Gretch Runs

Another great week in the books! This one was a little lighter on official workouts, but I got in some fun cross training (if you can call it that...) as well as another sprint tri during the weekend! I'm still a few weeks away from my goal race for the year, so I'm using all of the races I've done so far as practice for the main event. Here's how the week (and race) went- Monday 30 min frisbee golf Finally went out to play frisbee golf- our first time in a while! It was brutally hot and sunny out, but in the shade it felt much better. We went at lunchtime so only had time for about half of the course but it was so fun to get out there. Tuesday 1500 yard swim This morning's swim felt amazing! I started with a warmup, then the main set was 4x200 repeats. By the time I was done, I was close to 1500 so I extended my cool down a bit to hit that number! This was one of those days I could have kept swimming forever and got in a good groove. Wednesday 20 min run Short and ...

I'm finally back to continue recapping our amazing Europe trip today! It's been nice to break it up so much because it feels like I'm reliving the trip every time I get to talk about it. We left off in part 2 in Bovec with some incredible excursions and mountain views, and are heading to Lake Bled. If you've ever seen an image of Slovenia (or if you Google it right now), this is the place that you'll see. This lake sits right by the border of Austria and is a quick bus ride from the capital city of Ljubliana, so it's a very popular day trip. We decided to stay here for a few days though, and I'm really glad that we did! We stayed at the Penzion Berc, which had a great location and was the most charming place we stayed in during this entire trip. This is a family-owned B&B, which started out as a farm and developed into the amazing place that it is today. We had the best hospitality here, along with a delicious breakfast every morning! The location was g...

July was a great month of reads! I got through a lot of books (lots sitting by the pool or while kayaking!) I also crossed off two more books from the Goodreads Winners of 2022 which is always exciting for me. Here are all the books I read this month- Heartstopper by Alice Oseman I read the first two books in this series because it won the Goodreads award last year, and I really enjoyed it! The books follow a British high school boy who's gay, and trying to figure out his friendships and relationships. It really captures the experience of being in school and not really knowing who you are or who you can trust, and finding yourself. I found out this is also a Netflix series so I want to check that out and keep reading the series as well! My rating - 4.5/5 Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel I probably would not have chosen this book on my own, but it also won a Goodreads award (for best Science Fiction). In the end, I'm glad that I did read it! This follows a few differen...

This was definitely a week of highs and lows. I had some rough workouts but also had amazing ones as well- it seems like running is hard right now but everything else is feeling great! I'll just blame the weather and hope it feels easier once it gets cooler (and less humid). Here's a look at my week- Monday Rest Day! Tuesday 3 mile run I met up with my early birds group for my run this morning, and as soon as we started I felt off. I donated blood on Sunday evening and thought that I would feel better by now but my body let me know it didn't! I hung in the back and did a run/walk, but was still happy to have people to start with at least! 2 hour SUP I was feeling much better by the end of the day and it was gorgeous out, so I headed to Harris Lake for a little paddling. The water was pretty calm so I took it easy going around and also took lots of rest! It was the perfect end to the day. Wednesday 1 hour bike I went out for a lunchtime ride and added in two intervals of 3 m...

July was such a fun and busy month! I didn't really have much free time, which is exactly how I prefer my months. I had family come and visit for a week, then went to Cleveland and Put-in-Bay to visit with some friends. Add in some craziness at work, a renovation on our primary bathroom, and lots of time with friends- it was very hectic without much free time. But, I did spare some time to literally smell the flowers and enjoy the bloom of the sunflower field in Dix Park! Let's get into the goals! Annual Goals Korean Vegan Cookbook The next chapter in my cookbook that I tried out was the Soups and Stews- which probably wasn't the best for the hot weather we've been having but ended up being amazing! It was a fennel and tofu stew with doenjang broth. Super light and tasty and I loved the char of the tofu with it. It tasted like something from a restaurant- really good and easy dish. Temperature blanket I'm done with month 7 of the temperature blanket. This was the fi...