Gretch Runs

Wow- what a year this week has been. It’s been a rough one, filled with the best of what humans are capable of and the absolutely worst. The highs- a rocket launch from US soil, and all-Star athletes/olympians competing against each other in a Peloton race broadcast on ESPN, show what happens when people work together and put their gifts to a honorable purpose. The lows- the killing of George Floyd, followed by peaceful protests turned violent and deadly in cities across America (including my own). I’ve always grown up in a diverse city, going to a school where I was in the minority. So to me, BIPOC were my teachers, my principals, my friends and dates. It hurts my heart and confuses me when I see people capable of hating, hurting, and killing someone just because of how they look. I’ve always known about racism and oppression, but this is on a whole other level. I would encourage all of you to learn more, make calls and send emails to demand justice, donate to organizations that a...

Another week down! Things are almost feeling back to normal(ish). Lately I've been talking to friends how from now on in our lives we'll refer to everything as before Coronavirus and after. It seems like nothing will ever go back to how it ever was- but we have to adapt to how things will be from now on!  Here's a look at how my week went- Monday The Last Dance Ride with Alex Talk about an amazing way to start off the week! This was my first Alex Toussaint ride, and I was excited to ride it after watching The Last Dance documentary on ESPN. This ride included music from the soundtrack, and the theme was riding for the 6 rings/championships like Michael Jordan. It was such a fun class but really pushed me! Alex is a favorite among professional athletes and now I get why- he is so motivating and really makes you put in 100%. 10 min Bodyweight Strength with Matty Week two of the Top 21 challenge! To be honest, after the ride I was completely exhausted and only did this half-he...

Happy Friday everyone! I have a fun post to share today- an update on my vegetable garden! We started planning this back in March, and really got working in April. Along the way I've learned a lot but am still making mistakes and adapting as I go. Here's how we started, and what our current status is! Pick out location for garden How it all began... In our backyard, we had three huge trees that fell down two years ago. Once we cleared them, we decided to re-do that section of our yard to make a fire pit (mostly to burn all of the wood that we chopped down) and create our garden! This area is the flattest area of our yard and also gets unobstructed sunlight for most of the day. Shortened the fence line, added a gate, and now we have extra yard! Our first step after figuring out where we wanted to plant was to decide on a layout! We chose to make two 10'x4' raised beds, with a 2' path in between. We marked these off, checked with 811 to make sure we wouldn't hit a...

Checking in on another week. I added a new challenge this week with some friends and also ventured out a bit! Overall a good week- here's how it went. Monday 20 min Dance Cardio The best way to start the week is with a little dance party! This is my second time doing this class (with Emma and Cody), so I knew a few moves and flew through the class. It was fantastic. Crush your Core W2D1 This was a repeat from week 1 (I think there will be a few repeats each week and a few new classes to keep pushing ourselves!). It was a good complement to the dance cardio. 45 min Broadway Fun Run with Matty It was a pretty chilly afternoon, so I decided to venture to the park for the first time in over a month for a run! I hit the trails and only saw one other runner. It felt SO good to be back on the trails, which is my favorite place to run. Definitely helped me clear my mind, and the playlist was also fantastic. I took this pretty easy- which is necessary when running on those hilly routes! Tue...

I don't know about all of you, but I've been reading like a machine lately. I typically get through a book and take a break for a while before picking up a new one, but now I'm just pouring through one after another. Maybe it's a way to escape the current world, or transport me around the world when I can't travel. I read some fantastic books recently and hope to have even more on tap for this month!  Here are my recent reads and what I thought of them. Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll As a teenager at the prestigious Bradley School, Ani FaNelli endured a shocking, public humiliation that left her desperate to reinvent herself. Now, with a glamorous job, expensive wardrobe, and handsome blue blood fiancé, she’s this close to living the perfect life she’s worked so hard to achieve. But Ani has a secret. There’s something else buried in her past that still haunts her, something private and painful that threatens to bubble to the surface and destroy everything. ...

Hi everyone! Another week of quarantine down, and it looks like we're getting close to the end! My county is going to a "yellow" state next week, which means some businesses are allowed to open and small gatherings are allowed to start again. I'm still feeling apprehensive about being in public- maybe I'll always feel like that now. But for now- here are my workouts for the week, including a fun new piece of equipment that I got (my first one I've ever had!) Monday 30 min 90s Fun Walk with Matty Best way to start the week- early morning walk! Selma and I set out before work and jammed out to this great playlist. Crush Your Core day 1 I decided to start a new program on Peloton, and picked Crush Your Core with Emma. There are 5-6 classes per week for 4 weeks. Today's was only 5 minutes, but it was non-stop work for that entire time! 20 min Restorative Yoga with Anna I ended my day with some nice and relaxing yoga. There were lots of amazing stretches in t...

Another week, and much of the same for me. I've been seeing other states slowly open this weekend and see posts from people running in huge groups again. I won't be doing that for a while longer- even if we get permission to run with people I don't know when I would feel comfortable being around more than 2 or 3 people at a time. Will that ever feel "normal" again?  Time will tell! This week was a good one- it was supposed to be Homecoming weekend for Peloton, which is a big celebration of the members and learning about new/upcoming features. There were lots of awesome classes and specials, which I definitely took advantage of! The theme/hashtag for the weekend was Together We Go Far , which is a sentiment I love and can feel when I'm doing a virtual workout! Here's how my week went- Monday 20 min run Dan wanted to go for a run, and I can't pass that up! We did 20 minutes together with some run/walk segments. It was fun to get out and the...

TGIF everyone! We made it through another week and another month. It seems like things are slowly starting to open back up, so maybe next week we will be living in a new normal once again. This year has been a RIDE. I started sharing highlights of my month in these posts early this year, and of course the biggest thing that I'm thankful for in April is that my friends, family, and I all stayed safe and healthy. We're all (thankfully) being very safe and limiting exposure. After reading about the horrors of the disease (especially reading about all the scary side effects) I'm more thankful than ever for my health. Another highlight of the month was trying out new things. I've been keeping myself busy with new hobbies and experiments in the kitchen- this month I learned how to make crepes and macarons (in honor of our expected trip to France last week - see above for my second attempt with pistachio), and also researched a ton about gardening. I also connect...