Gretch Runs

Happy Monday everyone!  This weekend I ran a half marathon in the nearby town of Harmony, Pennsylvania.  This was actually my first time visiting the town, and I'm absolutely in love!  The town is so adorable and full of history, so I know that I'll have to come back again.  The race gave me a great chance to see the beautiful sights of the town, but now I want to explore all of the cute little stores.  Today, I'll be sharing my race recap (and there's also a giveaway at the end of the post!) There are three different distances offered in this race, and you have the choice to run all three!  There's a half marathon, 5k and mile, but I decided to just stick with the half.  The race is advertised as one of the hardest courses in the Tri-State area, so I wanted to play it safe. The race bag was absolutely amazing!  Along with the normal flyers and coupons, we also got a long sleeve cotton shirt, green gloves, Cocoa Elite protein powder, and...

Happy Friday everyone!  I hope that you're all ready and excited for the weekend.  I have a bunch of favorites to share with you today, so let's get to my Top Five Friday! Linking up with  Mar ,  Cynthia  and  Court  as well as  Heather, Momfessionals, Happy Fit Mama and Julie Pittsburgh Bicentennial  source On March 18, 1816, Pittsburgh was incorporated as a city by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.  That makes today her 200th birthday!  There are a lot of celebrations and events to commemorate this historic occasion throughout the entire year.  Today, a time capsule will be opened to celebrate Incorporation Day.  I'm pretty excited to see what's inside.  You can check out my previous posts about Pittsburgh here ! Case App Phone Case A few weeks ago, I was contacted by Case App to design my own phone case.  I was really excited because I was in serious need of a new case (my current one i...

Hi everyone!  I have an exciting post lined up for today.  A topic that's been on my mind a lot lately has been balance .  Life lately has been really busy and hectic, and balancing my full time job with blogging has been a challenge! I've been talking about this with some of my blogging friends as well, and it seems to be a pretty universal issue.  I wanted to get some tips and tricks from other bloggers who balance a full time job as well to see how they do it all. To be completely honest, all of the ladies that I asked for advice I originally thought were full-time bloggers.  They consistently produce such high-quality content that I figured it was impossible to do that in addition to working!  I had to learn their secrets to success, and share it with you all.  I hope you'll find these tips helpful, and make sure you stop by and visit all of these amazing blogs. Alexa is a local Pittsburgh blogger who shares healthy versions of class...

Looking for an easy breakfast idea that's perfect for St. Patrick's Day?  Look no further!  Today I'm going to be sharing one of my favorite (and easiest) breakfast ideas.  I absolutely love avocado toast and was all over that craze last year.  I'm hoping that it's still going strong because I'm not getting over it any time soon!  This version is more hearty and filling, but every bit as creamy and delicious.  It may not be easy being green, but it sure is easy to make and devour this avocado egg salad! 1 hard boiled egg 1 avocado 1 tablespoon mayonnaise Juice of 1 lemon 1/2 teaspoon paprika Salt and Pepper 2 Slices of Bread 1.  Mash egg and avocado.  I used an egg mashing tool, but you could also use a food processor or dice very fine. 2.  In a bowl, mix mashed egg and avocado, mayonnaise, lemon juice, and seasonings.  If you like the toppings more chunky, mix until all of the ingredients are just combined....

Hi everyone!  I always love to hear what people use as gear during training, so today I thought I would share some of my favorites.  Some of these products I've used for years, while others are new to my running collection or specifically used for marathon training.  I hope you enjoy this sneak peak into some of my favorites and I would love to know yours as well!  Be sure to let me know in the comments :) Clothes Athleta Fastest Track Top (see original review here ) Even though this is a recent purchase, it has quickly moved up the ranks as my favorite shirt to wear running!  It's so comfortable and is appropriate for a wide range of temperatures.  I also love how it looks, which is just as important as comfort, right?   Saucony Bullet Capri  (my version  here ) I think these capris are really comfortable and flattering, but I also love how funcitonal they are.  There are large pockets on both sides that can hold my cel...

Is it really already week ten of training?  I can't believe I'm up to the double digits already!  This was definitely a week filled with lots of ups and downs.  I'm finally feeling over my little foot issue from last week and had some solid workouts, but things didn't click for me during my long run and I didn't get in any cross training.  Definitely room for improvement next week! Let's take a look at how this week of training went: (p.s. I "spring-ified" my graphic since it's getting warmer out!  I hope you like it :) ) Monday Rest Tuesday 4 miles with Selma It was such a perfect day out that I had to bring along my little running buddy!  Selma is a really good runner and always pushes the pace, so this was a really fun run.  We stopped to walk a few times during the run, but for the most part she kept up with me for the entire 4 miles! Wednesday 6 miles with 6 hill repeats I actually love running hi...

Happy Friday everyone!  I don't have much to say today in terms of an introduction, so I won't waste any time.  Let's get to my favorites of the week, along with some outfits that I wore (apparently I was feeling very pink this week), some TV show talk, and my favorite songs that I've been listening to.  I hope you all have a great weekend! Good Earth Citrus Kiss Tea One of my favorite brands of tea is Good Earth.  They make some really interesting flavors, and everything that I've tried from them has been delicious!  I decided to give the Citrus Kiss flavor a try, and it might be my new favorite!  The flavor is slightly tart and sweet at the same time, and I don't even need to add sweetener to it.  I love the fact that it's decaffeinated as well- and I really like the little life lessons and words of wisdom that are on each tag! The Lively Show My newest podcast obsession is the Lively Show.  Jess is such a positive, encouragin...