Three Things Thursday ...

Road Trip - Yesterday morning, the girls and I embarked on a road trip from Virginia to Rhode Island and after six bathroom breaks and 11 hours of Radio Disney, we arrived. I stepped out of the car tired, sore and hungry. The girls bounced out like I had poured sugar down their throats the entire ride. Go figure.

Anyway, we will be in New England visiting J's family until next Wednesday when we will have the pleasure of traversing the 440 miles home again. Oh and did I mention that we should be arriving home a mere 12 hours before my flight takes off for Seattle and Hood to Coast with Nuun Platuun? Sounds like a great plan, right?

NYC Revelations - As we drove past NYC yesterday, I said to the girls, "Look out Dizzle's window and you will see NYC." They did and then Dizzle and I had this exchange ...


Dizzle: "Mom, that's NYC? It's extra humungous."
Me: "Yes, it is really big. Millions of people live there. Did you know that I am going to run my next marathon there?"
Dizzle: "Really? So, are you going to run from one end to the other and back?"
Me: "Yeah, something like that."
Dizzle: "Wow, you are going to get doubly sweaty. Really, mom, the city is SO BIG! I guess that's why they call it the 'BIG CITY' "

Thanks, Captain Obvious.

Free Stuff and Good Karma - Have you entered my wicked awesome Running Skirts raffle to raise funds for Grassroot Soccer (My NYC Marathon Charity Team). The winner will take home a COMPLETE OUTFIT from Running Skirts. Shirt. Skirt. Socks. Gear Bag. Winner takes all. I am just $434 away from hitting my $3000 goal and I need your help to get there!

All you need to do is make a donation HERE. For every $5 you donate, you get one entry. All of the details can be found HERE. And as an extra incentive to donate, if you make a contribution TODAY, I will give you five (5) bonus entries to the raffle. Plus, you'll earn some good karma. So what are you waiting for?

Three Things Thursday ...

Vacation - The girls and I are leaving tomorrow for a week long road trip, where we will visit Virginia Beach, New Jersey and Baltimore. I'm sure it will be quite the adventure, as traveling outnumbered 3:1 always is. And since we are out of here in less than 24 hours, there are two things I have been doing a lot of recently - Packing and Working Out.

Since Friday night, I have logged 103 miles (63 bike, 40 run) over 11 workouts (and I still have today's run on tap). Knowing that I would have a hard time getting all my runs in while we are gone, I "front loaded" my schedule this week to leave the fewest (and shortest) runs left to complete during our travels. It's worked out quite well, but when bed time rolls around I am DEAD TIRED. I feel like I could sleep for 12 hours. Which of course is never going to happen ...

No Shut-Eye - Dilly, being the angel that she is, thought it would be a fabulous idea to wake up at 1 a.m. last night, and not go back to sleep until 5 a.m. Obviously, she didn't get the memo that I AM DEAD TIRED.

Every 10-15 minutes for four hours straight, Dilly got out of her bed, walked to her door and yelled for me (J was out of town).

Pure insanity.

Needless to say, I am not in a very good place right now. She, however, got up for the day at 7:15 feeling fresh and rejuvenated. I'm sure by 2:15 p.m., I'll have a monster on my hands.

Loot - I am running with Team Grassroot Soccer and have committed to raising $3000 and I need your help to reach my goal.

Right now, I am hosting an AWESOME fundraising raffle HERE. There are 9 fabulous prizes left and I will be selecting the NEXT 3 WINNERS TOMORROW. You know you want to enter. All you have to do is make a donation HERE and then leave a comment on the raffle post. Easy peasy.

And, if you want another shot at winning a sweet prize, check out my current giveaway HERE. Thanks to OnlineShoes.com, one lucky winner will walk (or run) away with a new pair of Brooks.

3TT: Travel Edition ...

Christmas - As you may know, J and I have started the tradition of taking the kids on vacation for Christmas, rather than filling our house with things we don't need. I want my children to have experiences, not things (They do still get a gift from Santa, though).

Plus, Dizzle, Doodle and Dilly are the only children on either side of the family, which means there are PLENTY of gifts for them to open from everyone else. Last year, we surprised the girls with a trip to Disney. And we had an absolute blast.

On Tuesday, we booked our tickets for this year's trip to SAN DIEGO - home of Legoland, the San Diego Zoo, Sea World and the Running Skirts store (OK, it's in Encinitas, but close enough). This trip is going to be total awesomesauce.

Summer Adventures - Each Summer, J and I try to make a trip back to see our families in NJ and RI. This year, thanks in large part to my race travel and the aforementioned San Diego trip, J isn't going to be able to get time off work. So, instead, I will be road tripping with the girls.

