Gretch Runs

It's officially training time! My goal race (Capital City Half Marathon in Columbus) is 10 short weeks away, and with a few trips in between I know it'll be here before I know it. Once again, I'll be following the Kara Goucher half marathon plan and training with my friend Jessie! This was a good first week for me full of lots of cross training and quality runs.  Here's how it went!
Monday30 minutes racquetball This entire week I tried to make it to the gym or run before work, and today Dan joined me. We started out with a game of racquetball to warm up before our main workouts, and it's also a great way to start our day!
3 mile treadmill run I did about 15 minutes easy, then steadily picked it up. Treadmill isn't my favorite, but it was nice to get miles in before work since it was a pretty nasty day outside.

Tuesday 30 minutes racquetball This was the first day that I felt like everything was clicking and I managed to take a game off of Dan! Consistency is hel…

Hi everyone and happy Friday (and Valentines Day!). Today I'm going to be sharing the next part of my trip to Portugal- the last time we left off I just got done drinking my way up and down the Douro river in the beautiful wine region. Our next stop was in Lisbon, but before that we wanted to stop in the nearby town of Sintra.


I heard a lot about Sintra before the trip and knew I had to squeeze in a stop there. Luckily, it's located about a half hour from Lisbon and was an easy drive (apparently it's also a quick train ride, which would make it an excellent day trip if we had more time!). Known for its picturesque hills and lavish palaces with over the top gardens, it's been considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1995.


After parking near the Sintra train station, we grabbed some food and coffee at the first cafe we saw (I got a Portugese specialty called pasteis de nata, which is a custard tart) and set out for a hike around town.


Our first stop was at the Sin…

Another week down, and one more week closer to official training season for me! This week was a whirlwind of weather, going from a balmy 60 degrees down to below freezing and lots of snow. Just take a look-

And now let's look at how the week of workouts went!

Monday5 mile run It was a gorgeous day out, so I ditched my normal spin class for a run outside with friends. It was a ton of fun and a good workout!

Tuesday25 minute abs
I had dinner plans with my family after work, so I just squeezed in a quick strength workout after work. Got the job done!

Wednesday5.10 mile run
Met up with my friends early for some speed work. We did a ladder workout of 1 minute, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, 1 at an 8:00 pace. The first few felt hard, but I settled in to the pace and had a great run and catchup with my friends!

Thursday45 minute racquetball
Dan and I woke up super early to make it to the gym before work (right when it opened at 5AM!) We played racquetball for a bit, which is an amazing workout and also…

Happy Friday everyone! I know it's been said to death by now, but January seems like it goes on FOREVER. I feel like it's been three months at least, but we're finally in February!  I'm going to be sharing how my old goals went in January, as well as sharing some new ones for the new month. Have a great month!


Dry January This was really easy for me to complete! I felt more energetic and less bloated all month which is a good feeling, and I also like all the money I saved.  I think I'll be continuing this on into February!

30 Days of Yoga Loved the journey this year. I hit every day without missing any, which is a first for me!

Do Something Creative This was a great challenge for me- I did a lot of watercolor painting, worked on scrapbooks, tried new recipes, and wrote more than any other month. I also combined this with my yoga goal to do a small watercolor calendar with a different square for each day of the journey.
German Lessons I started out pretty well with …

Another week of training in the books, and it was another great week! Official race training starts in another couple of weeks, and I feel like the base I'm building right now is really great. I also tried some new classes at the gym, which I'm hoping to integrate even more into my training!

Here's a look at how the week went-

Monday60 minute spin Really great class and workout today! I really pushed myself and it felt amazing. I also had a friend join me which made it even better.

Yoga - Balance This was a really hard one! I'm not good at any kind of hand stand or hand hold positions, so I kind of failed at that. But the rest of it was great!


TuesdayRest Day! Dan and I went out to dinner after work, so I took a much-needed rest day.

Yoga - Still As you can imagine by the name, this was a very gentle practice. Good way to end off my rest day!


Wednesday3 mile run It was a beautiful day out, so I was excited to get outside and run! I felt SO GOOD on this run- full of energ…

Hi everyone and welcome back! Today I'm posting part two of my Cooking from Blogs series, and we'll be diving into one of my favorites- Budget Bytes. There are so many reasons I love this blog- not only are the recipes easy to follow, feature common ingredients, and always taste great- but they also are all budget friendly as the name implies! Anytime I want to watch how much I'm spending, I immediately turn to this blog for inspiration.

Once again, I'm going to share a full day of eats with all of you. I actually had the same breakfast and lunch everyday for the week (both were easy to meal prep for work, but more on that in my reviews), and my dinner was a combination of three recipes.  Enjoy!




Breakfast :Mango Coconut Chia Pudding

Author's Photo :
My Photo : 
This was a surprising hit! There are so few ingredients that I didn't think it would have much of a taste, but this is a perfect breakfast for me. I usually can't eat much in the morning, and this was s…