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!