I've been busy the past couple of weeks training for my first 5K race, which was this morning. Although I didn't break my personal best due to the cooler temps and being unaccustomed to running uphill (I usually run on a relatively flat track, since it's been too damp for me to run on trails), I did finish 23rd overall and 3rd for men 40-49 (I think there were slightly over 100 runners) at 33:17 (I walked about 1.5K out of the 5 due to the somewhat steep hills). Won a free meal at Arby's for placing third, plus I won a door prize. Somehow, I don't see myself using the free 30 minute massage session, but oh well.
My next scheduled race is in two weeks and is a much bigger race, so if I finish in the top third again, I'll be ecstatic. It has been a fun journey to this point. A year ago at this point, I could barely walk 3.1 miles/5K within an hour due to being grossly out-of-shape and with a very overweight body made much worse by my August 2014 back injury that led me to gaining almost 50 pounds (or slightly over 20 kg). A few days ago, I stepped on the scales and saw that I had lost 101 pounds since January 12, 2015. I am now the lightest I have been since 2008 and hopefully by the end of the year, I'll be weighing less than what I did when I was in college.
However, all of this training and weight loss has taken a toll on my reading time. I have only finished four books this year (granted, three of them are massive Library of America volumes that contain 3-4 novels' worth of writing inside), but I am hopeful that I'll have a new review ready by Easter weekend. Even better, this is the sort of title that long-time readers (if such exist still!) of this blog will want me to review. After all, look at this cover:
If that gorgeous cover (squirrel!) of Elizabeth McKenzie's The Portable Veblen doesn't mesmerize you enough into buying/reading it, then maybe Jeff VanderMeer's review of it, appearing in the Los Angeles Times, will convince you. This is the book that my reading squirrels have been clamoring for me to have finished already, so hopefully I'll have the energy/time this weekend to finish reading it. Such a good book so far.
Hopefully I'll be more regular in my blogging after my April 2nd race, but until then, you have a squirrel-centric novel review to look forward to.
My next scheduled race is in two weeks and is a much bigger race, so if I finish in the top third again, I'll be ecstatic. It has been a fun journey to this point. A year ago at this point, I could barely walk 3.1 miles/5K within an hour due to being grossly out-of-shape and with a very overweight body made much worse by my August 2014 back injury that led me to gaining almost 50 pounds (or slightly over 20 kg). A few days ago, I stepped on the scales and saw that I had lost 101 pounds since January 12, 2015. I am now the lightest I have been since 2008 and hopefully by the end of the year, I'll be weighing less than what I did when I was in college.
However, all of this training and weight loss has taken a toll on my reading time. I have only finished four books this year (granted, three of them are massive Library of America volumes that contain 3-4 novels' worth of writing inside), but I am hopeful that I'll have a new review ready by Easter weekend. Even better, this is the sort of title that long-time readers (if such exist still!) of this blog will want me to review. After all, look at this cover:
If that gorgeous cover (squirrel!) of Elizabeth McKenzie's The Portable Veblen doesn't mesmerize you enough into buying/reading it, then maybe Jeff VanderMeer's review of it, appearing in the Los Angeles Times, will convince you. This is the book that my reading squirrels have been clamoring for me to have finished already, so hopefully I'll have the energy/time this weekend to finish reading it. Such a good book so far.
Hopefully I'll be more regular in my blogging after my April 2nd race, but until then, you have a squirrel-centric novel review to look forward to.
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