Next weekend, we will head up to NJ, a short, six hour drive from here. It should be heaven. In a complete torture kind of way. Seven days after we return, G and I head out to San Francisco for our Girl's Race Weekend (J was kind enough to take off time, so that I could go).

But the fun doesn't stop there, in August, I am going to be brave and make the 12 hour trip to RI with no backup. After spending six days there, I'll make that 12 hour trip again and then leave the following morning to run Hood to Coast with my nuunmates.

It might be just me, but I'm thinking that this plan borders on insanity ...

NYC - My final destination trip this year will be the NYC Marathon. I am running with Team Grassroot Soccer and have committed to raising $3000 and I need your help to reach my goal.

Right now, I am hosting an AWESOME fundraising raffle HERE. There are 12 fabulous prizes left and I will be selecting the NEXT 3 WINNERS TOMORROW. You know you want to enter. All you have to do is make a donation HERE and then leave a comment on the raffle post. Easy peasy.

And, if you want another shot at winning a sweet prize, check out my current giveaway HERE. Thanks to OnlineShoes.com, one lucky winner will walk (or run) away with a new pair of Brooks.

Three Things Thursday ...

1. We are headed to Rhode Island today to visit J's family and to attend our friend's wedding. I'm super pumped. Not only will J and I get a date night, but TMB, the one armed wonder, will have some serious backup. No diaper changing for me (just try to imagine how challenging changing a poopy diaper with one hand is). And at least for the wedding, I am going to dress like a functioning member of society. Maybe I'll take a picture ...

2. Speaking of pictures, check out this one ...

Guess my shoulder didn't take the entire brunt of my crash. It hurts like crazy and is at the exact height of my daughters' heads when they try to hug me. I have screamed more than once when they've touched me this week. I think they are kind of scared to come around me now.

3. I have zero appetite. I'm not sure if it is the pain or the medication doing it to me, but nothing looks/sounds appealing and I am borderline pukeish all the time. I'm not liking this one bit. Plus, when I do eat, it takes a century because I have to feed myself with my non-dominant hand. It's actually quite comical to see. I'm pretty sure Dilly is more effective at getting food in her mouth than I am. I could really use a bib.

our weekend is cool too ...

As you may have guessed, telling the other children that they were NOT going to Disney was not an easy thing. Initially, I hoped that I could "forget" to mention it and pray that they didn't realize. But, the more I thought about it I realized that, although my plan might work on Dilly, I am almost positive that Doodle was going to notice that her bunk mate was missing. And if you haven't noticed, Doodle tends to overreact. It could have gotten ugly around here.

So, instead of withholding the truth, I decided to tell Doodle earlier this week. I thought it would give her enough time to calm down before her Dad and sister left and would give me enough time to play up all the fun things we would do when they were gone.

It worked. Mostly. But, I think what really sold her was that we told her she could do the same thing for her sixth birthday. Nothing like bribing your kids to behave ...

But, at least, I wasn't lying when I was playing up all the fun things we would do. Doodle even helped me compile an agenda. It looks a little something like this ...

Friday:

• Preschool - 9:00-1:00 (Doodle)
• Board Meeting - 9:15-11 (T and Dilly)
• Playground time - 1:00-2:00
• Dinner - 5:00, Chinese (or as Dilly calls it, China Food)
• Bedtime - 6:30 (wait, that's only fun for me ...)
• Run 600th mile of the year - 6:50
• Relax in peace and quiet - 8:00-Bedtime

Saturday:

• Run with the double stroller for the first time in almost two years - 8:00
• Eat a bunch of junk while sitting the the stroller - 8:00-9:30 (Doodle and Dilly)
• Dance Class - 11:30 (Doodle)
• Shopping at Target - 11:40-12:20 (T and Dilly)
• Visit Two Sweet Cupcakes - 1:00
• Eat cupcakes - 1:30
• Shop at the "Singing Dog Store" - 3:00
• Dinner, Chocolate Chip Pancakes - 5:00
• Bedtime - 6:30
• Run (if the stroller experiment fails) - 6:45
• Relax in peace and quiet - 8:00-Bedtime

Sunday:

• Whatever Doodle and Dilly want to do (apparently this will include a visit to Sonic) - 8:00-2:00
• Soccer - 3:00-4:30
• Dinner - 5:30
• Bedtime - 6:30
• Run - 6:45-8:30

See, that's totally as much fun as a trip to Disney. Who's jealous now? (OK, I'm still the jealous one. Disney is WAY better. But, let's just ignore that fact ...)

one set of wheels ...

Last week, J got in a little fender-bender. He is perfectly fine, but his 2000 Toyota Camry got the short end of the stick. It currently looks like this ...

And it is going to stay that way. Due to a whole slew of reasons, including the fact that we didn't have collision coverage on the car, we will not be repairing it or replacing it. That means effective last Thursday, we became a one car family.

