Gretch Runs

Hi everyone! Who's excited for the long holiday weekend?  Does anyone have any fun plans?  Next week I'll talk more about what I'm up to, but I've been looking forward to it for a while! Today I'll be sharing some amazing recipes for the 4th of July.  You won't believe it by looking at the mouthwatering pictures or trying them out for yourself- but these are all Whole30 compliant!  Since I'm still on my Whole30 (more like a relaxed Mostly-Whole 70 ), I wanted to show you all that you don't have to sacrifice taste or picnic fun to stay compliant. I'll be sharing some recipes from my blogging buddies, but let's start off with some drinks that I'll be making!  You might have to miss out on wine coolers or beers during the Whole30, but these drinks are refreshing, delicious, and won't leave you feeling bloated when you want to change into a bikini and jump into the pool! Patriotic Mocktail Ingredients (for one mocktail) 2 o

Hi everyone!  Today I'm dropping by to share my annual update on my 30x30 list.  I shared this last year when I turned 25, and now one year later I'll let you know my progress.  This has been such an amazing year, and I can't wait to see what 26 has in store for me! Buy a house 4/1/16 Break 2 hours in the half marathon 10/11/15 and 3/19/16 Break 4 hours in the full marathon Complete a triathlon (sprint counts!) Get Married 5/6/16 Visit Mexico Splurge on a once-in-a-lifetime meal Bungee Jump or Sky Dive 10/17/15 Visit Falling Water Go to all the east-coast MLB stadiums (Remaining stadiums: Marlins Park, Tropicana Field, Turner Field, Yankee Stadium) Cook a fancy 5-course meal Plant a garden Learn how to ski Stay at a BnB in Vermont Learn how to belay 11/6/15 Have a spa day See a Broadway musical Ride a jet-ski 7/4/15 Stay at a really fancy house on AirBnB Attend a professional tennis match

Hi everyone!  I can't believe it but I just finished week three of half marathon training.  This race will seriously be here before I know it! This was my hardest week of training by far. I'm excited to take a step back this upcoming week with lower mileage, a mini vacation, and no races!  For now, let's take a look back at my week of workouts. Monday 4 miles (treadmill) Tuesday 4 miles I'm so excited to be able to run downtown again!  Now that I have a gym membership near my work, I can run outside, get a shower at the gym, and head over to work.  This morning it was really humid out, but it was still a little cool so I was happy to get my run out of the way early.  I ran on the river trails for four miles and headed back to the gym.  Great way to start my day! Wednesday Lunchtime Yoga This was a nice and relaxing class.  There were a lot of great stretches and breathing exercises.  I loved doing this at lunch time! 5 mile bike rid

Happy Friday everyone!  Did you all have a good week?  Mine was great, but I'm ready for the weekend!  I want to start off this post by thanking you all for your amazing comments and encouragement in yesterday's post .  I can't even tell you how happy I am that Dan wants to make healthier choices in his life, and with all of your support I know that he'll be successful.  So, thank you all so much! Linking up with  Mar ,  Cynthia  and  Court  as well as  Heather  and  Momfessionals Today I have a really random collection of favorites..maybe my most random yet!  I hope you all enjoy, and I'll see you back here on Monday!  Have a great weekend! #Life Pro Tip If you're anything like me, you love listening to podcasts.  I subscribe to so many, and it's hard to actually listen to them all!  A few weeks ago, I was listening to one and accidentally hit a button in the corner of the screen which sped up the podcast.  This has been (not to be too dr

Greetings!   I am Dan, Gretchen's husband, and I am your stereotypical couch potato.   I am an engineer by day and a _________ enthusiast by night.   I leave that qualifier blank for now because it depends on the week.   One week it'll be binge watching Friends on Netflix, the next it'll be researching ancient Eastern religions, the next it'll be learning as much as I can about wines.   All of these are fun fleeting hobbies, but require me to be in front of a computer screen for most of my afternoons and evenings.   Add onto that my 8 hours of sitting at a desk at work and 1 hour of driving each day, and I'm pretty much on my bum every moment that I am awake.    I will sit... pretty much anywhere! You wouldn't know I'm a couch potato by looking at me though.   I'm relatively skinny and frequently wear athletic shorts (because they're comfy!), but before you tell me to go to hell for being skinny while not having to work at it, you

On Sunday morning, I ran my second 5k race of the month!  This was a small, local race held at North Park called the Peace, Love, Run 5k.  There was also a half marathon that started at 7:00, and the 5k started right on time at 7:45.  I was happy to not be running the half, because it ended up being a hot and humid morning! My goal for this race was to run by feel again.  My goal was to get close to goal half marathon pace, and treat this as a tempo workout.  I parked a few miles away from the start, and jogged up to the Boat House, ran the race and jogged home.  It ended up being a great race!  Here's my mile by mile breakdown:  Mile One : 8:05 I've done quite a few races at North Park, and most of them follow the same course.  We start at the Boat House, run down the tennis courts road, and turn left onto Lake Shore Drive.  This section of the park has some rolling hills, but isn't too challenging.   I started out about halfway back in the crowd, and

It's time for another weekly training recap!  Even though summer doesn't officially start until Tuesday, it definitely felt like summertime temperatures this week.  I might have to start running before work, because it is toasty  in the evenings! This week I had another race, and joined a gym.  Overall it was a great week, and I'm one step closer to race day! Monday 4 miles  For this run, I just wanted to explore my neighborhood a bit.  I went down some new roads and didn't have a course in mind.  Once I hit two miles, I just turned around and came back.  I didn't run with a watch but I took the run nice and easy. Tuesday Rest day! Wednesday 5 miles This was a really hot and humid run!  I could feel that it was going to start pouring at any minute (luckily it held off for my run though) so it was a bit of a struggle to get in five miles.  In the middle of the run, I did some strides to get some speed into my legs.  

Happy Friday everyone!  It's seriously feeling like summer over here lately.  This week was a pretty warm one, so I've been enjoying spending lots of time outside with Selma and Dan, drinking a nice cool drink and soaking up the sun. Linking up with  Mar ,  Cynthia  and  Court  as well as  Heather  and  Momfessionals This was a great week for me, and I have lots of fun products and other stuff to talk about today. Stanley Cup Champions! In case you didn't hear, the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup this year!  This was the fourth time that the Pens won, and our city's first championship since the 2008/2009 season when the Steelers and Penguins both won their respective championships.  That was a good year :) source On Wednesday, the city held a championship parade.  Luckily, I work downtown so I got to go (along with 400,000 other fans).  It was so cool to see all of the players and see the Cup in person.  There was so much excitement, an

Last Friday, I ran in one of my favorite local races- the Riverview 5k.  This race is part of the Pittsburgh Citiparks Race Series, and has been held for years.  The course runs around the park where I started running, so it always holds a special spot in my running heart.  It's also a really challenging course, which I absolutely love! Heading into this race, I wasn't expecting very much.  I had just started my half marathon training that week, and also started a second round of Whole30, so I was feeling more tired than usual.  It was also a really warm day.  Put all that together, and my goal was just to break 30:00.  It wouldn't be a PR, but I figured it would be a good tempo run!  I ended up shocking myself and doing a lot better than I expected, so keep reading for my recap! Mile 1 - 7:40 The first mile starts off flat, then goes straight uphill around the Allegheny Observatory .  The road used to be in pretty bad shape with lots of potholes and an uneven sur