Gretch Runs

Happy Monday- and February!- everyone! I have to admit, this last week wasn't the best for me. I just felt off all week- almost like I had really bad allergies or was starting to get a cold. So, I listened to my body and took it easy and now I'm feeling much better! It's always important to take some time when you're not feeling the best, so if your body is telling you something- listen. I still managed to hit my Strava goals for the month so I'm happy, and here's a look at how the week went! Monday 30 min Movie Buff Ride with Kendall I've been waiting for this class so that I could cross it off my Instructor Series list, and it turned out to be my favorite so far! I've taken two other Movie Buff rides (Halloween and Christmas movies) and today's theme was Movie Musicals!! My absolute favorite genre, so I was really excited to take this. It was so much fun and I wish the class was even longer. 60 min Bike Bootcamp with Jess This class was brutal! Jes

Welcome back to another edition of Cooking from Blogs ! Today we're diving into something completely different and getting a bit edgy ...that is the Edgy Veg. This is another new-to-me blog that seems to focus more on turning regular omnivore comfort/fast foods into vegan versions. I've seen everything from vegan KFC to dippy eggs on this blog! My meals for this week will be a bit different- there weren't really any side dishes that I could try out, so I just made a few different dishes on different days to test a variety of options from the blog. It wasn't cohesive and was definitely an experience (um..rice paper bacon???) - keep reading to see how it went! Breakfast :  Vegan Smoked Salmon Author's Photo : My Photo : For the past few years, I've tried pretty much every vegan smoked salmon recipe out there. I've had varying levels of success, and I think with this one I've finally found my holy grail. Not only is the process really

What a week this has been! We got a new president and vice president, and even though I know things are not going to magically get better in the country overnight it's hard not to feel more hopeful every day. Here's a look at how my week was in workouts- Monday 45 min Bike Bootcamp with Jess To be honest, I almost skipped this workout. I just got done painting my basement stairs and was really tired and knew this workout would be tough. But- one of my friends was doing it as well and checked in with me, which motivated me to at least try it. I'm so glad I did because I felt great during this! It was definitely tough, but the class seemed to fly by. I don't know how Jess makes workouts so hard but also enjoyable..she's a magician. 30 min Breathe In, Speak Up Slow Flow with Chelsea After class I joined this yoga flow in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr Day. It was a really powerful and beautiful class- at the end we stretched and listened to the I Have A Dream speech.

Good morning everyone! Today is a holiday for me so I'm spending the day sleeping in, getting some projects done around the house, and dropping off some of my de-cluttered items to a thrift store. In the meantime, I'll be sharing my week of workouts as always, hope you enjoy and maybe get some inspiration to try something new this week.   Monday 30 min Flow and Let Go I was planning on taking this class on Sunday night, but ended up being too tired (and annoyed at the Steelers game). Instead I did it during a break between meetings and it felt great! This week is super busy with 38 meeting scheduled so far so I know I'll need to take advantage of any break I have. 60 min Bike Bootcamp with Jess Sims My last meeting of the day got finished about 2 minutes before this class started, so I had no time to prepare but it was a great class. I love my Monday Mayhem with Jess- these workouts are really hard but I think a great way to kick off the week in a positive way. Tuesday 20 m

Good morning everyone! Today I'm going to be sharing a Day in My Life - Back in Lockdown. I shared one of these back in July and thought it would be interesting to see how things have changed since then. In some ways it has (I sleep in a lot more now) and in other ways it hasn't (I'm still not seeing people in person). This Day in the Life is from Friday and was a little more on the exciting side because I left the house! Hope you enjoy! 7:30 - Wake up, take Selma out and feed her, and log in to work. My meetings start at 8, so I like to log in right before that to check emails and get everything in order. 9:00 - Made a latte to start the day! Usually I can't eat too much in the morning, and today I had a quick workout in the morning so I really didn't want to eat. Instead, I made an oat milk latte with two shots of espresso. I also added some vanilla bean paste to my oat milk in the frother to add a little flavor and it was delicious. 9:45 - Finished my workout

Well, 2021 is off to a...not great start. I'm sure we have all seen the videos and pictures from Washington, D.C. (especially the sharp contrast from the Black Lives Matter protests earlier this year at the same place). It's vile and disgusting that there are people in our country that are so full of hatred and conspiracies that they would try to take over our nation's capital. I know that people deal with events like this in different ways- for me I like to try to take action in things that I can control and block out social media and the news. I also like to work out hard to put my frustration towards something healthy instead finding myself in a black hole. So- that's what I did this week. Here's a look at my week- Monday 45 min Bike Bootcamp : Bodyweight with Jess Sims Another Monday Mayhem- this one was only 45:00 instead of the full hour which did NOT make it any easier. I really pushed it on the bike portions since this was my only workout today, and I think

December for me was all about reading! I didn't go anywhere or do pretty much anything all month, so I finished more books in a month than I think I ever did before. It was a great way to escape and have a healthy way to chill out at the end of the day. After the horrific events this week in Washington DC and feeling so helpless (and at times hopeless), I leaned on reading again to be transported to a happier, safer place. I hope that reading can be that escape when you need it as well. Here's what I read in December and what I thought of each book- Hidden Bodies Joe Goldberg is no stranger to hiding bodies. In the past ten years, this thirty-something has buried four of them, collateral damage in his quest for love. Now he’s heading west to Los Angeles, the city of second chances, determined to put his past behind him. In Hollywood, Joe blends in effortlessly with the other young upstarts. He eats guac, works in a bookstore, and flirts with a journalist neighbor. But while oth

Happy Monday to you all! I had last week off of work (and I think this was my first time ever taking time off but not actually going anywhere), so it's been a bit of a struggle waking up early and logging into work this morning. If you had a break I hope that it refreshed you and you're ready to get back to reality this morning. Raising my extra large coffee mug to you! Here's a look at my workouts while I was on "vacation"- Monday 30 min Best of 2020 Yoga Flow with Anna Joined this class in the morning to cross off the final square of my Yoga Bingo board! It was a nice class with some fun songs, but nothing too crazy. Since it was in the morning, I felt so stiff..I don't think that morning yoga is for me! I like doing it later in the day and feel like I get so much more out of it. 60 min EDM Bike Boot Camp with Jess This class was SO hard but really fun! Definitely a full body workout and I felt like we got zero rest time, except when we transitioned from the

Happy New Year everyone! I hope that your year is off to a good start so far- to me it doesn't really feel like anything's changed since I'm still staying in and will be working from home for the foreseeable future. But, I already have lots of goals and plans for the year ahead. First let's start with a highlight of December, which is an "Elf Exchange" that a group of my friends did. During the month, we each had to drop off a beer and festive treat at everyone's house. Some people also did little surprises, like a tie-dyed sweatshirt with a little black dog printed on it. It was such a nice surprise to know my friends were thinking of me even if we couldn't get together like we usually do.  For my surprise, I got a mixed pack of holiday beer from Saranac and picked out what each person would like the most, and then made a few different kinds of Christmas cookies and truffles (you can see the "ugly sweaters" above!). I also included a little