Gretch Runs

I'm not going to sugar coat it- this was a bad week for me.  It started off really well, then I got hit with a crazy virus that has been going all around the office and kept me in bed for a few days.  On the bright side, I didn't miss any work (since it started on Friday), but I missed two runs this week.  I'd rather have a week like this early on instead of during peak week, so hopefully the worst is behind me. Here's a look at how my training went this week: Monday Rest Day Tuesday 3 miles / 9:58 pace I was feeling kind of stiff and sore from my long run on Sunday, so I took this run nice and easy. Wednesday 5 miles / 9:04 pace Tempo run!  I did an easy mile warmup, then two miles at tempo and two miles to cool down.  It was snowing pretty heavily during this run, but temperature wise it felt great.  For some reason when it's snowing, I don't feel cold.  No clue why that is, but I would always prefer running in snowy weather

What a great week!  It seemed like everything clicked into place for week two of training (I'm sure having a Monday holiday helped a lot) and it's making me so excited to continue on.  I managed to swim twice this week, try out a new class, and do my daily TRUE yoga challenge, while getting in my regular mileage.  I'm getting into a routine that feels good! Here's a look at how my week went, complete with lots of snowy pics: Monday 7 miles / 9:55 pace I typically take a rest day on Monday, but I had to get this run in!  It was the last day of the Strava/Lululemon challenge, and I was only 11km away from my goal.  Since my long run on Sunday didn't register, I had to go out (plus, I had off work which helped!).  I just went around my neighborhood and going up and down every street for 7 miles.  I even got to run in a blizzard (the roads were all bare when I went out and had about an inch by the time I was done-) 900 yard swim / 18:00 Earl

Happy Friday, friends!  It's been quite the week, so I am counting down the minutes until it's the weekend.  I have some fun plans with friends and am also looking forward to slightly warmer temperatures as well!  Here's hoping that it'll heat up and STAY warm this time ;) As usual, I'll be sharing my favorites from the week.  Let me know what you've been loving, and I'll see you back here on Monday! linking up with  Erika ,  Heather , and  Friday   Five   Song Camila Cabello - Camila I was never really a fan of Fifth Harmony, but always listened to their music because I loved the voice of Camila Cabello.  Luckily for me, she decided to leave the group about a year or so ago and start making her own music!  Even though I've probably heard Havana about a million times by now, I'm still loving it and get excited every time it goes on.  She recently released a full album and it's fantastic! Podcast The Tennis Podcast

Happy Wednesday everyone!  Today I'm going to be sharing my third and final post on Hawaii (check out the others here !).  It's been so fun to write these recaps and relive the trip all over again.  Now that it's freezing out and snowing like crazy, I can really appreciate how incredible that trip is.  I would love to go back, PLEASE?!? We were actually in Hawaii for Dan's work, so the entire time in O'ahu he was working.  I was working on east coast time, so I luckily had afternoons free to explore (which is how I got to see so much, but mostly alone).  When his work was done, we decided to extend our stay a bit and take a mini vacation.  Instead of staying on the same island, we decided to make the quick 45 minute flight over to Maui!  It was a very different experience from O'ahu, and we had a great time.  Here's how we spent our three days on the island: Day One : Kihei After landing and picking up our rental car (we decided on a Jeep which was the

Happy Monday everyone!  This was a very weird week, because the temperature was yo-yo-ing all over the place.  It seems like Pittsburgh isn't the only city that experienced this, at least according to the #MotherNatureIsDrunk I've seen all over social media.  It was nice to have a few nice, warm days! This was technically week one of my marathon training since I switched over to my new race!  I have 15 more weeks to go until race day, and I'm feeling so strong.  I didn't miss any runs this week, and I have been continuing the TRUE 30 Day Yoga Challenge with Yoga with Adriene!  It's been great to stretch out every day and get in some core exercises as well! Here's a look at how my week of training went: Monday Rest Day! Tuesday 7 miles / 9:20 pace This run happened in two parts.  I was planning on running before work, but unfortunately everything was iced over and I ended up doing more ice skating than running!  So, I finished the run a

Happy Monday everyone!  I hope you all had a good weekend and managed to stay warm.  Last week, we got hit with a huge cold spell, and every day had negative wind chill.  Not a good way to start the year off, but you gotta do what you gotta do to get your training in! I also have a bit of an update!  As you all know, I have been training for the Newport News One City Marathon.  As it turns out, plans changed and I can no longer do that one.  It works out well because I hadn't signed up for it yet (because I knew the day might not work out), and now I have more time to train!  I have been feeling a little under-prepared with all the traveling I did during the holidays, so this makes me feel a lot better.   So- I decided to do the  Hall of Fame Marathon  in Canton.  I was actually already signed up for the half (during their $26.20 promo), and just switched my registration over to the full.  I feel really good about this decision, and feel like I'm really going to crush

Hi everyone!  And congratulations for making it to the first Friday of the year.  That's definitely something to celebrate! Today I'm switching things up, and sharing all of my favorites from the past year in my five categories (plus a bonus category).  Here they all are- in no particular order! Song Thanks to Spotify, I was able to see what my top songs were in 2017!  A lot of these were songs that I used while I was training for races, so they don't really come as a shock to me.  Here are my top five: Greatest - Sia Love On The Brain - Rihanna My Shot - Hamilton Mixtape Bat Out Of Hell - Meat Loaf El Taxi - Pitbull Podcast I listened to so many great podcasts this year that it's hard to pick just one!  I decided to pick one that launched in 2017, that I immediately listen to as soon as a new episode is released, and am never disappointed in any episodes.  For me, that would be the Ali on the Run Podcast .  I've mentioned this one a number of t