Easy peasy, right? I mean, it's not like I have to a job to go to. And I was already moonlighting as a chauffeur. Seriously. Being a stay-at-home mom usually entails making sure that everyone else is where they need to be, when they need to be there. Plus, J only works 12 minutes from our house. And it's not like he EVER needs to go to the airport 20 miles away. Or be picked up from the airport late at night. After our kids are in bed. Are you catching my sarcasm here?

Basically, I am living in my car. Take Monday, for example. J took Dizzle to school at 7:30. He was back here by 7:45, just in time for the two of us to load Doodle and Dilly into the car at 8 a.m., so that I could drive him to work before taking Doodle to school. (Note: Travel time from J's work to Doodle's school - 32 minutes).

Once I successfully dropped off J and Doodle, I had to make a stop at the store and the bank. With that done, Dilly and I finally arrived back at our house at 10:37 a.m. Exactly two hours before I had to leave to pick up Doodle at one followed by Dizzle at two (no trip home in between). At 2:28 p.m., we got out of the car for the thousandth time that day.

Then at 6:15, I dressed the girls in their pajamas and put them back in the car for one last trip. We needed to pick up J from work and they needed to go to bed as soon as we got home. Cumulative family time for the day (when all five of us were present) - 12 minutes. Approximate time spent by me "commuting" - 5 HOURS.

This is going to take some getting used to ...

solo weekend ...

In case you haven't picked up on it yet, J travels a lot for work. And due to the nature of his job, he often travels over the weekend. I'm not particularly a fan of his traveling. Especially, weekend travel. I always thought you got a 9-5 job, so that you could do that - work 9-5. Yeah, not so much.

Anyway, this weekend, J was in Denver (he's flying back now) and I was in Virginia honing my multitasking skills with our three very loud and very, um, spirited children in tow. (Note: my spirited children were amazingly well behaved this weekend. I am beginning to believe someone brainwashed them.)

Somehow, and I'm honestly not sure how, I accomplished EVERYTHING on my to-do list over the past 48 hours. And I did it all while managing to keep my children alive, fed and uninjured. I deserve a freaking medal.

This weekend I (we, if you want to include Dizzle, Doodle and Dilly too):

• Cleaned the house
• Washed and folded all of the laundry
• Attended ballet class (OK, that was the girls, but I was their driver)
• Balanced our household budget and input all of our spending into a spreadsheet
• Read Body by Design
• Drafted my training plan for Mid-April until the NYC Marathon
• Researched an upcoming project
• Wrangled three children through Dick's Sporting Goods to purchase soccer equipment
• Successfully took three children to a restaurant without backup
• Single-handedly managed a bathroom trip in said restaurant (childless readers - you'll understand when you have kids)
• Made and shipped 20 TMB Endurance Bands
• Baked cupcakes for Doodle's Birthday (it's tomorrow!)
• Ran 16 miles on the treadmill

Did you catch that last one? Oh, you did. Well, did I mention the part where I averaged a 9:01 pace (faster than goal marathon pace, might I add)? Or the part where the last four miles were at a 8:49 pace? Sweet, right?

It's OK. Be jealous. I completely understand.

2010 goals: accomplished

2010 was a pretty big year for me and my family.

I became certified as a running coach and started my own training business. I was also fortunate enough to travel quite a bit for races, toeing the line in Bermuda, Florida, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Virginia, Indiana, Illinois and Washington. We went to Disney. Twice. J ran his first (and second) half marathon. Dizzle and Doodle each ran their first race, a mile and a half mile, respectively. Dizzle also started kindergarten and lost two teeth. Dilly learned to walk and talk. Simply put, 2010 didn't suck.

When the year started, I put in place a few goals to keep me motivated throughout the year. Here's how they turned out -

• run 1000 miles - accomplished on 8/14, as of this morning I sit at 1787.87 on the year.
• run a 2 hour half marathon - accomplished on 9/26 at the You Go Girl! Half where I was paced by Tall Mom to a 1:58:02
• run a sub-25 5K - accomplished first on 5/29 at the Autism 5K (24:09) and again last Sunday (22:55)
• run a sub 7:10 mile - accomplished, sort of. I never did the mile time trial I wanted to, but my last mile of Sunday's 5K was a 7:08. I'm counting that.
• eat less than 50 cupcakes - accomplished, as of today I have had 48 cupcakes this year. It scares me to think of how many calories that adds up to or how much cash I spent on them (they run $3.25 each).

Not too shabby, right? Now I just need to think of some goals to help make 2011 even better ...

why I hate business trips ...

So, I haven't really ever gone on a business trip. I think you actually need a job for that. OK, maybe once, I kind of had a business trip (my coaching certification course). But even then, it was more like a day at work rather than an actual trip, since I drove home after each session.

