Gretch Runs

This past weekend, I completed my fourth and final triathlon of the year! Going into this year all I wanted to do was do more tri's so I could find out if I really liked them or not, so I think I can successfully check that goal off. My final one was the same that I did last year- the Wrightsville Beach Sprint Tri- and I improved in some areas and got way worse in some. Let's go over the race! Swim If you remember from last year, this was the one leg that I was really dreading. I was so nervous about it but I ended up doing way better than I expected. This year I went in with the goal of just going for it and pushing as much as possible because I worked really hard on swimming this year! As soon as we started, I just immediately kicked off and went for my freestyle. Just like last year, the salt water kept me afloat and made it really easy to keep going!  I surprised myself by actually swimming the entire distance and not taking any breaks- I didn't really feel tired at all...

Good morning everyone! I had my second tri of the year over the weekend, and also had a great week of workouts! Starting this week I'm officially in training for my longest tri ever- the Olympic distance. I'm equal parts excited and scared! I'll share more about my training for that soon, but in the meantime here's how a week of training and racing went- Monday 3 mile run Started the week with a lunch run. I was still really sore and tired from our backpacking trip, so I wasn't sure how this would go and was happy that I felt relatively good! I did another Peloton run that had intervals of jogging, running, and sprinting that helped the time pass by really quickly. Tuesday 12.5 mile bike This was one of my best training rides ever- I didn't feel like I was pushing that much but checked my watch at one point and realized I was going much faster than I thought! When I got home and uploaded to Strava, I saw that I set a PR on every single segment, which was crazy t...

Over the weekend I finished my first triathlon of the year! I decided on the Triangle Triathlon because it's really close to my house and is in a beautiful park that I was excited to get to race in. As another plus, they have a sprint and mini sprint, which was perfect for my first race of the year. The mini sprint was made up of a 400 meter lake swim, 8.5 mile bike, and 1.5 mile run. As I was racing I was so happy that I signed up for the mini (which was about half the distance of the sprint) because it was harder than I expected and I was TIRED!! Here's how it went. Swim: 12:51 The swim was in Harris Lake and went around two buoys in the water. I liked how we stayed close to the shore so it felt very comfortable for someone like me who's not a very confident open water swimmer. As soon as we started, I tried to find a spot to start swimming and get some open water. There was so much chaos at the start (which is the only thing I don't like about triathlons) so I just k...

This felt like one of the first weeks where everything kind of clicked into place. I felt like I was in a groove, I was working hard and enjoying it, and finally registered for my first race of the year! I'm so excited to be feeling this way and can't wait to see what this summer holds for me. Here's how the week went- Monday Rest day! Tuesday 1 mile run 1500 yard swim It was a little rainy and stormy in the morning, so I skipped out on running with my friends and went with Dan instead. We just stuck in our neighborhood and did a quick run before work, doing a bit of run/walk intervals. At lunchtime, I wanted to get a swim in and was planning on doing 4x250 yard intervals. After I finished my third one, I felt pretty good so I decided to do 500 yards for the next interval, and finished up with a 250 yard cooldown. This was a great confidence boost because I feel like I haven’t been getting better at swimming, but I think now that I’m going more consistently it’s clicking ...

Another week of training is in the books, and this one was much more well-rounded. I got in a few bike rides, some runs, and a swim, as well as cross training. I'm hoping to start following an actual schedule soon, but for now I'm just doing what feels good! Here's how the week went- Monday 60 min yoga + hike It was a really beautiful day out, so I had to join Erica for her outdoor yoga class after work. I also had a phone call to catch up with my friend, so I went on a hike around the park before class started. Perfect start to a Monday! Tuesday Rest day! Easy day just resting up, but I did get in a long walk with Selma to enjoy the weather. We both really enjoyed it. Wednesday 2 mile run It's starting to get warm out, and I was sweating on this run! I went for a fun little run with Dan at a nearby park and we were both so tired afterwards. Time to get ready for summer running I guess... Thursday 1000 yard swim Made it to the pool this morning for a nice early swim. I ...

It's about that time again- I decided to sign up for more triathlons! I had so much fun last year at the Wrightsville Beach Sprint Tri that I decided to get an annual membership to USTA Triathlon and sign up for a few more races this year. Not only am I doing Wrightsville again, but I have a variety of other races I want to do! The first race is at the beginning of June which feels far away but also very soon, so training starts now. Here's a look at how my first "official" week of training went. Monday 1500 yard swim I can't wait until the pool in my neighborhood opens again, because while I've been enjoying swimming over the winter at my gym it's such an ordeal to actually get a workout done! It's only a 15 minute drive, but that's still an extra 30 minutes to get there and back, then time to change and shower, and also try to find a lane because it always seems to be busy. I definitely am glad I have a place to swim now though and have been tryi...

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 ...

Good morning and happy Monday! I feel like I'm in the final countdown for the race now that we're less than a month away. Eek! I'm nervous but feeling more ready by the day, particularly since I did another open water swim. More on that below! Here's how my week went- Monday 40 min run I went on a run first thing in the morning along the greenway. It was nice to get a change of scenery and the run went by really quickly! I listened along to two of the Peloton All for One Music Festival classes which was really fun! Tuesday 1,000 yard swim My goal today was to get to 1,000 yards without stopping. My plan always has the swim breaking out into smaller pieces which is getting easier to do, but I wanted to work on my endurance a bit. Since I swim in a pool I do briefly stop at the ends to turn (I can't do a flip turn) but otherwise I did this non stop! It's so interesting to me how I have to go through a warmup period in swimming like I do for running- I start off fe...