Gretch Runs

Hi everyone!  It's been quite a while and a busy few months!  The end of the year shows no sign of slowing down either- I'm definitely going to end this decade with a BANG with a few trips and races coming up! To catch up, here's a look back at a few highlights from each of the past 7 months that I've been missing- April San Diego Dan had to go to San Diego for work, and luckily the timing worked out that my mom and I were able to take a trip over and visit!  We had a blast and were super busy on our long weekend, doing everything from hiking at Torrey Pines, walking around La Jolla, visiting Cabrillo National Monument, going to a San Diego Padres game, and visiting every cidery/brewery/winery in the area.  The Padres stadium was so beautiful and definitely one of my favorites that I've visited (now up to 15!). Capital City Half Marathon I made a trip to Columbus with my favorite running girls to run the Capital City Half!  I was signed up fo...

Hi everyone!  To all of my Canadian readers- I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.  And to my American readers- I hope you all had a great Columbus Day!  I luckily had the day off work, which should always be the case after a race.  It felt great to relax and rest all day! This weekend, I ran one of my favorite races, the Towpath Half Marathon.  If you've followed my training, you know that I spent the last few weeks training (after having a disappointing Seawheeze Half back in August).  Just like last year, this race had perfect weather and was organized really well.  I had a pretty good race and improved on my time last year (but missed a PR by a few minutes), so overall I'm satisfied with how I did. Here's how the race went down: Miles 1 : 2 : 3 Splits : 9:35, 9:06, 8:51 I almost missed the start of the race because I was in line for the bathroom!  I left my car at 7:30 to make one last stop at the bathroom before the 8:00 star...

I did it- made it through another training cycle!  This one was a little shorter than normal, but I'm ready to race.  I have a few days of taper and the race is on Sunday.  I can't wait!  Let's take a look at this week in workouts: Monday Rest Day I was really tired from my long run the day before as well as all the house work I did, so I took an extra day off!  I did some stretching and a few yoga flows just to get the soreness out, but mostly just snuggled with Selma! Tuesday 3 miles Easy three miles on the treadmill to get the day started!  I felt completely recovered from the weekend and my legs felt good again. Yoga / 45:00 Went to my normal Tuesday yoga class. Wednesday Rest Day Dan and I went to a free concert by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra after work, so I took an extra day off! Thursday 3.1 miles / 26:50 / 8:39 pace This was such a good run!  I didn't really look at my watch ...

What a week!  The stars were aligned and I ended up having the best week (by far) of training.  Thankfully, there are only two weeks until race day, so I'm hoping to ride this training high right to the starting line.  This was my final hard week of training, so let's take a look at how it all went down: Monday 4 miles / 36:40 / 9:09 pace I started my week off with a little tempo run.  I did a half mile warm up, followed up 3 miles at an 8:00 pace and half mile cool down.  This felt like a comfortably hard pace, which tells me I did it right!  Also- how about that fog over the city?!  Beautiful! Tuesday Yoga / 45:00  I was actually planning on trying out a new class at my gym, but the instructor was out of town so I ended up doing yoga instead.  Hopefully I'll get to try it next week! Wednesday Rest Day!  I started to feel a little sick on Wednesday and decided to take a rest day.  I'm not s...

This week flew by like none other.  I traveled a bit for work, which was great for my running!  I managed to have one of my best weeks of the past few months, so I would call it a success!  Here's a lot at how the week went down: Monday 5 miles /  45:40 / 9:07 pace I was at Penn State for recruiting and went on a morning run around campus.  The weather was absolutely prefect and my entire body just wanted to run fast!  I haven't seen paces like this in a while so it was really encouraging. Tuesday Yoga / 45:00 Lunchtime yoga as usual!  I was getting some headaches when we did any poses upside down (like downward facing dog) for long periods of time, so I took it easy for parts of the class. Wednesday 3 miles / 26:15 / 8:45 pace 1 mile cool down / 10:00 / 10:00 pace   Morning speed workout on the treadmill.  I did one mile repeats of gradually picking up the pace, starting at 6.0 and increasing speed .5mph every ...

