Gretch Runs

Hello everyone! I'm here today to recap one of the best race experiences that I've ever had (spoiler alert?). I think one reason why it was so amazing was that I went in extremely nervous, not sure if I would even be able to finish the swim, and ended up exceeding my expectations and doing what I think is a great job!  Here's a quick run-down of the race and some thoughts on the event if you're looking for a sprint to do next year. Set-Up Dan and I got to Wrightsville Beach on Friday morning and headed to packet pickup. We decided to move to the Novice division (we signed up for the Age Group category and then realized that would put us towards the front of the pack when we really belonged in the back!). We got color-coded swim caps to make sure we started in the correct group, as well as numbers for our run and bike portions. After getting our packets we dropped off our bikes in the transition area and checked out the swim start and finish. It looked SO far and I start...

It's race week! Saturday is the big day, so last week was really about last minute touches and getting mentally ready. I had some great workouts that made me feel ready so now I just have to make it to the beach and put all my work to the test! I'm definitely thinking of this race as a victory lap and finishing it (and having fun) will be my goal. Let's go!!! Here's how my final week of workouts went- Monday 7 mile bike I got my bike back so I had to do a test ride with my new tires. I did a route that is my go-to for a shorter ride, and it was crazy how much faster I was! Compared to the same route, I was almost a full minute faster per mile, and I didn't feel like I was pushing the pace at all. This gets me so excited for the race! 1 hour yoga Post-work yoga with Erica at the Art Museum was just what I needed to end the day. I always love these ones because they're a bit slower and more stretchy than usual, which is great after getting through the first day of...

Another week in the books and now we're less than 2 weeks from race day.  EEK! I've been in a bit of a lull still with my training but things are starting to turn around. I'm hoping I'll get back in my stride this week to finish out strong, but either way race day is almost here! Monday 1,250 yard swim A little morning swim to kick of Labor Day. I did a 500 yard warmup, then 5x100 pushing hard. I was planning on doing a 500 yard cool down afterwards, but I was really exhausted and cut it a little short. 1 hour disc golf Our original plan was to play some tennis, thinking the park would be empty for the holiday. Boy were we wrong! There were lines of people waiting for the courts and we barely found a parking spot! Luckily the park we go to has other options, so we decided to play a round of disc golf which was really fun. Tuesday 1.25 mile run You can probably tell by the distance that I did NOT feel like running at all. I've been feeling pretty burnt out lately..I ...

Happy September everyone! I feel like the weather here is starting to get the hint that it's almost fall, because it's been absolutely beautiful lately. Still warm, but humidity is getting lower and our mornings and nights are starting to have a chill. I'll take it! This month I read a decent amount of books, but none of them were great. I had lots of ratings in the 3 star range, which is perfectly fine but nothing that I loved. Here's hoping I'll have better luck this month. If you have recommendations for me I would love to hear it in the comments! Here are the books I read in August and some thoughts- Reminders of Him by Colleen Hoover After serving five years in prison for a tragic mistake, Kenna Rowan returns to the town where it all went wrong, hoping to reunite with her four-year-old daughter. But the bridges Kenna burned are proving impossible to rebuild. Everyone in her daughter’s life is determined to shut Kenna out, no matter how hard she works to prove h...

A little late with my monthly goals post, but life has been busy lately! Plus- it doesn't feel like it's September yet. It's been a busy month and it feels like it went way too quickly! I'm not ready for fall yet- summer's been too fun. Speaking of fun, this was a really good month full of a lot of highlights. Dan and I had a bunch of spontaneous date nights, visiting new places in downtown Raleigh and in Apex/Cary. We also spent a day in Durham with some friends that culminated with watching a baseball game (or some of it..we were having too much fun and missed most of the game). A big highlight though was being at one of my good friend's baby shower, and then watching her dogs when she went into labor a few weeks early (she and baby are both doing great- we got to see them this past weekend!). I'm not sure how September will be able to top this month, but with my triathlon and a beach trip on the schedule it will at least be memorable. Here's how my an...