Gretch Runs

Well guys, I finally did it- I finished a 20 mile run!  I'll share more below, but this is a huge milestone for me and I'm really proud of myself.  This entire week was really great (thanks to unseasonably warm and clear weather).  I'm feeling better and better about training each week, and I'm getting excited for race day!  There's still 8 weeks to go where a lot can happen, but I'm on the right path. Here's a look at how my week went: Monday 3 miles I had the day off for Presidents' Day and it was a beautiful morning, so I took Selma to Riverview for a trail run.  We did a loop of all of my favorite trails, and she did such a great job.  I've never run with her on trails, but she handled them so well!   Tuesday Rest Day! Wednesday 7 miles / 9:44 pace Hill repeats today! 2 mile warmup, then 6 x 1/4 mile hill repeats. These were HARD and steep (and of course in the picture it looks flat as a pancake), so I wasn

Happy Friday everyone!  Today is a great day because Dan is coming back from a work trip and tomorrow is my first race of the year.  I'm so excited and have a massage and float appointment scheduled after, so I have a little bit of motivation to finish quickly!  We're also finally able to try our first batch of home brew, so it's shaping up to be an exciting weekend. Toady I'm sharing all of my favorites from the week!  The majority of these were recommendations from friends, so I'm happy to pass them on to all of you!  I hope you enjoy, and let me know what you've been loving this week. Play! by Sephora This month's bag wasn't my favorite (it had some boring products in it) but I did find a new favorite lip product, so that's a win in my book!  Here are my thoughts on the products: Sephora mascara - I have so many mascara samples (from this box as well as a sampler I bought around Christmas) so I didn't get to this one.  I'll share

It should come as no surprise that yoga is my cross-training activity of choice.  It all started 3 years ago when I went to a free yoga class offered downtown, and I started doing it regularly last year.  In my marathon training this year, I've been trying to do daily videos and it's helped me so much! I love yoga because it has so many benefits- it helps me stretch out and recover faster, strengthens my legs, arms and core, and also has mental benefits.  There's nothing like taking a half hour for myself to meditate and reflect on myself at the end of a long day. Today I wanted to share my favorite yoga videos for runners.  I've been asked by a few people what my favorite videos are, so I thought it would be helpful to put them all in one place!  I'll be breaking it down by video length, so whether you have an hour or just 5 minutes, I have something for everyone! 50 Minutes 45 Minutes 35 Minutes 30 Minutes 25 Minutes 2

Man, it's crazy how quickly things can change with training.  I was starting to struggle the past two weeks and haven't had a good run in what felt like forever, then I hit week 11 (which means I'm officially over the halfway point for training) and I have phenomenal workouts all week.  Going through rough patches really makes me appreciate those amazing, I LOVE RUNNING days.  Coincidentally, or maybe ironically, this was also my highest mileage week  ever , at 36.25 miles.  Without giving too much more away, let's just get into a recap of my awesome week! Monday Rest Day! Tuesday 5 miles / 9:05 pace I decided to go out on this run without a watch and just run by feel.  It ended up being a really great run and I felt amazing the entire time.  Afterwards I treated myself to sushi since it was Valentine's Day and Dan was away for work.  I caught up on the Bachelor and opened a bottle of wine, so it was an all around great day! Wednesday Rest D

Happy weekend!  I'm so happy that I have Monday off, and I'm looking forward to a three day weekend.  I don't have any plans, but I have some projects around the house that I want to get done.  Hopefully I'll be able to share some of them! Today I'll be sharing my five favorite things from the week.  Be sure to let me know what you're currently loving, and what your plans are for the weekend! Grammy Fashion I love this dress!  It's a lot different than what we usually see on the red carpet, but I think it's so flattering on Adele, has a really interesting pattern, and I love the color (if you saw my Snapchat yesterday you might have seen that I just bought a dress in the same color so I guess that's my spring shade!) I don't typically love Chrissy Teigan's style (even though she always looks beautiful), but I liked this look on her.  I really like how interesting the cuts are, and how it's not too  revealing or over the top.

Hi everyone!  I can't believe it, but I'm already half way done with marathon training.  I mentioned before that I was planning on doing a 20 week training program, and I just finished week 10.  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 started training by following Kara Goucher's Half Marathon Plan , which I really liked.  After a few weeks, I switched over to a marathon training plan that's focused on breaking four hours.  The only thing that I've modified is switching up the speed work.  I'll incorporate some of the speed work in Kara's plan with the speed work in this plan and it's working out really well. I like how in the marathon training plan, there are a lot of workouts done at marathon race pace.  I'm starting to get really comfortable running a lot of miles at this pace, and I know it'll help my confidence on race day.

