Running N Reading Weekend Update: Half Marathon Race Week and Current Reading

Running N Reading Weekend Update Link-Up

Tara at Running N Reading hosts a Weekend Update Link-Up where people can share their weekend fun and successes with each other, as well as introduce each other to new things: races, workouts, books, food, gear, etc.

Since running and reading are my two favorite “try to retain some semblance of myself” while being a stay-at-home Mom activities, I’m excited to participate in this link-up!

Current Reading

Reunion, Hannah Pittard, fiction

I’m almost finished reading Reunion by Hannah Pittard…and it’s fantastic! It’s a delightfully irreverent story about an estranged, extended family (and, by extended, I don’t mean cousins…I mean 4 ex-wives and all the accompanying half siblings) gathering for a funeral. The subject matter spoke to me in a deeply personal way, while the writing was funny and snarky and highlighted the ridiculous side of the rituals of death. And, did I mention it’s under 300 pages?!
Affiliate Link: Buy from Amazon

Me Talk Pretty One Day, David Sedaris, essay collections, humor

As a result of my Top Ten Authors I Need to Read More From post, I was told that I MUST listen to David Sedaris on audio, rather than read his books. I’ve gotten through the first couple stories and they are funny (as promised!). Although, I’m not sure laughing out loud while running (which is when I usually listen) is really the overall goal here…but, who knows, that might come in handy during those last couple miles of this weekend’s half marathon!
Affiliate Link: Buy from Amazon

“On Deck” Reading

Certainty, Victor Bevine, historical fiction, Newport, World War I

Next up on the Kindle is this historical fiction and “fiction based on true crime” genre mash-up about Newport, Rhode Island at the end of World War I. The arrival of a Naval Training Station has turned tony Newport into a “moral cesspool” according to the local gentry and sailors’ accusations of sexual impropriety against a beloved clergyman send the town into hysterics. I’ve had great luck with “fiction based on true crime” this year, so I’ll be participating in an online blog tour for this book on October 27.
Affiliate Links: Buy from Amazon

Liar Temptress Soldier Spy, Four Women Undercover in the Civil War, nonfiction, Karen AbbottI’ve been meaning to read this one for a few weeks now and finally have a specific motivation to push it to the top of my TBR list – Nonfiction November! Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy is about four women who went undercover to spy during the Civil War and, apparently, my hometown (Richmond, VA) plays a major role in the story.
Affiliate Link: Buy from Amazon

Running
And…it’s race week!! Aka taper week! Even though this is my first half marathon, I’m very familiar with the concept of tapering from my swimming background. Here’s what I remember about tapering from my childhood in the pool: it’s amazing! You are SUPPOSED to have very easy workouts and lots of stretching. Oh, and eat some carbs!

You know what I discovered this week? How much time you have in the day if you don’t spend 1-2 hours of it working out! It’s literally amazing what you can get done. However, I also kind of miss hard workouts…I’ve become accustomed to them and feel a little off balance without them. 

On to the race…

It was a gorgeous day for running (sunny and high in the low 60’s)…I was so thankful for this after a rainy and cold morning on Saturday. I’m so glad the race (Westchester Medical Center Running Festival Half Marathon) was on Sunday! I mentioned last week that the race course elevation gain/loss was about double my usual training run and that the course was the dreaded U shaped out and back (the half marathon is the top graph). 

