Gretch Runs

I can not even believe I'm saying this, but.... THE MARATHON IS TOMORROW. Training for this race has changed my life tremendously and has really made me a better person in my opinion. I have lost weight, got in amazing shape, changed my eating and drinking habits, and become much happier. I have put in so much effort and time, so I feel confident that I can do this! I've had really great runs the past few weeks and have been feeling stronger and more confident ever mile that I run. All this hard work of the past year will be put to the ultimate test in just a few hours. Wish me luck and I'll see you on the other end of the finish line. If all of the rumors are true, once I finish my whole life will be changed, but my life has already changed!

"We are different, in essence, from other men. If you want to win something, run 100 meters. If you want to experience something, run a marathon." Emil Zatopek, Czech runner; winner of four Olympic gold medals A look at the runs I've completed this year   Well, after a rather long absence, I am finally writing again.  Throughout the past months, I've gone through so many ups and downs with my training that it was almost depressing to try to write all about it.  I've had a few injuries and lost weeks of training which really scared me and almost made me want to give up and run the half marathon again, which I know I can complete.  However, I kept telling myself that I made this promise to myself and to so many people to complete the marathon this year, that it would be such a let down to give up. I know that I would always look back on this failure with nothing but disappointment.   Lately, my training has been phenomenal. 

Hello everyone! Last week, I had the privilege of hearing Arianna Huffington speak at Penn State, and she inspired me very much during her speech. She has been one of my idols for a while, and she's a big inspiration to me. Wanting to thank her for taking her time to come to my school, I sent her an email, which she followed up with an invitation to submit an article for the website . Over the weekend, I worked on an entry about-what else-running. Below is what I submitted. I'd love to hear your thoughts and hopefully one day it'll end up on the Huff Post! I am high right now. I got out of class about an hour ago, and couldn’t even go back to my apartment before getting my fix. During class, I kept imagining the amazing feeling I’d soon have, the feeling I have now. I feel free, happy, completely and utterly alive. I just got done running six miles, and I have runner’s high. ​ Runner’s high, a term coined in the 1970s, can more accurately be describ

Hello! What a week this has been. I did my longest training run yet and also went home for the weekend to surprise my mom for her birthday. While I was there, I got the chance to run with my dad, and had a terrific hill workout with him. Here's a look at my workouts from the past week: ------------------------------------------------------ Monday 1.30.12, Wednesday 2.1.12, Friday 2.3.12 Volleyball tournament. My team unfortunately came in last. Hopefully next time I'll have more luck! ------------------------------------------------------ Tuesday 1.31.12 This was my long run. I felt really great during it, and didn't really get sore or tired at all until mile 8. At that point, a little boy with his dad started to run alongside me for a block, and when he couldn't run any more he yelled back to his dad "I want to run like that when I'm older!" It was a great motivation to keep going, and hopefully I've inspired a new generation of runners

Believe deep down in your heart that you're destined to do great things. - Joe Paterno Last post I said that I felt that I was running for more than myself, and that couldn't have been any more true this past week. When the news of Joe Paterno's death swept the campus, people were very upset and emotional. After hearing all of the stories of his philanthropy and love of Penn State, I was so moved and thankful for him...more than ever before. Every run I did that week I did for Coach Paterno, and did it with the intensity, desire, passion and dedication he expected from everyone. Rest in peace, Coach. I had great workouts last week. I did a long run of 8 miles on Monday, easy run of 3 miles on Wednesday, and a tempo run on Friday. During the tempo run, I did an easy 1-mile warm up and cool down with 3 miles at a 8:30 pace. I'm taking a volleyball class, and last week we began our first tournament. This consists of playing three games per day three times a week fo

This might be a weird title for a post of a running and training blog, but I was listening to the song by Florence + the Machine , and one line in the song stuck out to me: Run fast for your mother run fast for your father Run for your children for your sisters and brothers Leave all your love and your longing behind you Can't carry it with you if you want to survive This line really resonated for me. I feel like I'm no longer running just for my own satisfaction, but for all of my friends and family. They're all just as invested in my progress and training as much as I am, and truly motivate me every day to keep working hard. No longer am I just running fast for myself, but for everyone in my life as well. Running is also an extremely emotionally and physically intensive activity. To me, it's much more psychologically taxing than physically, and in order to do well I always have to leave all doubt or uncertainty behind in order to "survive" this process, and

" There are no shortcuts to any place worth going ." - Beverly Sills Happy (very belated) new year! I had an extremely hectic and crazy end of 2011/start of 2012. I took trips across the country and across the state, played in my very last football game, and had an amazing Christmas and New Year. In top of that, I was able to keep running and working out...maybe not as much as I'd like, but a substantial amount. Now that the marathon is right around the corner ( only 112 days away!! ) it's really time to kick my training up. Luckily, Penn State hasn't had a typically frigid winter until very recently, so my training has been great so far this year! I've been a bit slack on tracking my runs and have just enjoyed being outside and running for fun, but it's time to get a plan and track miles! My friend, idol and amazingly talented runner John sent me a great tool he uses to create customized training plans. It's from Runners World and can be found here .