Happy Friday!  Man, this has been a weird week.  The temperature has been all over the place, work has been crazy one day and slow the next, and I've just felt exhausted all week.  I think I might be trying to fight off a cold because I just feel like I need a good nap and have had a pounding headache.  I have to work this weekend so I'm hoping it doesn't get any worse and can hopefully rest as much as possible!   As usual, I'm sharing a few of my favorite things from this week.  I only have four things to share, and I'm just too tired right now to come up with a fifth.  With that being said, let's get to it! Nuun This week I got a delivery of Nuun tabs- happy mail day to me!  I love adding these to water after a workout (especially at work) and I was excited to try some new flavors- Watermelon, Blackberry Citrus, Ginger Lemonade, and Grape.  I've tried a few of them already and they're all delicious.  I've been a huge fan of Nuun for

Who doesn't like to save money?  It seems like it's everyone's New Year's Resolution every year to start saving more money.  It seems easy enough, but without making big lifestyle changes it can seem impossible and very intimidating! For the past few years, I've started to make small adjustments in my life that don't seem to make a difference at first, but overtime can really save money.  I hope some of these tips will help all of you, and I hope you'll share more tips with me! Buy in Bulk A few months ago, I started to buy all of my nonperishable items in bulk and realized how much money I was saving.  I got a Sam's Club membership on Groupon, and every time we went I would calculate what the unit price was on common items we bought, and compare it to what we spent at regular stores.  Some items are WAY cheaper at a club (juice, tortilla wraps, canned foods, chips, and garbage bags are some of the biggest savings I've found).  Luckily at our

One of my favorite foods before going vegan was a smoked salmon bagel.  I got them as a special treat about once a month from Brueggers, or I splurged at the grocery store to get the ingredients and make them for myself at home.  The combination of cream cheese, smoked salmon, dill and capers was so delicious and filling that it made a perfect breakfast for me!  It was one of those foods that I've been missing a lot lately, so I was really excited and intrigued to read about homemade vegan versions.  I had to try it right away! I found two different versions- one using carrots and one using tomatoes.  They both have completely different methods, but similar marinades.  I tested them both out in two recipes- in a classic lox bagel, and in a sushi bowl (recipes below).  Keep reading to find out what I thought! Version 1- Tomato This is what I consider the quick and easy version.  To prepare the tomato, boil it for a few minutes in water until the skin begins to peel, shock it

Whew, what a week!  I definitely had some highs and lows this week but I made it through.  I got hit with a stomach bug that's been going around at work, but luckily made up my runs and had a great long run to end the week.  I also finished Yoga Revolution, kept up my core routine, and made sure to foam roll every night.  I think all these small changes are really helping me stay strong and (knocking on wood) injury free so far. Here's a look at my week of training: Monday 3.5 miles / 9:57 pace It snowed in the morning, so I got to run through a fresh layer for my morning run.  Unfortunately it was really slippery everywhere and I kept slipping (and forgot my Yak Trax) so this was a frustrating run.  I was hoping to get 4 or 5 miles in but settled on 3.5. Tuesday Rest Day This was the final day of the Yoga Revolution!  I really enjoyed the series and would recommend it to everyone (you can find it on Youtube on Yoga with Adriene's channel

It's Friday, Friday!  I actually can't believe it's already the end of the week.  I completely lost track of the days and thought that yesterday was Tuesday for some reason (what?!) until my manager came to grab me for my weekly 1 on 1, and I got so confused and thought he was playing a joke on me.  I have to say, that was a great surprise to have, and I'm looking forward to the weekend.  I have some fun stuff planned with friends, I'm going to see a movie for the first time in FOREVER (going to see Split- has anyone seen it? I'm kind of scared) and it's my mom's birthday! I hope you all have a great weekend! Modern Map Art I'm working on finishing up our basement, which is our TV room, and I wanted to make it Pittsburgh and Penn State themed.  So,  I was really excited when Jennifer from Modern Map Art sent me a beautiful print of Pittsburgh .  It fit in with the theme perfect, and it looks great!  I love how it shows my favorite cit