Gretch Runs

I absolutely love trying out new cookbooks.  I'm always looking for new recipes to try out, so cracking open a new book full of delicious recipes and trying as many out as I possibly can is one of my favorite things.  I was especially excited to see that one of my favorite athletes and Olympic marathon Shalane Flanagan recently came out with her own book called Run Fast, Eat Slow which she co-authored with nutritionist (and runner) Elyse Kopecky.  These recipes promised to be clean, delicious, and perfect for runners. In order to really test out the book, I decided to try out one recipe from each chapter.  There were so many good recipes to try out, and a lot of them were either vegetarian or could easily be adapted to a vegan diet.  At the beginning of each recipe, there is a short note by the author, as well as what kind of workout the recipe is best suited for.  I'll be sharing the recipes that I tried out, along with some thoughts and overall grad...

Week eight is already over, and my body was very happy that it was a cutdown week.  In this plan, that means that the mileage is lower, but the intensity is higher.  Not only did I have a tough hill workout, but I also had two runs with paced miles in the middle (one was my long run!).  I'm going to be incorporating more paced miles into my runs to get me more comfortable with my race goal, and also grow my confidence that I can hold the pace for 26.2 miles. This week I also started a new core circuit!  I was following the workout in the Oiselle half marathon plan, but I was ready to kick it up a notch.  Dan found a tough 10 minute workout on Youtube , and we've been doing it together a few times a week.  I'm also still doing my daily yoga practice (today is day 30, so I'll have to find something new to do after the 31 videos are over!).  It's been so great for helping me recover and get stronger, so I think it's really making a difference in my ...

It's the weekend!  To kick it off, I'm here to talk about some of my favorites this week.  Here we go! Play! By Sephora Ouai Treatment Mask I'm a little disappointed that this sample is so tiny, because I could only try it out twice.  I'm not sure if it really made a difference in my hair, but I did seem to have good hair days after using this.  It's currently sold out on Sephora's website, so who knows if I'll end up trying more! Tarte FRXXXTION Stick Finally...a skincare product that I love and isn't $$$.  This is an exfoliating cleanser that you just smear on your face (no messy hands to deal with..score!).  The first time I tried this, I rinsed it off immediately, and the second time I left it on for about 8 minutes.  My face felt soft and looked great after rinsing it off both times, so I'm thinking of buying this in the future. Youth to the People Cream I've been using this as a moisturizer after I shower at the gym (I love thi...

I honestly can't believe it's Thursday already!  Where has the week gone?  Some weeks seem to dribble by in the slowest way possible, while other whoosh by in a blink.  I have a lot of thoughts to share today, so it's a perfect time to join the other bloggers and Think Out Loud . Australian Open If you're not a tennis fan, you can skip on to the next section because I need to talk about this crazy tournament!  I've been following tennis for the past few years, and I can honestly say that this has been the most surprising and insane Grand Slams (or tournament in general) that I've ever followed.  Not only did the men's #1 and #2 seeds fall early on in the tournament (to unseeded players none the less!), but the women's side has been unpredictable as always.  I love having a good underdog story, and on the women's draw we've had that with CoCo Vandeweghe and the incredibly resilient Mirjana Lucic Baroni.  To give you some perspective, Mirja...

Happy Tuesday everyone!  It's been a while since I shared a Tasty Tuesday post, but I have a good one planned for today.  Since this is my first marathon I'm training for while vegan, I get a lot of questions about what I eat for fuel.  I thought it would be helpful to share what's been working for me- before, during and after a run.  I'm always looking for new ideas to try out, so be sure to let me know what fuel you use! Before Running Roasted Sweet Potatoes - This is running fuel that I discovered works really well for me when I did my Whole 30 last year!  I like making a ton of roasted sweet potatoes and eating them throughout the week before a run.  They're great on their own, or I add some sauteed kale or spinach and vegan sausage.  For a sweeter option, I'll add almond butter and granola! Baked Oatmeal - Making a big pan of baked oatmeal is another time saving meal that I make.  On Sundays, I'll cook a batch of oatmeal (I use thi...

