Gretch Runs

Good morning everyone and welcome to Week Five of Great British Bake Off- Pastry Week! I'm sad to say that this is the halfway point of the competition and my technical bakes are just about over. I'm thinking about going back through older seasons to try out even more, but first I have to make it through the finale!   Pastry week seems to be notoriously hard for the bakers with really tough challenges, so I went into this week a little nervous (and really excited!) to see what I got to bake. Before that though, the bakers had a Signature Challenge to make 8 Pasties, which is Cornwell's national dish, and a Showstopper challenge of a caged tart. There were some really beautiful designs- particularly Hermine's. Looked so incredible and I think she deserved Star Baker. For the Technical Challenge, we got to make Eclairs. In the challenge the bakers made Raspberry and Salted Caramel, but I made Mocha. Usually the recipes are posted on the GBBO website, but this week wasn

Happy Monday everyone! Can you believe it's the last week of October?! Did this week even happen? Not really sure. This was a pretty low-key weekend but I got in some quality workouts. I feel like I go through swings of not feeling like doing anything and then wanting to work hard, and I'm starting to get back in the groove of wanting to push. Hopefully it'll last!  Here's a look at my week- Monday Lower Body Bike Bootcamp with Robin I was excited to see this class as an option for Week 3 of the Spooky Booty challenge, but immediately regretted it! This class was SO hard- the spin sections were really tough and all intervals, then the strength was mostly all weighted squats. This was definitely a lower body workout! Tuesday 20 min Celia Cruz Run with Jess Took a very nice and easy run at lunchtime during a break in rain. I really liked the music in this class but for some reason it kept freezing in the app, so I want to take it again when I can listen through with no in

Welcome to another week of baking! It's Chocolate Week in the tent (and my kitchen), which I was really looking forward to! To be honest, I'm not much of a baked goods person- I love to make and bake them, but I don't usually go crazy over bakeries or pastries. I don't even like to get cake for my birthday and opt out during work events! Chocolate is a different thing though- so I was really looking forward to seeing what I would get to make! Before we get to the technical, the bakers first had to make brownies..which seems like a simple enough task, but ended up being a disaster. Everyone tried to make super complicated and over-the-top bakes, and most ended up with bad marks from Paul and Prue. Note to anyone who might go on in the future- simple is sometimes the best bet! The next bake was the Technical (I'll talk about it below), and the Showstopper was a White Chocolate Celebration Cake. For the technical, the challenge was to bake a Chocolate Babka. I've h

Hi everyone and Happy Monday!! I'm excited to share my week of workouts today, because it's one of the best weeks I've had in a while. We were blessed with some gorgeous weather during our peak leaf time (hope you aren't tired of all the pics I've been sharing lately...promise it's almost over), and I definitely took advantage! Without giving any more away, here's a look at my week- Monday 10 min Lower Body Strength with Selena Good workout to kick off the week! This was my second 10 minute workout for the second week of Spooky Booty- it's all longer from here! 30 min Alicia Keys Ride with Jess I was really excited to see that Alicia Keys was chosen as the next Artist Series because she's one of my all-time favorite singers. I started listening to her back when her first album came out and fell in love, and her music still gives me goosebumps. I'm not sure if this is the best  music to get an intense workout, but it was a nice recovery ride for m

Good morning everyone and welcome to week three- the infamous BREAD WEEK. To be honest, this is probably my least favorite week in past competitions, but it always seems to start the real competition and separate the real challengers with the struggling home bakers. Plus- typically the contestants that do well this week end up going to the finale! This season's bread week had the typical three challenges- the Signature Bake was to create two soda breads (one sweet and one savory), and the Showstopper was to create a large decorative bread plaque portraying what they are grateful for. Sandwiched in between these two bakes was the Technical challenge- in Bread Week it's always given by Paul, and this year he chose to have the bakers make rainbow bagels. I've baked bagels a few times before, but never with colors! It seemed like an intimidating task, but it ended up mostly just being a tedious process.  I first made dough like normal, then divided it into five equal pieces. Ea

Hi everyone! It is definitely peak leaf week in this area- it's super gorgeous everywhere and hopefully my pictures below capture some of that beauty. If there are fall leaves in your area- make sure you get out to enjoy it before they're all gone! I love how this time of year makes you take advantage of the weather or else you miss it- makes me want to do more! Here's a look at my week, along with a quick day trip! Monday 10 min Restorative Yoga with Chelsea Oh man...I woke up with the WORST pain imaginable in the middle of the night, which lasted all day. I don't know if it's left over from strength last week or my bike ride on Sunday, but my quads and knees were killing me! I took it easy all day and took Tylenol while I iced my legs. This class also felt great, but full disclosure I took it in my bed! Tuesday 10 min Glutes and Legs Strength with Jess Sims 10 min Bodyweight Strength with Andy I felt SO much better when I woke up, so I took my next two classes for

Hello everyone! It's week two of Great British Bake Off and the theme is Biscuits! I was super excited to hear that because cookies are one of my favorite things to make, and I always love all the creative things the bakers make during this week. As always, the week was divided into three challenges- the Signature was for 36 chocolate florentines, a technical (which I'll discuss below) and the showstopper was 3d biscuit table settings to represent a memorable meal they had in the past. There were so many beautiful and intricate displays! If I were to do the challenge, I would probably pick a meal that I had in Japan. There were so many memorable things that I ate, and I remember how gorgeous and unique each plate, bowl, spoon, cup, and chopsticks were! For the technical, the bakers made 12 hand-shaped coconut macaroons. Half were filled with mango curd, and the other half with chocolate. This is another dessert that I might have had before but definitely have never attempted to

I have to say- October is starting off really strong. I mentioned in my goals post that I've been in kind of a funk lately, and I feel like I'm finally (starting to) snap out of it. Funny how getting out and having some fresh air can really improve your mood! Something for me to remember in the future :) Here's a look at how my week went- Monday 20 min 70s Pop Fun Run with Matty I very much regret sleeping in and saying "I'll just run during lunch!" It got very hot and humid at lunch, and this run was not enjoyable at all! But, the playlist was fun and Matty always cheers me up, so I finished it. Tuesday 20 min Intro Endurance Ride with Christine This was a super throw back class all the way from 2016, but I got to cross off a Heart Rate Zone class! I really liked this even though I didn't have a heart rate monitor hooked up. It might be fun to take more of these endurance-style rides! 20 min Barre This week there's a challenge to take 6 barre classes,

Happy October everyone! You know the song- Wake me up, when September ends? That's how I felt all month and I'm glad the month is finally over. I hit a major slump- probably a combination of missing out on a trip I was supposed to be on, and the fact that Dan was away on a business trip (not to mention all the other awful stuff happening lately, capped off with that depressing Presidential Debate). I don't really have any highlights to share but want to use this space to encourage everyone to VOTE. This is SUCH an important election, and I just want to encourage everyone to think about their neighbors and others with less privilege and opportunity when casting your vote. I just got my mail-in ballot delivered, so I'm spending the weekend educating myself on all of the parties running to make sure I'm choosing who I think is best.  Now let's see how my goals went last month! Hike 4 new Trails I did some hiking this month, but mostly stuck to tried-and-true routes