Water for Elephants and a Giveaway!

If there is one thing that I have learned through marathon training, becoming an overall healthier person, getting my heart broken and having a kidney infection, its that sometimes life is tough. But tough in a good, because I am teaching you valuable lessons and you'll be so much stronger for it, kind of way.

Like today for example: I kicked my own butt at the gym with a 70 minute spinning/circuit workout that left my muscles shaking.

It was tough but good. Oh so good.

Sometimes you gotta deal with the tough part to get to the good part.

Want another example?

Water for Elephants.

This book hurt my heart. Its so poignantly well written that I couldn't help but feel for the characters in a way that literally made me cry. The story was so real in fact, that I kept turning to the back cover to check if it was non-fiction.

I won't go into the details for those of you who haven't read it but I will say that because there were animals involved, it went from sad to gut wrenching for me. If you follow me on Twitter you know I had a really hard time with this book, almost to the point that I stopped reading it. I was so bothered and yet I couldn't walk away from it.

And therein lies the lesson. I had to deal with the tough parts because the end result-a beautiful story- was worth all the difficulty it took to get there.

Don't you just love how fiction can imitate life like that?

Other books that I have read that were a worthwhile challenge to finish:

Madness (Marnya Hornbacher)
The Glass Castle (Jeannette Walls)
An Unquiet Mind and Nothing Was the Same (Kay Redfield Jamison)
The Book of Negroes (Lawrence Hill)
Lucky (Alice Sebold)

Each of these stories , no matter how hard to read, need to be told for one reason or another. The message will touch you, and in many ways change you, the way only good literature can.

And on that note I want to share them with you.

Giveaway

One lucky reader will win a copy of Water for Elephants and her/his choice of one (1) of the books listed above OR two of the books listed above (if the winner has already read Water for Elephants)

How to Enter

1. Leave a comment recommending a book that really touched you (required)

Additional entries

1. Tweet the contest and leave me a separate comment letting me know that you did it

2. Like Health, Happiness & Skinny Jeans on Facebook and leave a separate comment letting me know that you did it.

The giveaway is open until Friday at 11:59EST.
Residents of the US and Canada are eligible to participate.

The winner will be announced Saturday morning.

Good luck...and hey, just in case you don't win, go buy or borrow all those books any way. They are so worth it!

So tell me, what book(s) have really left an impact on you?

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored giveaway. I am not being paid to review the books nor have they been provided to me. I am sponsoring the giveaway of my own valition.

Post Relay Recovery

You know that term "slept like a rock"? I pretty sure that they coined it after me. Last night, despite every effort to get through a movie, I ended up crashing hard on the couch around 9pm. The only time I woke up was to move to the bedroom where I tried to convince the Boyfriend to tell me the ending of the movie but failed to stay up long enough to listen to his explanation. I was Exhausted, capital "E"!!

Today, after 9+ hours of sleep I woke up feeling a little achy all over and a lot achy and sore in my hamstrings. As a heel striker any considerable distance does a number on that muscle more than any other. My foam roller and I have deepened the level of our love/hate relationship as a result of that relay.

I kicked the day off with a dose of healthy in the form of honey flavored Greek yogurt, blueberries, fibre cereal and chia seeds. After snacking here and there during the weekend I needed the boost in a big, bad way!!

After breakfast and catching up on some blogs I started to pack for my much anticipated trip to the cottage. After a few stressful weeks and restarting my training I could feel the need for a getaway creeping up on me. Luckily the Boyfriend's parents were nice enough to lend me their cottage for the week, which provided the perfect destination for relaxation.

The trip up was scenic and I enjoyed a quick snack on the road to hold me over. I don't do it often enough but I would much prefer to pack a healthy meal for road trips then try to find something wholesome on the side of the highway.

A wrap filled with black beans, spinach and goat cheese definitely hit the spot!

A couple hours later and we'd arrived. My legs were starting to really stiffen up so I was definitely grateful to be able to hop out and walk around. Long car rides and sore legs aren't exactly the best match but the pain was well worth it once I got here and instantly felt myself relax.

Its such a cute and quaint place isn't it? I am especially looking forward to running near the water (once my legs feel better) and sitting out on the deck and reading. I borrowed Water for Elephants and I'm so excited to get started.

I also found some of these laying around which should also keep me entertained 

 

I can't help but love some "fluff" reading when I am on vacation!

The plan for the week is this: Lots of sleep, sunbathing, running, biking, hiking, barbecuing and a few trips to the beach. Sounds pretty perfect don't ya think?

I'm off for a late dinner and a movie which I will hopefully stay up for this time. If not, there is always tomorrow, or the day after, or the day after to get caught up.

Ahh...the good life!

So tell me, what is your favorite way to spend a vacation? What's on your summer reading list?

Book Review: Run

Last weekend I admitted to the ever-growing stack of books that are taking up space on my bookshelf. Its actually quite remarkable how many unread books take up residence there. The main reason? I keep coming across other exciting books that I have to read, like right freakin' now.

One of those books was Run by Dean Karnazes. When Cynthia loaned it to me my first instinct was to decline because I already had a slew of books to get through, but I couldn't resist. Far be it for me to turn down a running book. And a Dean running book no less.

The story is broken into 26.2 smaller stories (funny how that just worked out right?) about Dean's running adventures through city streets, deserts and seemingly everywhere in between. If you don't already know, Dean is renowned in the running community for extreme endurance events like ultramarathons, 200 mile relays (he ran it alone!) and 50 marathons in 50 days. To the running world he's a rockstar. To the rest of the world he's just plain crazy.

My take on the book? Interesting. To some extent I could find inspiration in his sheer passion for the sport and determination to meet every challenge put in front of him. In fact, I would even say there is a lot to be learned from man who will run through the pain of 200 miles. It sort of puts my own 10 miles of discomfort into perspective.

That being said, Dean is devoted to the sport in a way that I will never be. I just don't love it enough. And you know what, that's perfectly okay by me. While I admire him and his blisters (his many, many blisters) I don't aspire to be like him...at least not in a physical sense.

Do I want the motivation, determination and gusto? Abso-freakin'-lutely! Will I get it by running for two days in the desert by myself. Ummm...no. Instead I will seek the same thing in my day-to-day passions that include, but are not limited to running (not to say that Dean only has one. He is fiercely family oriented and I respect that even more then the running accomplishments). I love many things and running happens to be on the list. Some days its higher up there then others but the point it to apply this drive to all facets of life, every single day.

So for that I thank Dean for sharing his stories because they prove that living this way is possible even up against the toughest odds.

Now I'm off to do some more reading before bed.

Yes that is the latest issue of Runner's World. I've got a problem and I admit it...

So tell me, have you read any good books lately?