For the first time since I started riding a bicycle again in 1987, the total number of book pages I read exceeded the number of miles I rode.
This year I rode more than 8,000 miles, probably 8,300 by December 31, but I have read more than 10,000 pages in more than 50 books.
Also, because I had trouble with my shoulder, I stopped doing pushups. Every year since I re-enlisted I did more than 6,000 pushups, nearly 15,000 in 2011, but this year, less than 300.
And I pretty much gave up running after the Ironman triathlon. I also stopped swimming in September when I took four college classes. But in the weirdest stat for the year, I swam more miles than I ran: 87 miles swimming, 74 running.
The most troubling, beautiful, sad book I read this year was "Life and Fate" by Vasily Grossman. It is the 20th Century version of "War and Peace" centering on Stalingrad.
Eleven of the 52 books I read this year were written by Russian authors, but all were in English. I am continuing to study Russian language, but not at the point where I can read Russian. I can still read French well enough that one of the books I re-read this year was an abridged "Three Musketeers."
Next semester I will be taking Russian language and 19th Century Russian Literature, so I will continue to have Russian in my mind. If I leave the Army in May, I will definitely be riding more. My plan will be to ride 10,000 miles in 2016 to get ready for racing in the 65+ category in 2018. It's great to be the youngest in an age group!
