I went MIA yesterday. Who started the search party? What?! No search party? I thought I was important!

Just kidding! I had a date with a very special someone who just happens to be my husband. After dinner and some errands we met Dan and Ashley to get groceries and other necessities for our weekend camping trip…aaaaand that took a bit longer than anticipated and we didn’t get home until after 10! That’s way past my bedtime (especially since I got up at 5:30 to go running! Who have I become?!)!

One our errands led us to REI because Dave needed steel-toed boots for a work project (they don’t have them, bee-tee-dubs), but I still made out like a bandit.

This is what Dave and I spend our hard earned cash on, in case you were wondering:

• Vitalyte
• 2 Honey Stingers
• 2 Honey Stingers Protein Bars
• 2 Larabars
• 2 containers of Nuun (strawberry lemonade for me and goji green tea for Dave)
• 2 packets of Justin’s Almond Butter

Then we went to Vitamin World and stocked up on some coconut water. I love O.N.E. Coconut! I mean, I’m obsessed. I’m convinced it’s magic water. And Dave’s hooked now, too. Darn it! I have to share.

Our kitchen also looks like Gatorade’s distribution center. We couldn’t decide on the flavors, so we bought them all. I wanted the Strawberry-Grape-Berry and Dave wanted the Fruit Punch-Orange-Lemon Lime.

And if you don’t think that we have enough electrolyte replacement products in our house, don’t worry. I have a box of Clif Shots on the way.

Either we really like expensive snacks or we really like exercising in extreme heat.

Orrrr someone hates running in heat, but signed up for the Columbus Marathon anyway. What idiot would do that?!

Oh…ha. That would be me.

My hip cure miraculously overnight and I am rarin’ to go! Seriously. It was so sore from the softball game on Saturday, but on Tuesday I went for a run, stretched and haven’t had an issue with it since. This morning I forced myself up with the sun and went for a 3 mile run. I decided to take my Garmin (I usually wear it only on long runs, workouts or in new places), and I prepared myself for a slow run. I have felt as slow as molasses in Pittsburgh since I have started running again and I’m always significantly slower on morning runs. Well, I managed 3 miles with an average pace of 8:58. Definitely slow for pre-marathon, pre-injury Abby. However, post-injury Abby is thrilled.

I’m super excited to be running this with Ashley! Well, when I say “with” I mean that we’ll be running the same race…she’s faster. I’m super nervous about training with Ashley and Dan. They are so fast and hardcore. This will certainly be a challenge!

What’s your favorite running fuel/electrolyte replacement?

Coconut water after runs, and during runs I stick with Clif shots and water. It seems to work! I’m going to try some new things now.

What races are you running this fall?

So far I’m running the IKEA Montour trail half marathon in September and the Columbus Marathon in October. I have an itch to do Philly too, but it is so expensive!

I am stressed. Yessir. Stressed. I know I am because my teeth and jaws hurt from grinding them in my sleep! It’s how I deal with stress, I guess!

I tend not to be easily stressed but there have been some things going on that have been overwhelming and completely out of my control. I think it’s when we have no control over what is going on that it becomes stressful. We’re all control freaks whether or not we like to admit. We want to direct our lives the way we want them to go.

Meh. It doesn’t work that way.

So last night it all caught up with me in a flood of emotion, but surprisingly, as I was falling asleep a song came to mind. It’s a song that I haven’t heard for years. When I was in high school I sang it as a solo a couple of times in church (thankfully I was blessed with friends who played the guitar than myself to accompany me). It’s beautiful, reassuring, and most importantly, true.

I wanted to share it with you in case you’re looking for some comfort. If you’re feeling overwhelmed and in-over-your-head, I hope this song brings you comfort.

I Am by Jill Phillips

Oh gently lay your head upon my chest
And I will comfort you like a mother while you rest
‘Cuz the tide can change so fast, but I will stay
The same in past, same in future, same today.

I am constant, I am near
I am peace that shatters all your secret fears
I am holy, I am wise
I’m the only one who knows your hearts desires
Your hearts desires

Oh weary, tired and worn, let out your sighs
And drop that heavy load you hold ‘cuz mine is light
And I know you through and through; there’s no need to hide
I want to show you love that is deep, high and wide

I am constant, I am near
I am peace that shatters all your secret fears
I am holy, I am wise
I’m the only one who knows your hearts desires
Your hearts desires

Oh gently lay your head upon my chest
And I will comfort you like a mother while you rest

I hope that some of you are as blessed by this song as I am!