What a week!  I had a ton of firsts in my seventh week of marathon training- first group run, first long run without music/podcast, first run in a new pair of shoes, first evening speed workout, and first 30+ mile week.  I had some great workouts and I'm excited to share them!  Here we go: Monday 2.5 miles / 9:07 pace After work, Dan wanted to go for a run so I joined him for some easy miles.  He's starting to get too fast for me to run with him on my easy days!  My legs were a bit sore from my long run but the short miles helped to stretch them out. Tuesday 6 miles / 8:21 pace I was planning on taking this as a rest day, but after checking the weather and seeing a 60 degree, clear day on Tuesday and a 40 degree, rainy day on Wednesday I switched it up.  I headed to North Park after work, and it got dark really fast!  I didn't have a headlamp with me (stupid mistake) so I used my cell phone as a flashlight.  It made the wor...

Hi everyone!  Now that I'm in the thick of marathon training (you can follow my weekly training logs here or read my first 1/4 recap here ) I wanted to talk about some of the gear that I've been using.  Since the weather's been so awful with the majority of my runs being in temperatures below freezing, I've been sticking to a lot of the same pieces for most of my runs.  These are all tried, tested, and pass every test!  Here's what I'm loving: Tops Lululemon Run for Cold Pullover  (no longer available, but jacket and vest still available in same line) I got this as a splurge last year, and have definitely gotten my money's worth so far!  This is definitely the warmest piece that I own and has gotten me through some really rough, cold weather. Columbia Base Layer I've gotten base layers from Columbia's outlet for the past few years and wear them for all of the coldest runs.  I like how warm they are, but they're also breathable ...

Hi everyone!  Another week has come and gone and it was a really good one.  With the exception of one run (which I'll get into below and how I'll fix this going forward) I felt really good and I'm proud of my paces.  It's been really fun to see how much I'm growing this training cycle just by putting in hard work and staying consistent.   Here's a look at my week in workouts.  I'm still doing daily yoga and a core workout twice a week! Monday Rest Day I don't normally take Mondays off, but my legs were tired and it was FREEZING out in the morning.   In the evening I did my core workout and yoga video as usual. Tuesday 4.25 miles / 9:24 pace Snowy runs are the best..just look at that beautiful view!  I brought my YakTrax to work and ran along the river while it was snowing pretty hard.  It felt great out and this was a really good run! Wednesday 6 miles / 8:22 pace It was a really warm morning, so all ...

Happy Weekend!  This is going to be a long weekend for me thanks to Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, and it's coming at a good time.  I can feel myself coming down with something, so I'm planning on getting a lot of rest this weekend!  I have some fun stuff to share today for Top Five Friday, so let's get to it. 2017 Podcasts source I'm a huge podcast addict and have been listening to them for the past few years on my runs.  There are so many new podcasts coming out this year, and I'm so excited!  I found a list of upcoming shows here , and just by the descriptions I'm ready to add these to my list.  30 for 30, the Serial spinoff, 36 Hours!?  I can't wait!! Sports If you're into sports, it's a really exciting time of year.  The national championship game was insane  and super exciting (watch the highlights here ), professional football is in playoffs (GO STEELERS), hockey and basketball are in full swing, and the first ...

Hi everyone!  I can't believe it, but I'm already 1/4 of the way done with marathon training.  I mentioned before that I was planning on doing a 20 week training program, and I just finished week 5.  Today I'll be talking about how training is going, what's worked and what hasn't, and what will change going forward. A Look Back I've been following Kara Goucher's Half Marathon Plan , which I really like.  So far, I've modified the long runs to be longer (started with 7.25 and I'm up to 10), and added an extra rest day each week (the plan calls for 1-2, and I've been doing 2-3 depending on how I feel.)  Here's a look at my training so far at a glance: This week I officially switched over to a Marathon Training Plan (using this one from Women's Running).  The transition has been easy since the mileage is really similar.  I'm continuing with the speed workouts in Kara's plan because I really like the variety. So far,...