Gretch Runs

Good morning everyone! I don't know what's gotten into me during the lock-down, but I've gone into project overdrive. Not sure if it's because I feel like I need to be doing something  or I'm filling the void that social interaction and having plans left, but I've used this time to cross off all the things I've been putting off in our house.  Dan and I sat down and made a list of everything we had to and wanted to do before we would think of selling the house, and I've been checking things off like crazy (and adding more as I go, naturally). Some things are not glamorous like patching holes or deep cleaning the kitchen, but I've had some fun makeovers as well! This is just part one, because I'm already working on some bigger areas (hint- kitchen and bathroom!).  Let's look at what I've done so far! Garden This was definitely our biggest project of Quarantine, and the gift that keeps on giving (you can follow the monthly progress here !). ...

Happy (late) Monday! It's honestly been kind of an up and down week for me- some days were great while others I had zero motivation. I've been getting waves of this during the quarantine lately and just go with it and listen to my body. I did have some fun workouts and some fun marathons (from Netflix) so let's look at my week- Monday 1 hour SUP Best start to the week for me is to be on the water! It was so beautiful out this morning and super quiet (only a few people were at the park, awesome!). 10 min Yoga Flow : Hips with Aditi Getting started with the week 2 Pelothon challenge- taking two live classes. A friend suggested this class and it was really great- just some nice hip opening stretches with one of my favorite instructors. Tuesday 5.25 mile run Apparently the days are getting shorter because this was the first sunrise I've seen heading to a run in a while. I felt really good on this run- it was one of those where I felt like I had to keep holding myself back. ...

Hey everyone and happy Wednesday! Today I wanted to bring back a post that I've done in the past- Day in the Life . These are always fun for me to share and to look back on to see what was a normal day for me. This will definitely be one to remember with Quarantine happening!  I'll be sharing what yesterday looked like, which is pretty typical nowadays.  Let's get into it with my morning alarm. 5:45 - Alarm goes off, snooze it till around 6:00 and begrudgingly get out of bed. I set up my Amazon Echo to play "spa meditation" station starting at 5:45 so that helps lure me out gently. 6:15 - Head out the door after having a glass of water, some apple sauce, and taking Selma out. I'm running at the lake by my house and get to see a beautiful sunrise. Days are starting to get shorter :( 7:15 - Finish up my run with a little over 5 miles. Felt great and the park wasn't crowded at all as a bonus. Drive home and head down to the garden to pick some tomatoes, kale,...

This week marks the start of Pelothon 2020, a four week challenge with different goals each week. For the first week, I have to take a class with every instructor on my team- I chose The Unstoppables which features Alex, Christine, Hannah F, Irene, Matty, and Chelsea. It was so hard to choose a team (they were all great), so I decided to pick the team with the fewest members. I'm happy with my choice and loved trying out new instructors this week! Here's what I did- Monday 30 min Y2K Pop Fun Run with Matty Felt refreshed after a few days off of running, and did a hilly loop around my neighborhood. This run felt fun, and I crossed off my first instructor from team #TheUnstoppables. I always love Matty's workouts- he's such a positive and uplifting person, and puts a smile on my face. 45 min Beginner Yoga Flow with Chelsea This was a great class for a few reasons- I really like Chelsea's style and how she moves from position to position (and also how she structures ea...

Hi everyone! We're doing things a little different today, and I'm going to be answering some fun questions. You probably know by now that I'm a big Peloton fan, and during quaratine they've had the trainers answer fun "one question interviews" on their Instagram account. It's been a fun way to learn more about the instructors! Today I wanted to answer the questions myself, and want to hear your responses as well! Here we go with the One Question Interviews (maybe we'll have a part two if they keep the series up!) 3 words to describe myself Curious - I love learning new things, traveling to new places, and meeting new people with different backgrounds. Passionate - I live by the phrase "How you do anything is how you do everything". I give everything my all and get obsessed with things really quickly. There's no half-measures with me! Friendly - I hope that I come off this way, but as I mentioned above I love to meet new people and maki...

Good morning everyone! I hope that you enjoyed your weekend- mine was really fun and busy (big change from the last few months!). We had a tiny break from the crazy heat in the last few weeks and I took advantage of it. Here's a look at how my week of workouts was: Monday 30 min All For One Strength My body was telling me it needed a break from cardio, so I did a nice strength workout. This was another workout in the "All for One" series I started last week- this one featuring all of the strength teachers (Adrian, Rebecca, Andy, Jess, Chase, Robin, and Selena). The class was divided into four sections- full body (Rebecca and Andy), lower body (Selena and Adrian), upper body (Jess and Chase) and a finisher (Robin). The class was OK- some of the segments I loved and other felt like they dragged on. But- it was a good workout. Tuesday 6 mile run It's always so crazy to me that one run can feel awful, and then a few days later feel so easy. Compared to my long run on Sund...

Happy Friday everyone! We made it to the WEEKEND and I'm here today to share what I read in June! This was one of my best months for reading ever- the weather was really nice most days so after logging off of work I would head outside with a drink and a snack, and relax on the hammock while immersing myself in another world with " Jesse Cook Radio " playing gently in the background. I've read before about finding your " ideal reading situation "- and this is probably mine!  Here's a look at what I read and my thoughts on each book- A Good Neighborhood In Oak Knoll, a verdant, tight-knit North Carolina neighborhood, professor of forestry and ecology Valerie Alston-Holt is raising her bright and talented biracial son. Xavier is headed to college in the fall, and after years of single parenting, Valerie is facing the prospect of an empty nest. All is well until the Whitmans move in next door—an apparently traditional family with new money, ambition, and a s...

Good morning everyone! I hope you all had a good weekend. This was definitely a different Fourth of July than ones I've had in the past- I didn't really celebrate or do anything with friends like I would typically do. Since the holiday fell on the weekend I also didn't have any days off work (fun fact- Friday was not a bank holiday even though most places used that as the holiday!).  To be honest, this wasn't the best week- I'll go into it a bit below. Sleep has been hard to come by, and after a few days it really seems to affect me! I hope that this coming week will be a bit better..we'll see. Here's a look at my week in workouts- Monday 45 min 80s Fun Walk with Rebecca I know it'll be a long and stressful week at work (new projects and structure- fun!) so I made sure to start off with a little movement. Took out Selma for a nice, long walk and loved this fun playlist. It was all songs by females which was a fun twist! 20 min Arms and Shoulders Strength...

Hi Everyone! I'm back today with the next installment of my Cooking from Blogs series- it's been a while but I'm excited to share some recipes from Sweet Potato Soul . When I first started to eat more plant-based and testing out the vegan lifestyle four years ago, this was actually one of the first blogs / youtube channels that I found. All of the recipes looked so approachable and delicious, and I'm happy to say that I still make a lot of Jenné's recipes now. I haven't done any of these posts since Quarantine started- I haven't been shopping much, and was trying to buy things as shelf-stable as possible to put of going to the grocery store more than once a month. But- as I was flipping through Jenné's instagram, I realized that a lot of her recipes incorporate pantry staples and used ingredients that I had on hand. As usual, I'll be sharing a breakfast, lunch, and dinner (as well as a snack) that I cooked following this blog's recipes. Let'...