I'm kind of tired of saying this, but this was another not-so-good week for me.  I started out great with a solid run on Monday, then I had an unfortunate incident that had me missing work and my workouts for a few days.  The end of the week I got more on track, but I'm still upset for missing a few days! Either way, the race is just around the corner so I have to keep pushing.  Here's to hoping next week is better! Monday 4.5 miles / 43:18 / 9:37 pace I had off for Labor Day and had a great early morning run at North Park.  It was pretty crowded, but there was low humidity and it was a cool day.  Couldn't ask for better weather! In the afternoon, Dan and I were both doing some work on the house, and I hit my head pretty hard at one point.  It hurt, but I kept on painting our bedroom and thought I was fine.  Unfortunately, for a few days I had an awful headache, felt a little nauseous and dizzy (especially at work) and took a few rest...

Happy Labor Day to all my US readers!  I'm so happy to have the day off today, and I'll be sharing my week of training.  This was another "eh" week of workouts, but I'm feeling better and better as time goes on.  We're about a month away from the race, so it's time to pick it up!   Here's a look at the week: Monday 4 miles There is no better way to start your week than a great run!  The weather was perfect and I was running effortlessly.  I love runs like this that feel easy and fun. Tuesday 3 miles Ran on the treadmill today. Kept it nice and easy! 45:00 Yoga I went to my normal lunchtime yoga class and it was great!  At the beginning of class, the instructor always asks for suggestions for things to focus on or areas we need more work on, and someone said the core.  So- class was really tough and lots of ab-intensive work!  I came away completely exhausted. Wednesday Rest Day! Thursday 5 mile...

We're back at it again with a new training season!  I love fall races, so I'm so  excited to start training for the Towpath Half Marathon.  This is one of my favorite races that I ran last year, and I can't wait to see how it goes this year! This was my first week back at running, so let's take a look at how the week went!  (I forgot to take pictures this week, so I apologize for a text-heavy post.  Pretty pics of Pittsburgh will be back next week!) Monday 3 miles I'm back!  I decided to take a week off running after my half marathon.  Even though I didn't feel like I raced and didn't have any soreness at all, I thought it was a good idea to take a little break.  I definitely think it helped, because I felt really excited to run again my legs felt really refreshed! Tuesday 4 miles Alternated 5 minutes slow/5 minutes slightly faster. Not full blown "speed"work but enough to get some energy in my legs! Wednesday Yoga I had a...

Hi everyone! Now that my most recent training cycle is over, I'm already looking forward to training for more races!  I took a week off of running, and now my mind and body both feel refreshed and excited to get back at it.  I have a few races on my schedule for the next few months, so today I'll be sharing my plans! Run Around the Square 5k  Saturday ! This is one of my favorite local races.  I ran it last year with Dan, so I'm excited to see how I can do on my own this year!  I love the course- it starts on streets and ends on trails.  It's a hilly race, but ends with a huge downhill!  Plus, there's always great local beer at the finish.  What more could you want? Towpath Half Marathon October 9 I also ran this race last year , and it was my first time breaking two hours in a half!  I was originally planning on running the full marathon this year, but I don't feel mentally or physically ready. I have a good base right no...

Hi everyone!  As I mentioned yesterday in my Towpath Half recap , I wanted to review my plan that I used to train for the race. (Warning- this post is just a wall of text.  If you're not into running, this will probably be boring.  More fun stuff to come tomorrow!) This was my first race that I trained without the Hal Higdon training plan .  I always used his plans as the base of my training, and always felt let down and unprepared by the time my race came along.  I decided this time around that I wanted to try something completely different and see if I saw any changes.  After doing some research, I finally landed on the Runner's World 10-Week Sub-1:50 Half Marathon Plan (talk about a catchy title, right?!).  Since my goal was just to break 2 hours, I modified the plan a bit to make it a bit easier for myself, and added in a few 5k races. The biggest difference between the two plans is the mileage.  In the Hal Higdon Intermediate Program, th...

Hi everyone and Happy Tuesday!  Today I'll be recapping my race this weekend, the Towpath Half Marathon.  Overall, I had a great experience at the race and would definitely recommend it!  Before I dive into the mile-by-mile recap, I just wanted to give some overall thoughts and reviews of the race as a whole. The Towpath Marathon features three races- a full marathon, half marathon and 10k.  All three races are in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, but all run different courses.  The half and 10k start at the Brandywine Ski Resort, while the full starts at the Boston Mills Ski Resort (where the expo is held). The course is mostly on a narrow crushed limestone trail that is relatively flat.  There are a few sections that were paved and a few small walking bridges that provided the only real inclines.  It's really hard to pass people (particularly near the turn where it's two-way traffic) since the trail is so narrow. There are a lot of wate...