Gretch Runs

Happy Halloween!! I can't really believe it, but race week is here again!  This is going to be my last race of the year (unless I decide to do some end-of-the-year 5k or something) and I'm happy that it's my favorite local race.  The Pittsburgh 10 Miler is always so much fun, the distance is perfect for me, and the weather has always cooperated.  Here's a look at my final week of training: Monday   Rest day! I had to work all weekend, including waking up at midnight on Monday morning, working for 3 hours, then heading in to work 4 hours later.  Needless to say, I barely made it through the work day and took a nap when I got home! Tuesday Yoga / 45:00 Normal lunch time yoga class.  I'm so glad that I'm in the habit of going to yoga now, and can definitely tell a difference with my flexibility and balance!   Wednesday  3 miles Fall weather arrived for the day!  It was below freezing when I woke up, and the temperat...

Happy Friday!  This week has flown by really fast and I'm excited for a relaxing weekend.  The past few weeks have been really busy, but this one has absolutely no plans.  I'm hoping to watch some football, baseball, and chill out.  Here's hoping that you all have a great weekend as well! PSU vs OSU This is definitely old news, but it's too good not to share!  Last weekend, Penn State caused its biggest upset since the 60's when they beat Ohio State at home.  This is always the biggest game of the year, and for the past few years we've gotten close but were never able to finish it off.  It was such an exciting game with an incredible ending, and I could not be more proud to be a Nittany Lion right now! Gilmore Girls Trailer It's almost that time- time for the long awaited Gilmore Girls revival!  I am soooo excited, and the trailer that got released is giving me all the feels.  #Jess+Rory4Life Thug Kitchen Cookbook I lov...

Happy Thursday everyone!  Today I'm so excited to be sharing the next part of my trip to Belize.  So far I've talked about our wedding ,  San Pedro , and the caves , so now it's time to talk about the rest of our trip.  After spending the first three days in San Pedro, we spent the next six days at the Hidden Valley Inn in the Cayo District.  I'll be talking about my experience there (which was incredible ) and some things that we did.  In my final post, I'll talk about the other excursions that we went on while we were staying at the HVI! After we left San Pedro, we flew back to Belize City, then took a three hour drive to the Hidden Valley Inn.  The roads were paved for the first hour, then it was all dirt roads the rest of the way.  Our drivers the entire trip kept saying that this is our "free back massage" because the roads were so bumpy! The Hidden Valley Inn is located in the Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve, and is very isolated....

Welcome to another Tasty Tuesday!  Today I'm coming at you from my kitchen, where I'm testing out some recipes.  One of my favorite resources for all kinds of vegan information and inspiration comes from reddit, so today's recipes are all from the website! There was a thread that I found a while ago where people shared their craziest, most delicious vegan recipes and I wanted to try them out.  Some of them just sounded insane, but ended up being insanely amazing.  I'm here today to share the good (and not so good) results, along with a link to the recipe and some ratings.  Bon appetite! Crunch Wrap Supreme This has quickly become my go-to meal at home!  I have to admit that I used to love Crunch Wraps from Taco Bell, and got them all the time in college.  I had not idea they would be so easy to make (the trick is to get really large, soft tortillas that will fold easily without tearing).  From there, you can really customize it with wh...

Another week- another training cycle!  After having a semi-rest week last week, I'm back in training for the Pittsburgh 10 Miler.  There are only two weeks until race day, so I'm hoping my fitness from the half marathon will carry over.   This is one of my favorite races every year, and I'm really excited to run it again this year.  Here's a look at how my training went this week: Monday Rest Day! Tuesday 4 miles We've been having such nice, cool weather lately, so when it was over 80 degrees on this run I was really struggling.  I wish I went running in the morning, but I waited until after work and paid the price. Yoga / 45:00 Normal Tuesday lunch time yoga session!  It's been a while since I went to this class so I was struggling a bit. Wednesday Rest Day! Thursday 3.03 miles / 27:15 / 8:59 pace For this run, I actually did run before work, and it's amazing how great I felt!  I didn't feel like I was ...

