Once a Runner

J recommended "Once a Runner" by John L. Parker Jr. for me as a source of inspiration. I'm not a runner by default and I used to loathe the thought of running for 15 minutes straight. But I have to say that it does wonders for my overall well-being and your progress is palpable. Can't say I love running but I'm certainly disliking it less and less.

Snippet from the book:

"There must be some mistake,"Cassidy said. "I have not yet attained that sense of euphoria commonly reported by runners."

"You are speaking no doubt of the fabled 'third wind.'"

"I'm not sure. I haven't read Runner's World lately so I don't know what they are calling it this month."

Praise for the book by Benjamin Cheever, author of Strides

"Part training manual, part religious tract, part love story, and all about running, Once a Runner is so inspiring it could be banned as a performance-enhancing drug."

Exactly what I needed...

My First Book

Ok, no, it's not really my first book but I did co-author it with Mandy Chan. It's an educational booklet about the disappearance of bees.

Mandy has much more credibility than I do. She works with Dr. Leonard Foster at UBC on the life cycle of bees. We never actually met each other in the making of the book but we did lots of email :) You can check it out or better yet purchase your very own copy through genegeek.

Nicole also cowrote a book on the Mountain Pine Beetle for educational purposes.

Just thought I would mention that :)

Book Club of One

I have yet to find a book club that is to my liking except for lit classes at UBC. I've been craving engaging discussions about literature & I truthfully miss the scratch of the pencil against paper as ideas stream from my noggin' to my fingers. 

Above are just some of the books I need to read/finish reading. I have a terrible habit of reading half a book and then forgetting about it for a year. It hasn't happened yet this summer but I have a ton of half-read books to go through.

While in Kamloops a couple of weeks ago, Justin (my co-worker) and I took a trip to Chapters. Since then I've been devouring books constantly. In the day I'll carefully read a thought-provoking and inspirational book while at night I'll indulge in terribly written teen vampire romance novels. Although I've said that I'd never read a Twilight book, I'm currently reading "The Vampire Diaries" which probably isn't any better. Yes, I'm ashamed that I've been letting out sighs and girlish squeals as I read the Vampire Diairies series.

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Sometimes I'll feel out of place here. Maybe it's because my room's really cluttered. It's organized chaos here and this room has more stuff than it could comfortably fit. I'm tempted to turn this place upside down so I can create a reading room of my own. Or at least turn it into the picture below.

10, 000 Hours

Malcolm Gladwell's book "Outliers" tells us that 10, 000 hours is the magical number of hours you need to accumulate in order to be an expert at anything.

That's total dedication to one thing. I've been thinking about what I would dedicate myself to: yoga, genetics or literature? There are endless possibilities and it all comes down to time and practice. Knowing me, I wouldn't know where to start. I guess I can live with mediocrity in some areas like fencing, skiing or horseback riding. As long as I'm proficient, that's good enough.

What would you dedicate 10, 000 hours to?