Jumping Rope, Beastly, & 3 Day Weekends

This morning brought with it some heavy fog, so that stopped my jogging plans. Instead of being practically invisible to drivers on the road, I decided to get my morning cardio in a different way. I jumped rope. I have improved since a couple of months ago--I can jump 10 times on my left leg, 10 times on my right. But this exercise wears me out! I set my stopwatch, and jumped for 15 minutes (not continuously of course). I would jump, then recover. At the end I was barely able to get the rope around one turn. Then I realized I wasn't even jumping, it was more like hopping. I made myself JUMP rope for a few more rounds. I had definitely broken a sweat by the end.

I finished up Beastly on Monday.

 It was very different from the movie, and in this instance, I have to say I liked the movie better. Even though it's all a fairytale, the movie was more believable (if that's possible). It had a good underlying message of course--that beauty comes from within. It was a book for 11-13 year olds, which explained the writing structure. Some chapters were written completely in a language you'd use while text messaging or talking in an instant message chat room. It was hard to understand, and it was completely irrevelant to the story. By the end of the book I skipped those chapters.

I had a great 3 day weekend to celebrate Memorial Day. The funniest thing is I can't sleep late anymore because my body has an alarm clock that wakes me up anywhere between 5:45 and 6:00 every day; my internal alarm clock doesn't respect holidays or weekends. I did a round of intervals one day instead of jogging. I would run as fast as I could for 30 seconds, then walk back to the starting point. I repeated this 6 times. I consciously changed my breathing pattern, and it seemed to keep me from having trouble breathing. I would breathe in deeply through my nose, then out really fast through my mouth. I also worked my arms for 15 straight minutes. They were noodly and sore the rest of the day. Maybe by beach time I'll see some definition in my arms worth being proud of.

I watched the second half of a movie--"You Don't Know Jack"--about Dr. Jack Kevorkian a.k.a. Dr. Death.

 It was a movie made from his perspective, and it really made me think. It was scary, creepy, and all so real. I may try to watch the first half before sending it back.