Gretch Runs

Wow- December. It's hard to believe it's the last month of the year for a few reasons, and I don't have to say again what a weird and awful year this has been. In one of my Peloton rides last week I heard a great quote that I'm trying to keep in mind when I'm having a rough day- If you woke up today, that means you survived 100% of your hard days . I love that, and it's a good reminder that no matter what's thrown our way, we can make it through. For my highlight of the month, I would have to choose a "me" day that I took at the beginning of the month. It was right after Dan left for his work trip, and it was a beautiful day outside, so I took a vacation day and explored a bit. I started with a smoked maple latte from my favorite local coffee shop, then Selma and I headed to Settler's Cabin Park for a hike, then to Pittsburgh Botanical Garden to enjoy the scenery, followed by takeout sushi and some wine to go from a local winery. It was a day t...

Happy Monday to you all and I hope you had a great weekend. It was thankfully a long one for me (see what I did there?)- I usually work on the Friday after Thanksgiving, but since I still had some vacation days to use up I decided to take it off. It was great to just relax and de-stress a bit after what's been a crazy and stressful week/month/year. I hope that you're all finding ways to chill out, whether it be binging holiday movies or going for a hike with your dog (or both..like me). Here's what I did this week for workouts- Monday 20 min Go Canada! Yoga Flow with Kristin This was a class that I had bookmarked for a while (probably since it happened live in honor of Canada Day). It featured all Canadian musicians, which included  an eclectic mix from Drake to Rufus Wainwright. I would say this is a very typical yoga 101 class, so if you're just getting started this would be a great class to take! It covers all the basic moves but is very accessible. 20 min Lil Wayne...

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...