Gretch Runs

It's been a while since I've done a "Currently" post, and I just saw that San posted one and thought it would be fun to post my answers! Here's some new things going on for me- CELEBRATING | Dan's new job! He started working at a robotics company this week, and we went out to dinner at Vivace, a great Italian restaurant in the North Hills. It was delicious! TRYING TO | spend as much time as possible outside, and train hard for my upcoming race. I haven't done a 10 miler in so long and it's one of my favorite distances so I can't wait to see how it goes. FEELING | overwhelmed by all the changes going on in my life right now, but also like I have no place to complain with everything going on in the world.  PLEDGING | my monthly charity to a cause helping Ukraine. My work is doing a special match for donations made to support Ukrainians so I wanted to make sure I could make as big of an impact as I could. LOVING | the weather lately- it's been in ...

What a fun week! This one flew by and I was so busy, but I loved every second of it. I had a great trip with some friends, followed by lots of events in Raleigh. This is my kind of week! For me, the more events and socialization the better. In between all the fun I had a lower mileage week than usual, but felt great on my runs! Here's how it went- Monday 2 mile Run + Yoga + Lots of Walking Woke up today in Savannah! I met up with two of my friends from Pittsburgh for a quick girls trip. We're all runners, so of course we had to get out for a quick run around Forsyth Park to start the day (do you see the green dye in the fountain above? Savannah celebrates St Paddy's like no other city..it was amazing!). I also had my Monday morning Zoom yoga with Erica, which felt great after a long drive. On our agenda today was a trip to Tybee Island and a True Crime and Wine tour! This was so much fun- Savannah is known as one of the most haunted cities in the country, so we got to hear ...

Some weeks in training are off weeks, and that's what this was for me. It seemed like all of my runs felt tough, and I was struggling with some allergy issues all week that affected my sleep and just general ability to breathe! I'm hoping they'll get better next week, but here's how a struggling week of runs went- Monday Rest Day! I was not feeling great after the weekend away - Dan had some kind of cold or allergies and seemed to pass it on to me! I couldn't stop sneezing and felt so stuffed up so I thought it was best to take the day off. Tuesday 6 mile Run Woke up feeling much better so I went out for a long-ish morning run. It was a lot colder than I thought so I was pretty cold on this run but felt good! I just took it nice and easy and enjoyed myself. Wednesday 4 mile Run Tonight's run club was special- it was the 2 year streak-iversary for Charline! She started her run streak at the beginning of the pandemic and has run every single day since then. We did...

With my Hot Chocolate 15k completed, it's time to set my sights on a new goal and race! I had signed up for the Tar Heel 10 Miler a while ago and thought it was the perfect race to keep the momentum going while also having plenty of time to get in more training! I'm using my favorite half marathon training plan for this race and slightly adapting the mileage for a shorter race. I mostly just like this plan for the fun speed workouts! Here's how my week of training went with a quick last minute beach trip over the weekend- Monday 3.3 mile Run + Bike Ride I started the day with a longish walk with Selma, then got to run with Dan after work. I wanted to hit 101 miles for the month of February so I did a little over 3 miles and it was great! Later in the evening I did a fun live ride on Peloton to help shake out my legs a bit. Tuesday 4.5 mile Run + Yoga + 2 mile Walk Early morning run with Erica at the Art Museum! We meet up at 6am and today the sun started to come up in our ...

Happy March to you all! February is always such an odd month- the shortest one in the year but always drags on. I feel lucky that the weather in North Carolina this month was amazing- I'm so used to the dark and cold days back in Pittsburgh so this was an amazing difference. I can definitely tell a difference in my mood and outlook with having more sun (and warmer days!) Of course, this month was not all sunshine- it's been so terrifying and heartbreaking to watch all of the news coming out of Ukraine. I can't imagine what the people there and Ukrainians around the world are going through right now and my heart goes out to them. I use my blog and all my activities as an escape and a reminder to enjoy the small things (and to be thankful for my life)...the future is always uncertain and has really felt that way recently. In the spirit of escape- here's a look at how my annual goals are going- Spend More Time Outdoors 1000 Hours Outside  - January - 54 total hours, breaki...

Another great month of reading! I spent a lot of time outside this month reading on our balcony- it's one of my favorite places to read and really got me to finish a lot of books this month. There were some great ones and also some I wouldn't recommend, in lots of genres! Here's what I read in February- The Holiday Swap by Maggie Knox When chef Charlie Goodwin gets hit on the head on the L.A. set of her reality baking show, she loses a lot more than consciousness; she also loses her ability to taste and smell--both critical to her success as show judge. Meanwhile, Charlie's identical twin, Cass, is frantically trying to hold her own life together back in their quaint mountain hometown while running the family's bustling bakery and dealing with her ex, who won't get the memo that they're over. With only days until Christmas, a desperate Charlie asks Cass to do something they haven't done since they were kids: switch places. Looking for her own escape from...

I'm so excited today to be sharing a race recap- which has not happened in a LONG time. I've run a few small races in the past year, but all have been for fun with not goal in mind. For this one- I followed a training plan and had some goals so it felt very different- scary but also good to be back in that mindset of pushing myself. The race was in Charlotte, which is an easy 2 hour drive from Raleigh. I went with a bunch of friends from my run club, and we rented an amazing house together! I think it helped with my race day nerves a lot to have so many people around to help distract me, and also to pump me up before the race. On Saturday morning, parking was really easy at the race and there were lots of porta-potties ready to go. I got my bag checked quickly and was off to the starting line before I knew it! The weather was absolutely perfect for the race- clear and 34 at the start that warmed up to mid-40s by the end. It was really sunny as well but felt great since there wa...