Ballet and Running??

I danced for 13 years, en pointe for 7. However, I quit dance when I decided to join my high school xc team. Some middle school running programs are more serious than others, although generally middle school coaches keep the mileage low and the atmosphere more fun. (One of my close friends coaches middle school xc/track.) That being said, it seems to me that dance and distance running are incompatible at the high school level, so eventually she'll have to choose one over the other.

I've heard that ballet dancers transitioning to running are prone to achilles injuries. I'm not sure how true it is, but it makes sense to me.

Thanks for the reply. She has a real passion for the dance right now, and is new to the running, so I'm sure if she had to make a choice at this point she would go with the dance. I'm biting my lip and hoping she'll go with the running in the end, but it will have to be her choice.

Did you have any problems with chronic achilles or lower leg injuries when you made the transition to longer distance? My fear is that these pointe shoes will do permanent damage that will cause her problems later.

Thanks BRM.

I recall that Laura Dewald, who won the 1982 Osaka Marathon in a time of 2:34:59, was continuing to dance ballet during her peak marathoning years. If you want to ask her about her experiences, you can find her on facebook. (She's currently living in Maryland.)

Isn't ballet shoes essentially barefoot?

This means that she probably has strong feet and ankles already.

I would worry about too much support in running shoes that she is not used to. Go for the minimalist running shoes.

I danced for 15 years, with 6 or 7 years doing pointe. I continued dancing through high school when I ran XC and track. I actually found that pointe got easier after I had been running for a few years, probably because my legs were stronger. I never had achilles issues and was injury-free in high school. However, the flexibility I gained as a dancer did not help my hyper-mobile joints and I now have off-and-on issues with that due to ligament laxity. I don't think that's all from dance though, some of it is hereditary.

Yeah, don't make her quit. I kept dancing all through high school, en pointe. I did taper off towards my senior year just because I became more interested in running than ballet, but I didn't completely stop until the end of high school. I was never seriously injured in high school (just a few standard running aches and pains) and won multiple state championships in track. She will have to understand, though, that her dancing will likely suffer from the development of the parallel muscles.

Now I am almost 30 and miss my ankle strength and flexibility. I try to take ballet classes occasionally because it gives me core and lower leg strength, as well as power from jumping, agility and the obvious: flexibility.

Re: permanent damage

I have some pretty intense bone spurs in both my arches thanks to toe shoes at too early an age. I have to lace my running shoes up in a unique manner, but I have not really had a lot of injuries in my 15 years of serious running (the longest I have even been out of commission is just under 4 weeks), so I wouldn't call it permanent damage. More like collateral, unsightly damage.

The most likely "damage" that she will see from toe shoes are bone spurs or bunions. Neither are the end of the world, but may result in surgery.

Thanks for the responses everyone. Relieved to hear so many of you were able to continue both dance and running without problems.

She's using the gel spacers to help prevent bunions. I'll have to look into the bone spur issue, as I haven't heard much about them. I've also seen her using The Stick on her calves at home, so hopefully she can prevent the excess strain on her achilles that way.

I'm happy to let her continue both activities as long as she doesn't destroy herself.