Gretch Runs

It was back to the real world this week!  I started back to work after a great holiday off, and just like I feared, it affected my running.  Going from sleeping in and running whenever I felt like it to getting up at 5:30 and running before work was not fun!  The weather also took a turn for the freezing, so half of my runs I stayed inside.  It wasn't the best week ever, but it's thankfully over.  I'm also 1/4 of the way done with training, and my "real" marathon training starts this week! Now let's get into the weekly recap, starting with an overview: Monday 3.13 miles / 30:00 / 9:35 pace Happy New Year!  This was my final day off work, so I went to North Park with Dan and Selma.  I ran while they walked on the trails, then went to the dog park.  I wanted to do a run by time instead of mileage, which is why I didn't end on a whole mile! I also continued on my Yoga Revolution this week, and did yoga every evening.  Each ...

I think it can safely be said that 2016 was insane.  Not only was it was an Olympic and Election year, but there were so many ups and downs that Disney World might make a rollercoaster in honor of this year.  It was also the most amazing and life-changing year for me where my entire world got flipped upside down (in the best way possible).  I don't know if any year will top this one for me, personally. Here are the top five moments of my year: Getting married in Belize This entire trip was so incredible!  We did a ton of fun things like snorkeling, exploring Mayan ruins, zip lining, horseback riding, and going through caves.  I don't think anything can ever top this trip, not to mention the fact that we got married in the most beautiful setting ever. Buying our first house It's crazy to think that at this time last year, we were barely starting our house buying process.  It's been a fun process and I love being a home buyer.  Our house m...

I'm back!  This has been such a great break for me, not only from work (the longest I've had off since I started 5 years ago!) but also from social media.  I haven't been blogging, and decided to delete a few of my accounts.  I'll get into that later in this post, but I want to officially wish you all a happy 2017, and I'm excited to get back in the swing of things.  This is also my 500th post on GretchRuns which is a huge milestone to me! No better way to jump back in than to talk about what's new, so let's go! - and don't forget to link up your blog at the bottom! Running To put it mildly, running has been fantastic lately.  I'm not sure exactly what's changed in me, but I've felt more motivated and excited about working out than ever before in my life!  Every day I wake up ready to get in my workout for the day, and think about training pretty much 24/7.  Luckily, during my break I was able to hit every workout and could fit in...

Happy Tuesday everyone- hope you had a great New Years! Just a quick note to remind anyone who wants to link up with us - tomorrow, Thursday the 5th  is the next What's New With You link up. We hope you'll join us!  This is a great time to share your resolutions, recap the year, talk about the holidays, or whatever else is going on.  I hope to see your post tomorrow!

I'm happy to say that I made it through the holidays, and didn't miss a beat with training.  Usually I slack off a bit this time of the year, but I'm so focused right now that it wasn't even an option.  The weather was all over the place this week, but luckily didn't stop me at all. Dan and I traveled to visit his family for the holidays, so you'll notice a few new routes that I ran!  I had some great workouts this week- here's a look at how I did! Monday 3.5 miles / 30:23 / 8:40 pace I headed over to a small lake in Boiling Springs with Dan and his dad.  They both brought along dogs to walk around with, while I ran a few laps around the lake and neighborhood.  It wasn't the most fun run, and it was pretty miserable out, but I made it! Back at the house, I did my yoga video and core workout. Tuesday 6.75 miles / 55:16 / 8:11 pace I felt like I woke up in a completely different state or month, because the weather went from ...

Happy Holidays everyone!  I'm just stopping by quickly today to share my training last week.  It was another great week of workouts and I'm really happy with how my training is going so far.  I had one little hiccup where my leg started to bother me, but luckily it only hurts when I'm resting and not when I run.  I'll keep an eye on it!   Otherwise, this was a great week and I'm looking forward to a bit of a cut-back week and relaxing.  I hope you all have a great week! Monday 3 miles / 28:45 / 9:35 pace I took this run really slowly.  My legs felt a bit heavy and tired, so I didn't push it at all.  I also felt a little twinge in my left quad / inner thigh area so I didn't want to hurt myself. Tuesday Rest Day! My leg was sore in the same spot when I woke up, so I decided to take a rest day and hope that it doesn't get worse.  I still did my core workout and the yoga video for the day! Wednesday 5 mi...

Merry Christmas Eve Eve!  I'm excited for this weekend and have some fun plans.  I have a short and sweet post to share today, but I wanted to wish you all happy holidays.  I'll be sharing my training post as usual on Monday, but otherwise I'm taking the week off to relax and refresh. Reward Program Haul At the beginning of the year, I made it a goal to not spend any of my reward money so that I could treat myself in December.  I did that, and now I get to treat myself!  With Discover, I used my cashback to get a new pair of running shoes and Bluetooth headphones .  I cashed in some of my Ibotta rewards (I ended up earning $205 this year) for a new gym bag .  Finally, I got a check in the mail from Ebates for $153!  Not bad :)  FYI-I included all of my referral links, so if you haven't signed up I would get on it and earn money next year!! Play! By Sephora The gifts just kept coming this week, because I also got my Decemb...