Gretch Runs

Good morning and Happy Monday to everyone! This last week was kind of stressful for me- lots of changes (and lots more work) going on at my job, and more/worse COVID news coming out ahead of the holidays. Dan and I were already planning on staying home and just having a dinner with the two of us (partly because he just got home from a work trip out of state, and mostly because it's the safe and responsible thing to do). It's been kind of frustrating and disheartening to see people go about their lives like nothing is going on, so I decided to disconnect this week and turn off my phone which has helped A LOT. If you're also feeling burnt out and finding yourself getting stressed about what other people are doing I would highly recommend this- I'll probably keep it off until Thanksgiving! Here's a look at how my week was- Monday 30 min Slow Flow with Aditi Perfect yoga class to take first thing in the morning! This was basically a really good stretch and turned me fro

Good morning everyone!! Last week was pretty exciting- there was a HUGE announcement by Peloton (see below- it really shaped my workouts for the week!). We were also blessed with some gorgeous weather again, so I took some opportunities to get outside with Selma. Overall a great week, but this morning I woke up SO SORE! Read on to find out why- Monday 2 mile Hike Selma and I took a nice walk at lunchtime to Falls Run Park, which is one of my favorites. There's a creek that runs along the entire 1 mile trail as well as a waterfall! Selma had a lot of fun splashing in the water and this was a great mid-day break. 15 min Arms and Shoulder Strength with Adrian This was my longest arm workout in a while (maybe ever?) and it was so tough! There were two different groups of workouts and we ran through 3 sets of each, so the time went by really quickly. I can feel my shoulders getting so strong with these workouts! 30 min Two For One Ride with Tunde and Alex For about a week, the Peloton I

Hello and welcome to week SEVEN of the Great British Bake Off! I can't believe this season is getting close to be over, and with another one of my favorites going home this week I'm getting sad to be finishing this series. It's been so much fun to bake new things and challenge my baking skills every week!  Back to this week- it was 80s week in the tent. I was born in the 90s so a lot of the references I didn't get, but definitely recognized the food. For the Signature Challenge the bakers made two types of quiche, and the Show Stopper was an Ice Cream Cake. Of course, the tent was piping hot, so there were a lot of drippy disasters. Drama! The Technical Challenge was to make six jam and custard filled finger donuts. According to the judges, these were popular because they seemed more posh than the typical round donut. I was excited to make these because I've never actually made any donuts before, and don't have a proper donut pan. Since these are just formed by

Good morning everyone! I hope that you had a relaxing and fun weekend. The weather here was gorgeous (with a few more days of sun before it starts to get cold again). I had a good week of workouts, which was a great stress relief while I was waiting around for election results. Here's how the week went- Monday 40 min FTP Ride There's a new badge challenge on Peloton to complete eight Power Zone rides, so I cheated a little to take four of the shorter rides in one day to cut off a big chunk. Since I don't have a Peloton Bike I can't really make my personal "power zones" anyway, so I just did these rides for fun. 10 min Arms and Shoulders Strength with Robin After two rides, I sandwiched in some strength. Day two of Turkey Triceps challenge and going strong! The only downside I see after doing Spooky Booty and this is that a lot of the same moves are in every class when you focus on one part of the body. Makes it a little boring, but hopefully will make those mu

Hi everyone! It's time for another episode of Great British Bake Off and the week I've been waiting for- JAPAN WEEK! To be honest, the episode was kind of a let down..the only strong Japanese flavor highlighted was matcha which isn't my favorite. I was hoping for something with mochi or a Japanese style cheesecake or omelet. There were also a lot of complaints online about the poor Japanese influence in this week, and I sadly have to agree. With a Signature Challenge of a steamed bun, and a Show Stopper of a Kawaii Cake (basically just means cute/adorable), there wasn't a ton to distinguish the challenges from any other week. But- I had a job to do, and this week the Technical was a Matcha Crepe cake. Judging from the pictures in the recipe, I knew this would be a tough challenge but I was really excited. I made crepes for the first time this year (during the week Dan and I were supposed to be in France and I made a French-inspired brunch), and it was really fun! The ba

Hi everyone and happy Election Day! If you haven't already, I hope you all get out to vote today. This election is SO important as you all know by now, so it's really vital that we all have our voices heard and hopefully make changes for the better for the next four years. With that said- October is somehow over, and all that's left of 2020 is November and December. CRAZY. This was actually a really good month overall, and I kept really busy! My goal was to enjoy the fall leaves as much as possible, which is definitely what I did.  I went on lots of hikes, day trips, bike rides, and kayaked. It was fantastic! It's hard to pick one highlight of the month, so I'm going to share two (making up for no highlights last month). I took off three Fridays this month and it was a great way to explore without worrying about crowds. Dan and I made a day trip up to Bradford to get some paperwork and visit his family, and along the way we saw Kinzua Bridge.  The following weekend,