Books and Fitness
I'm sure all of you have been waiting anxiously to find out which books I took on the trip. Okay, so maybe not so anxiously. But, you're curious, right?
Sorry, fes42, I didn't follow your advice. While I think weighing the books was a good idea (to cut down on baggage weight, of course), three books would never have been enough for one trip.
Here's what I took:
In the carry-on
Masquerade: a Blue Bloods Novel by Melissa de la Cruz (as I had already started to read it)
Remembering Raquel by Vivian Vande Velde (ARC of her upcoming book...buy it in November, it's amazing)
Bass Ackwards and Belly Up by Elizabeth Craft and Sara Fain
Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
In the suitcase (for the return trip)
The Wizard, the Witch and Two Girls from Jersey by Lisa Papademetriou
Tips on Having a Gay (ex) Boyfriend by Carrie Jones
plus two books for my dad
I ended up reading Masquerade and Remembering Raquel on the flight out. I also started Perks. On the way home I was a bit distracted (short story, I was worried about my dad...he's okay now, and I'll explain more later). I read more of Perks, started Bass Ackwards and ended up watching a marathon of the World Series of Pop Culture on VH1 (thank you, JetBlue).
Last night in taekwondo we were worked hard. Lots of sprints, jumps, and kicks. Then, at the end of class, we were given a fitness test. We had to see how many push-ups we could do in a minute and how many sit-ups we could do in the same amount of time. I managed to eek out 45 sit-ups in 60 seconds, putting me in the 85th percentile for women my age. Not too shabby! But my real accomplishment was my push-up score. I did 64 straight-leg push-ups in one minute, which is the 99th percentile for my age group. I've had a huge grin on my face ever since!
Now that my foot has (mostly) healed, I've started to run again. I'm taking it slow and doing the CoolRunning.com "Couch to 5K" program. It's been pretty tough. But I'm determined to get back to where I was this time last year. So, I've decided to do the Race for the Cure on September 23. I figure having a goal will push me to improve. And, even if I don't manage to get to the point of being able to run the whole race, at least I know I can finish it . Today I completed 2.5 miles in 35 minutes, alternating between running and walking (running at a really slow pace, of course). I hope, by September, I can finish the whole 3.1 miles in the same time (or less).
Sorry, fes42, I didn't follow your advice. While I think weighing the books was a good idea (to cut down on baggage weight, of course), three books would never have been enough for one trip.
Here's what I took:
In the carry-on
Masquerade: a Blue Bloods Novel by Melissa de la Cruz (as I had already started to read it)
Remembering Raquel by Vivian Vande Velde (ARC of her upcoming book...buy it in November, it's amazing)
Bass Ackwards and Belly Up by Elizabeth Craft and Sara Fain
Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
In the suitcase (for the return trip)
The Wizard, the Witch and Two Girls from Jersey by Lisa Papademetriou
Tips on Having a Gay (ex) Boyfriend by Carrie Jones
plus two books for my dad
I ended up reading Masquerade and Remembering Raquel on the flight out. I also started Perks. On the way home I was a bit distracted (short story, I was worried about my dad...he's okay now, and I'll explain more later). I read more of Perks, started Bass Ackwards and ended up watching a marathon of the World Series of Pop Culture on VH1 (thank you, JetBlue).
Last night in taekwondo we were worked hard. Lots of sprints, jumps, and kicks. Then, at the end of class, we were given a fitness test. We had to see how many push-ups we could do in a minute and how many sit-ups we could do in the same amount of time. I managed to eek out 45 sit-ups in 60 seconds, putting me in the 85th percentile for women my age. Not too shabby! But my real accomplishment was my push-up score. I did 64 straight-leg push-ups in one minute, which is the 99th percentile for my age group. I've had a huge grin on my face ever since!
Now that my foot has (mostly) healed, I've started to run again. I'm taking it slow and doing the CoolRunning.com "Couch to 5K" program. It's been pretty tough. But I'm determined to get back to where I was this time last year. So, I've decided to do the Race for the Cure on September 23. I figure having a goal will push me to improve. And, even if I don't manage to get to the point of being able to run the whole race, at least I know I can finish it . Today I completed 2.5 miles in 35 minutes, alternating between running and walking (running at a really slow pace, of course). I hope, by September, I can finish the whole 3.1 miles in the same time (or less).