TGIF !  This has been a busy week month at work, and I'll actually be working all weekend as well.  Even though it's a busy time, I'm loving the project and I keep telling myself these 12 hour work days won't last forever! I have some fun things to share with you all today, so let's get to the Friday Favorites! Beer Museum! In case you don't know, beer is my favorite beverage.  I'm not sure if it's the German in me or what, but any time I want to relax at the end of a long day, go out with friends, or watch any sports- I love to have a nice beer to sip on.  So, I was really  excited when I heard that a beer museum is being planned for Pittsburgh !  There aren't a lot of specific details out yet, but I love looking through the artist's images (like the one above) and I can not WAIT to hear more. Fall Even though the weather has been a little warmer this week, I'm in such a fall loving mood lately.  There are so many trees in ou...

Hi everyone and Happy Tuesday!  I'm excited to debut a new series I'll be starting on my blog, called Tasty Tuesday.  As you can probably guess by the title, every Tuesday I'll be talking about something food-related.  This could be a recipe, food review, or trying out a crazy Pinterest recipe.  I love food and cooking, so I can't wait for Tuesdays to come by every week!  I even made this cute little graphic with some of my ideas: Today we're going to get things started by talking about all things pumpkin- namely at Trader Joe's.  If you're lucky enough to live by a Trader Joe's, you know that every fall, pumpkin madness takes over.  There are so many crazy products to try out, but not enough time (or money).  So, I'm here today to share a few reviews of pumpkin goodies that I've tried.  Bonus- all of these items are vegan!  Keep reading to find out what I LOVED and what you can pass on. Pumpkin Spice Almond Beverage Cost - ...

Happy Monday everyone!  I had a really fun and busy weekend, so today I'm going to recap it with you all.  I usually share my week of workouts on Monday, but this was a mostly rest week after my half marathon.  Instead of a bunch of days that just say "REST DAY!!" I thought it would be more fun to share what I did this weekend when Dan's family was in town! Here are some highlights: On Friday, I went on my first run after the race.  I usually take a full week off, but I have another race coming up in a few weeks and I felt fine by Wednesday.  I just went on a nice and easy run around the neighborhood. Dan's family got to our house just in time for dinner, and we went up to Pig Iron Public House .  I've been wanting to go here for dinner because they have a lot of local beers and source a lot of their ingredients from local businesses.  All of their burgers can be substituted for a black bean burger, so I ended up getting one with English...

Happy Friday everyone!  This week flew by thanks to the Monday holiday, and I'm excited for the weekend.  Dan's family is coming to visit, and they're the first guests staying with us at our new house.  I can't wait to show them around the city and have a few fun plans already.  I also have lots of fun things to share today for Top Five Friday, so let's get right to it. Photoshop! Earlier this week, I picked up the starburst mirrors you see above at Target.  I knew that I wanted them on this wall, but couldn't decide how I wanted to hang them.  I couldn't picture how they would look, so I decided to try to use Photoshop to visualize what I was thinking. Guys- this is life changing!  It made it so much easier to pay around and move things on the computer rather than trying it in real life and making lots of holes.  I'm still a Photoshop novice, so getting to this point was very time-consuming, but now I'll be doing this in other areas of ...

Happy Thursday everyone!  I was inspired by my blogging buddy Kristen to share some of my recent reads today.  While I am no where close to reading as much as her, I made it a goal to read more this year and have been doing great so far!  Some books I've absolutely loved, some were not so good, and others were life-changing. Today I'm going to go through a few memorable books that I've read.  I'll give you the summary from Amazon, a few of my thoughts, a rating, and say if I would recommend it or not.  Hope you enjoy!  (p.s. links to the book are all affiliate links) Life and Other Near-Death Experiences Summary : Libby Miller has always been an unwavering optimist—but when her husband drops a bomb on their marriage the same day a doctor delivers devastating news, she realizes her rose-colored glasses have actually been blinding her. With nothing left to lose, she abandons her life in Chicago for the clear waters and bright beaches of the Ca...