Westchester Medical Center Running Festival Half Marathon Elevation

Race Highlights 

  • Luckily, the hills didn’t turn out to be as bad as they looked online! But, the back half was still tough!
  • I took things out a bit faster than normal (time wise, not effort wise) since the first half of the race was downhill. I averaged around [9:25]-[9:30] miles vs. [9:45]-[9:55] in my training runs.
  • Despite the fact that I took things out fast (for me), I was getting passed by EVERYONE in the beginning. I was snickering to myself that I’d catch them all later, but many managed to hold that pace. I’m definitely not as natural a runner as many of the people in this race…some literally looked like gazelles floating over the road. And, they looked like they were barely trying. Sigh…
  • I didn’t negative split this race, but did manage to more or less even split (miles ranged from [9:41]-[9:16] thoughout the race).
  • There was a big hill during mile 12, which had me feeling like I was going to throw up. So, my final mile wasn’t as fast as I would have liked.
  • As I crossed the finish line, I felt horrible and needed to sit down (and eat a banana!). I noticed lots of other runners nonchalantly crossing the finish line and milling around chatting. I wondered how it was possible that running 13.1 miles had not seemed to remotely affect them?! It was HARD for me! I mean, really hard. I was tired afterwards…how is this a foreign concept to these people?!
  • Overall, I’m happy with my time ([2:05] vs. [2:10] goal…the official results aren’t posted yet, so I don’t know my place), ran faster than I did in training on a harder course, and am very glad I did this. However, I think I’m more geared to the shorter races. I see lots of 5Ks and 10Ks (and hopefully some triathlons) in my future! There was also a quarter marathon as part of today’s race that I might consider for next year.

Did anyone else race this weekend?


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13 Comments

  1. I like the image of laughing out loud while running and listening to David Sedaris.

    Yay! Sounds like you had a great race! Go, you!

    Posted 10.12.14 Reply
  2. Hehe..I can see you running and laughing and imagine people staring. LOL Liar, Temptress.. was excellent and I hope you enjoy it. Reunion sounds interesting as well. Happy running Sarah!

    Posted 10.12.14 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      It probably tricks people into thinking I’m enjoying that 13 mile run..haha! Joke’s on them!
      Thanks for stopping by!

      Posted 10.13.14 Reply
  3. AMP runs wrote:

    Congrats on your first half!! Sounds like you had an awesome race! The last book on your list sounds very intriguing (Liar, Temptress…), thanks for recommending!

    Posted 10.13.14 Reply
  4. Congratulations on the race – well done!!!

    Can’t wait for your review of Reunion. Pretty sure it needs to be at the top of my wish list.

    Posted 10.13.14 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I’ve written my review and will probably post it on Thursday. I loved it – one of my favorites of the year!

      Posted 10.13.14 Reply
  5. Congratulations on completing your first half marathon! I reminisced as I read your bullet points. There was a point when I was doing a lot of running, and half marathons were part of that when I was training for the marathon (I ran the NYC Marathon 3 times). Now I just do the occasional 5K or 5 mile race.

    Posted 10.13.14 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Thanks! I have no idea how you ran 3 marathons…I don’t think I could have run another step at the end of the half! I couldn’t imagine running double the miles!

      Posted 10.13.14 Reply
  6. WOW! You did so great in your race, Sarah! I’ve decided that those people who seem completely unaffected by the race either did not run fast enough or they’ve done this enough times that they know how to cover up their misery at the finish line – ha! I refuse to believe it’s because they are really that much better/stronger than all the rest of us! 🙂 I’ve been interested in Reunion since I first saw you post about it; also, can’t wait to see what you think about Liar Temptress Soldier Spy. David Sedaris is a must in life; I love all of his books! Great post and thank you so much for linking up again this week; I always look forward to finding out what you’re reading!

    Posted 10.13.14 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Haha! Thanks for making me feel better! I was sitting on the curb trying to get a banana down…and all these other people looked totally unaffected!

      I’m looking forward to Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy….should be starting it soon!
      Thanks for stopping by!

      Posted 10.13.14 Reply
  7. way to go on your race! that’s awesome — always nice to race faster than you trained 🙂

    Posted 10.13.14 Reply
  8. Trish wrote:

    Congrats on finishing your race! I would really love to get in a 10k by the end of the year…but whereas you’re accustomed to having that 1-2 hours of working out a day, I would have to cut something out in order to get those 1-2 hours (or wake up earlier…which is really the best solution, but a tough habit to start). Quarter marathon–wouldn’t that be pretty close to a 10k?

    Posted 10.14.14 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Yes – I think a quarter marathon is just a little longer than a 10K! Actually, it’s 6.55 miles to be exact. I also like 10K’s. As for the 1-2 hours of working out…I used to wake up early (but I never worked out for 2 hours then!), but now one of my kids is in school 5 mornings a week and the other goes to the babysitting at the gym…love gym babysitting 🙂

      Posted 10.14.14 Reply

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