Gretch Runs

Well folks- we made it through another week. I'm getting used to this new way of life and trying to embrace it as much as I can- compared to a lot of other people I have it really easy (and I feel so fortunate to say that), so I'm focusing on that and trying to spread positivity to others! For me, that includes getting in some kind of exercise every day, outdoors if possible. Besides working out, I've been avoiding going out at all, so this has really been my respite. I hope that you're all hanging in there, and I'm always here if you need to vent or just chat. Here's a look at how my week of workouts went! Monday 30 min Women's History Month Bodyweight Strength with Rebecca Kennedy Since most of my workouts are on the Peloton app now (remember- free 90 day trial!) I'm going to start putting the full title down in case any of you want to try it too! This was a super hard strength workout with the theme of "100" to commemorate the 100

Hi everyone! Today I'm going to be shifting away from the current news and looking back on a trip I took in December to a few beautiful national parks. The first park we visited was Zion, located in Utah. While we were there for three days, we did a ton of hiking and saw some of the most incredible views and scenery.  I'll be sharing all of the hikes that we did, along with restaurant recommendations and more. Enjoy and stay safe! Hotel - Zion Pioneer Lodge I found this hotel by doing a Hotwire deal. It was really cute and had a rustic look which put me in the western mood! I loved the location of this hotel as well- we were in the small town of Springdale which sits at the entrance of the park. There were lots of restaurants around us, and we were within walking distance of the park. There's also a shuttle in this area to drive you to the park which is convenient if needed. Plus- this was the view from our room- how gorgeous is it!? Shuttle Service One of th

Early on Monday, I turned on my phone from a weekend digital detox (which was amazing) to see that, like most other organized events, my April race was cancelled. It is undoubtedly the right call, and while it stinks a bit to feel like I'm throwing away a few weeks of great training, I have to look at the bigger picture. As someone more eloquent and smarter than me said on Instagram (wish I remember who it was so I could quote it directly)- this isn't about you . This is about protecting millions of people around the world who wouldn't be able to fight this disease and getting it to finally slow down and stop spreading. Even though I'm technically not training for anything right now, exercise is becoming more and more important to me. It's pretty much the only thing I feel like I can do now, since our city is on non-essential lock down. It was an interesting week, and here's a look at what I did. Monday 2.5 mile run Headed out at lunch time for a run

Reading is one of those things for me that goes in waves- if I have a steady stream of good books that keep my attention I can read forever. But, if there's a lull in my library loans or a book that's dull I won't pick up a book for months. I'm in one of those "READ EVERYTHING" moods at the moment, and wanted to share some reviews of some of my recent books! Some I loved, others not so much. I'll be sharing more soon since I've finished a few others while I was working on this post! A Simple Favor She’s your best friend. She knows all your secrets. That’s why she’s so dangerous. A single mother's life is turned upside down when her best friend vanishes in this chilling debut thriller in the vein of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train. The premise of this book was great, and I really like how it started off.  By the end, though, I thought the plot and characters got to be really unlikable and it seemed like a cheap rip-off of Gone Gir

I have to admit, this was a really weird week that felt more like a year. More news and regulations came about COVID-19, along with me being mandated to stay home from work for the next few weeks. I tried to maintain my normal workout routine just to keep my sanity, but with suggestions to avoid high-contact areas like the gym, I had to make changes! Here's what the week looked like for me, and I hope that everyone out there is staying safe and healthy. I'm thinking of all of you!! Monday Arms + Bike Everything felt so hard, which I guess is normal when you take basically two weeks off of the gym! Got in a good arm workout and then biked for the rest of the time. 3 mile run / walk Gorgeous day out, so Dan, Selma and I headed to the park! We rotated between running and walking and covered about 3 miles of trails. Love this weather. Tuesday Elliptical + Core Yesterday my group was told that we will start mandatory work from home (for about two weeks) and I h

Hello from my house! I am on day three of mandated work from home because of COVID-19. I know I'm not the only one- it seems like every day a new friend in cities across the country are also being told to stay home for the foreseeable future. We're in unprecedented times with scary and conflicting news coming out every day. I'm trying to stay calm about it and finding that educating myself on the facts (instead of reading into the media hysteria) is helping a lot!  Back to working from home- while this can seem like a nice break from the office for those of us lucky enough to be able to do our jobs remotely, it can start to get difficult to concentrate or have the same productivity as being in the office. So, I thought I would share some tips on what's worked for me! I generally work remotely once a week on a normal schedule, so these are things that I've come up with to stay on task. I hope it helps, and I hope all of you (and your families) are staying healt

Hi everyone! Today will be the final post in my Portugal travel journals, and the final leg of my journey. After exploring Porto , drinking my way down the Douro River , and hiking up mountains in Sintra , we had a short but sweet visit in the capital of Lisbon. Our flight heading home was super early (like 4AM), so we only had one full day and the half day left after visiting Sintra. We tried to make the most of it!  Here's what we did- Day 1 Hotel Lisboa Plaza We made the quick drive from Sintra to Lisbon, and pulled up to the most gorgeous and historic hotel. Everything here felt old fashioned- the room had an actual key (no cards here!), wooden grand staircases, and grand balconies. The area was really cute too- the hotel was located right by the Avenida da Liberdade, which is a beautiful main street with wide tree-lined sidewalks. Praça do Comércio After getting our stuff situated in the room and changing, we made our way down the Avenida da Liberdade an