they are held all over the world 6 or 7 times every year. I found none, other than those carefully published by Arthur Murray, who runs the competition called Dance O Rama. Those were all rah-rah and why you should do it, but absolutely nothing of substance and nothing on pricing.
We will be attending the Boston Area Dance O Rama, which is a Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut. It’s our first time attending this style and level of competition, and I wanted to get some insight from those who have experienced an event like this before. Apparently ballroom dancers don’t feel compelled to write reviews of their events like runners write race reviews.
Well that’s about to change!
I find it fascinating that a sport (and it’s called dancesport for a reason) like ballroom dancing is so secretive across the board with the prices, details, and reviews of their competitions. Can you imagine signing up for a race and not knowing how much it will cost or what that money is going to and how it’s broken down when you pay for it? That’s ballroom dancing. At least at Arthur Murray Competitions.
Could you imagine not only having to pay for yourself, but also having to pay for your running coach to stay at the hotel, eat all their meals, and pay not only for your races, but their time as well, yet not have their undivided attention, because every one of their students is paying for their hotel, meals, and time in ballroom dancing about and beyond our own! Oh, and swag is not guaranteed! I don’t even get a flipping T-shirt!
We have no idea what the hotel room actually costs. We have no idea what the meals that are provided actually costs. We don’t know what admission to the social events actually cost. We do know what each dance heat costs, because we asked, and it’s ridiculous when you consider you dance for 60-90 seconds a heat and because you are paying for your teacher to either watch you as an amateur couple, or dance with you as a pro-am couple.
We have no ability to opt out of staying at the hotel or opting out of paying for meals, even if we live 5 miles away. You pay a package price that’s all inclusive, whether you attend the entire event or not. And it’s crazy expensive.
None of that includes all the money spent on lessons preparing for this competition! At least my training runs are “free”, less the cost of the clothes and shoes I wear and my Polar HR watch.
While I love dancing, and I enjoy the energy of a competition or showcase event, as I’ve learned how this process works, I’m fairly certain this will be a one and done Rama for us. I dislike the lack of communication, transparency, and disclosure and it’s an Arthur Murray thing, if not an industry wide thing. We wouldn’t know what we do if we didn’t ask and insist on getting some of this information prior to signing up.
At the end of the day, it’s a business, and as such, it’s about the money they bring in and the potential prestige you can bring them and the studio you dance at, should you do well. And if you inspire more people to go to competitions, they make more money. Sometimes, it feels it’s as if they see you as dollar signs first, dancers second, people third. Perhaps this is not true of all Arthur Murray studios, and I really don’t have much experience with non-Arthur Murray competitions other than to know they are generally much less expensive. It seems to us it’s not at all worth the expense, but we’re told it’s an amazing event socially in addition to the dancing, we did want to experience it with our dance friends and family and now is a good time to do so.
Runners are not like that, of course. Race directors are not like that. At least not in my experience. Maybe the elite world is more like that, but I’m far from an elite runner and I’m certainly nothing but a mediocre middle aged amateur ballroom dancer. I don’t make excuses, it is simply the fact of the matter, and I’m ok with that. I’m way ahead of everyone still sitting on the couch, staring at some sort of screen.
In my experience, there is a plethora of information on races out there from the organizers, and you can usually find plenty of race reviews, especially for the bigger, longer running, and well known races. You know what it costs, and what you get for that price. You are in control of expenses beyond that, no one dictates where you stay, for how long, and how much it costs. If you are paying a coach, it’s highly unlikely that they come with you, and if they do, it’s probably because they are running, too, or they simply want to.
Equipment for running might be expensive in the sense that multiple pairs of running shoes every year, geeky running watches, race entry fees, and all the other gear runners tend to love may add up, but even if you go to a few destination races every year, I’m fairly confident it doesn’t add up to ONE Arthur Murray Dance O Rama competition for the average ballroom dancer! Unless maybe you do Marathon Weekend at Disney in January and stay on property in a Deluxe hotel, and go to the parks for a week with a family of four. 🙂
Oh, and the ballroom competition clothes are also by no means inexpensive! Some of those gorgeous ball-gowns you see high level dancers wear approach $7-10K. Dance shoes are on average $100-200 and you need several pair. Hair and make up adds expense in the hundreds of dollars if it’s professionally done each day. The men can’t wear just dress pants, they need dance pants, and they ain’t cheap either.
Maybe my husband should run with me instead. 🙂
Don’t get me wrong. I love dancing, and I’m fairly invested in it now. I’ve already got the shoes, the make up, the fake hair extensions, several costumes (though not nearly that expensive, but also not that well made), the jewelry, and my husband has everything he needs at this point, too. But this particular competition really got me thinking about the similarities and differences to running.
At the end of the day, it’s great cross training. Like cardio and strength work all in one. And the running kind of ensures I’ll still fit into all those dresses. 🙂
What kind of cross training do you do? Are you a dancer who runs or a runner who dances?
Run Kimmy, Run! 