Is there a certain song that always comforts you when you feel down or overwhelmed?

Dave brought home the devil today.

Oh my sweet, salty, caramel-y goodness.

Ok, and just kidding about the devil bit. Does anyone else hate it whenever people assign moral value to food? That food is “good” but that one is “bad.” Food cannot be inherently good or bad. Yea it’s either healthy or unhealthy but that isn’t a moral standard.

It drives me nuts when I hear people talk about it! Food cannot be bad. What we do with it (i.e. how we treat it) is what is bad. It can be an obsession and it’s our treatment of food that cause all the numerous health issues we see around us—not the food itself. Like if I indulged consistently in those Klondike Bars and end up sick or unhealthy, what was bad? The Klondike bar or the indulgence? And if I ate only spinach and end up malnourished, can we determine that the spinach is at fault. Or are my actions the problem?

So basically, before you go off declaring a food to be “bad” or saying that you were “so bad today” because you ate a caramel pretzel Klondike Bar, think about what is actually wrong. Neither is bad. Our selfish, superficial mentality that our girly figure is more important than a life of joyful moderation…

Well, that’s bad.

Does is bother you when people add moral value to food?

P.S. It is not sitting well with me! I won’t blame the food, though. After all, I do indeed know that I am lactose intolerant and yet I ate it anyway. Or I could also blame Dave.

I was feeling inspired the other day and volunteered to make the snacks for Bible study tonight.

Want to know what inspired me? Natalie’s taco pasta salad. This girl speaks my language. Almost every single recipe of hers I have starred in my reader. When I showed Dave this recipe he said that we HAD to make it right away. That may have been the sole reason I volunteered—er, that and to help out. Of course.

I also made a batch of my pal Jessica’s red velvet brownies. These are a favorite of mine but Dave is kind of indifferent, so I thought this was a good way to get my fix without having to eat the entire batch before they go stale.

Not that I’m opposed to that, I just thought I might make more friends this way. Mom always did teach me to share.

And to wipe my hands:

Thanks to my wonderful husband for catching that for me. And the secret is out: I’m a mess in the kitchen.

I was hoping to get a longer run in today, but playing softball challenged my already-handicapped hip. I think it’ll be fine it just needs to loosen up and get used to sprinting. But it is making me question the marathon. Dave feels like I’m struggling now and I haven’t even started to train. You always end marathon training less than 100% regardless of how good you feel when you start. How will I feel afterwards when I begin training at 75% percent?

Know what I mean?

But then part of me thinks it’s just a hump that I need to get over. Get my body used to a few uncomfortable runs and I’ll be fine (as long as I keep up the hip therapy). But how far to push it? Where is that hump? What if there is no hump and I just keep pushing and pushing and pushing…?

I don’t know why I’m blogging all of this. It’s just on my mind and I know that I’m not the only one who has gone through this.

Are you a mess in the kitchen?

What would you do about the marathon?

Dave and I just broke into some of our souvenirs from Canada.

(And by “Dave and I”, I mean just “I”.)

That would be a maple ice wine cookie and it is PHENOMENAL.

Dave isn’t sure what he thinks about them, so I made up his mind for him: he hates them.

More for meeeeeee!

Dear Canadian readers,

PLEASE SEND ME MORE.

Thanks.

Or I’ll just move to Canada: Ice wine, maple cookies, hockey… what more could I want?

Sounds like a plan.

But until then, I have to go play softball for the church team.

I was a really good softball player—7 years ago. I don’t think I’ve played since then. This will be extremely embarrassing. Although Dave tells me that the team is so bad that they can only benefit from someone who knows how to play the sport.

Let’s hope that’s true!

What sports did you play in high school?

I lived and breathed softball for most of my life. It wasn’t until my sophomore year of college that I started to run.

Have you ever had Ice Wine?

It’s wine that’s made from grapes that are harvested while frozen (a mid-night in January). Harvesters can only get one drop of nectar from each grape so it takes about 80 bushels of grapes to make one bottle (which is about 1/2 the size of a normal bottle of wine). And it is sweet, sweet, sweet… just the way I like it!