Gretch Runs

It has been over a week since my last post, and that is because last week/this week have been absolutely insane! Last week was Band Camp, which consisted of 3-a-day practices, most of them around 3 hours. I tried fitting in some running whenever possible during our short lunch and dinner breaks, but the work we were doing was exercise enough. This week classes began. I've been adjusting my schedule to make it as convenient (and, honestly, easy and enjoyable) as possible. I finally have it set, so I can start planning out workouts and my training. Here are the workouts I've done so far this week: 8/21: 5 mile run around campus, without watch 8/23: 3 mile run downtown, 27:00, 9:00/mile 8/24: 3 mile run on treadmill at 6.5 speed and 1.0 incline. 15 minute ab workout. 15 minute stretch Here is my plan for the rest of the week (now that I have my schedule set, I can start to plan out my weekly workouts.) 8/25: golf course run (around 5-6 miles?) 8/26: hour of liftin...

Hello! I am back at Penn State for my final year much sooner than it seems possible. This year, I was fortunate enough to be chosen to be a guide (section leader) for my section in the Blue Band. I had to come up a few days early for training and my audition, so I came up on Sunday. This is a very busy week for me, as we have Band Camp starting, which means 3 practices a day (around 3 hours each.) Yesterday I was able to go for a run in the morning, and I'm planning on running again tonight before (or after if necessary) a fundamental review. Here's the run I did yesterday: 8/15 workout: 5.3 miles 45:00, 8:30/mile Basically what I did was run back and forth around campus on all the main roads. I went down Beaver, College, Pollock, Curtain, Park and finally back to Garner where I started. It was so nice to run around campus and see everything again! I'm heading out to run again, then going to Blue Band (which will be my life this week...a workout by itself...

I just had a terrific vacation this weekend. On Friday, I finished my internship and had a goodbye lunch with all the tech interns. Saturday I went to the Pirates game (my third of the week) and Train performed after as part of the Skyblast show. Then, my mom, sister and I went to Deep Creek, Maryland, which is only about 2 hours away from Pittsburgh. We got there on Sunday night and left Wednesday afternoon. Here's a quick summary of what we did and my workouts: Monday : racket ball, kayaking on Deep Creek Lake, tennis, mini golf, 3 mile run Tuesday : horseback riding, antique shopping, mini golf (again) 3 mile run, 1 hour weight lifting Wednesday : mountain coaster It was such a nice, relaxing trip. I got to squeeze in some workouts and tried to do as many activities as possible, even though the weather didn't exactly cooperate. Tomorrow I'm going to Cleveland for 2 days to go to an Indians game, then it's back to Penn State! Summer is over already,...

If the word quit is part of your vocabulary, then the word finish is likely not. - B.G. Jett 8/3 workout: 5 miles on Rivertrail (different starting point!) 42:00, 8:20/mile In order to make sure my training is going well, I'm signing up for the Nittany Valley Half Marathon , which is December (or about 5 months before the Pittsburgh Marathon). This race seems like a nice, small, cheap race, so I'm really excited to do it. A few of my friends in the Blue Band are running it as well, so I'm hoping to run in under 2 hours this time! Here is a map of the course, which is at Penn State (perfect location!): It's hard to see, but it begins at the Ag Arena, goes up to Fox Hill Road, down to Houserville, and finishes at the Visitor's Center by Beaver Stadium. I'm so excited to do this course and see how my training is! I'm starting a half-marathon training plan by Hal Higdon which can be found HERE . With the 12 weeks of workouts, I'd be sta...

You have to wonder at times what you're doing out there. Over the years, I've given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement. - PRE 7/27 Workout: 4 miles on trails at Riverview 7/28 Workout: 30 minute stationary bike 1 hour strength 20 minute core 7/30 Workout: 6.75 miles at North Park 57:05, 8:30/mile 7/31 Workout: Flag football game with the interns 4 hours of walking at the zoo: some elephants! look at the little baby :) a jellyfish, taken by another intern (Dan Koller, great pic!) we ran into a peacock that was just walking around the zoo So, I didn't hit my target as far as runs go, but I did have EXCELLENT runs this week! I felt absolutely amazing during my long run at North Park, and my endurance is definitely improving. This weekend I'm hoping to have a run of over 7 miles, and keep picking up a half mile every weekend. Thanks for reading! Pittsburgh M...