#73: Read 30 books, part V

#21: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon



This was a re-read of a book I read in college, for my Special Education class. It's written from the point of view of a teenage with autism who is writing a mystery novel about his investigation into the murder of his neighbor's dog. It's a good look into how the mind of person with autism might work.

#22: Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen.



I borrowed this after I found it in the back seat of my friend Melissa's car. I really liked it, I'm a bit afraid to watch the movie because I feel like it's going to be not nearly as awesome (I mean, it's got that guy from Twilight in it, I don't know how to take it seriously). I love elephants (see upcoming tattoo post for reference), and I love circuses in theory. I love the imagery, especially from the early 20th century, just not the reality of the lives it creates for the animals. But, whatever, the story is good, I love the twist at the end. If I'm remembering it correctly, the story was based on a few real elephants.

#23: Buffalo Lockjaw by Greg Ames.

This book was okay. It was about a guy returning home, dealing with his mom who has early-onset dementia, and contemplating assisted suicide.

#24: Zorro by Isabelle Allende.



I don't know why, but this book took me fooooooreeeeverrrr to read. I started it in November and didn't finish it until the start of February. Robert kept making fun of me, but it was very small print, and a lot of pages! It is basically the back story to Zorro. I just couldn't really get in to it (another reason why it took me so long to read).

#25: The Hunger Games by Suzanna Collins



Yep. I got addicted too.

#7: Go jogging 20x

completed 03.06.11

Though I've completed this goal a year ago, I'm continuing to tally my jogs. I've been jogging a lot lately because...I am running in a 5k tomorrow. I'm doing it with a bunch of my teammates from The Pistoffs. I really don't like running, but I got peer pressured into it, and you can't really tell your team of athletes that you just don't feel like working that hard.

Running has always been quite difficult for me, because I've never had great endurance. A lot of the early jogs that counted towards this list item were outside in Escanaba...I seriously remember telling my friend Barbi in Esky that I was excited and proud that I had jogged nine blocks...but not in a row, I took breaks every 3 or 4. And the blocks in Escanaba are so short, it was probably like 3/4 of a mile. Even in the last year, when I've been running more often, trying to get in shape for derby, I've been running for 12-15 minutes before I had to stop. Thanks to my endurance being built up in speed skating class, I was able to run a full 5k on the treadmill for the first time in my life. I slowed down for two short breaks to drink some water, but otherwise ran the whole thing. And I was so proud of myself, because it's something I never would have been able to do before now. It has me thinking a lot about how strong and healthy I'm becoming. I've always felt like my body was holding me back because it was small, weak, and I had no endurance. I feel like I've really overcome that now, and I really can do anything! I was running at about 10 minutes per mile last night, and if I'm remembering right, when we ran a mile in high school gym class, I had a 14 minute mile, and walked at least half of it.

In other news, I've put together a bomb ass playlist to listen to during the race tomorrow.

Since last summer, every time I went running, I would listen to The Gossip's album Music for Men. This is my number one song to run to.



One of my favorite groups. This song is "hype", as the kids say.





This video makes me a little nauseous, but it's impossible not to run while listening to it.



I'll let y'all know how I do!