J, on the other hand, has been on half a million business trips. A large part of his job is to audit events and attend meetings all over the country. Some are heavier travel months than others, but being the one who "holds down the fort," I often feel like the travel is non-stop (I know in actuality that it's not.)

For instance, J had trips last week and this week and next week. His current adventures will get him home a mere 17 hours before he toes the line at the Richmond Half Marathon on Saturday. (Nothing like cutting it close.)

Now, I will admit it. Sometimes, it makes things easier when J is gone. I have my schedule and I can stick to it without interference. But most of the time, I REALLY hate it. And this is why ...

1. I miss J. I love him to pieces and not seeing him totally sucks. Plus, the vast majority of my time is spent with people age five and under, and some days I don't get enough adult interaction.

2. It is really hard to get my kids ready for the day without any help. By choice, we drive Dizzle to school. When J is here, one of us takes her in while the other one stays with Doodle and Dilly (who is usually sleeping). If J's not here, I have to wake up Dilly a good hour before she would normally get up and have all three kids ready to walk out the door by 7:30 a.m.

3. Certain errands don't get accomplished. There are some places I don't like to go with my children. The list includes, but is not limited to, the bank, the grocery store, the post office. When J is home, I can usually sneak away for solo trips to these places. When he's gone, things don't get mailed and we eat from the pantry.

4. Bath time is a NIGHTMARE. Getting three tired children cleaned up and ready for bed is a hard task when both parents are present. Take one out of the mix and things go from bad to worse.

5. I eat more than I normally would. I am an emotional eater. And boredom is a BIG trigger for me. Once I get the girls in bed and have nothing to do and no one to talk to, I eat. I know I shouldn't but the little self-control I have goes right out the window when the boredom sets in.

6. Business trips mess with my running schedule. Early morning runs are out. Non-stroller runs are out. And unless I want to pay a babysitter (which I don't), the treadmill becomes my running partner. And sometimes, I'm just not feeling it.

7. I get crazy jealous that I don't get to go. Sure, J has to work. But, he gets to travel the country, eat at awesome restaurants and sleep peacefully without the threat of a screaming child, all of which sounds pretty fantastic to me.

You know, now that I think about it, moms should get business trips too ...

Three Things Thursday ...

Did you ever know that I hold a grudge against Thursday? Well, I do. It's my least favorite day of the week. Always has been. Maybe that's why I so rarely honor it with a "full" post. Instead, it gets a bowl full of my randomness. And today is no different.

1. We are visiting J's family in Rhode Island. It's kind of far from our house. My GPS says that it takes a little over 10 hours. Sure it does, Garmin. On what planet? Obviously, you have never "lead" our family trips before. Virginia to Rhode Island in 10 hours? With three kids in the car? Three kids who have to pee every 45 minutes? I don't think so.

We spent the night in Maryland on Tuesday to break up the drive. It took us four hours to get there. And yesterday, when we finished our journey, it took an additional 8.5 hours. Last time I checked 4 + 8.5 = 12.5 NOT 10. Just saying.

2. When our family takes these exponentially long road trips, we bring a lot of food. Generally speaking, if my kids are upset or bored or tired or just being annoying, I can usually pacify them with food (yes, I realize this is not the BEST idea).

I bring along plenty of goldfish, pretzels, 100 calorie packs and for the runner in all of us ...

Yeah, that's a bag full of Clif Bars and Gu - Because last time I checked, driving for 12 hours in a car with three kids is just as much of an endurance event as running a marathon.

3. Speaking of running, my kids are more tuned into my running habit than I knew. Sure, they know that when I break out the skirt and the socks that it's time to run, but apparently, they also know my sneaker rotation.

For the past few months, I have been running in my Mizunos with pink laces and bumming around in my Mizunos with rainbow laces. Just this week, I downgraded my pink laces to bumming around status. And Dizzle didn't get the memo. I asked her to get my sneakers with the pink laces, so that I could go to the store. And instead of just saying yes, she came back at me with a stern look and a question,

"Don't you mean the ones with the rainbow laces?"

I nearly fell out of my chair. Since when does my five year old know that certain shoes are only used for running? And others have lost that status? God, I love that girl.

my top 10 reasons why I hate traveling ...

OK, let me rephrase that. I love traveling. When I am doing it alone. Or with J. But with kids? Well, that's just a little less fun. So, here is my list of the top 10 reason I hate traveling with the kids ...

10. All the gear - When J and I went places before we had kids, we packed a bag. A very small bag. But now, we pack up half of our house for a three-day weekend. And even when we think that there isn't that much to bring, we still end up forgetting something ...

9. All the toys, or lack thereof - Kids like toys. I like toys. They keep my kids occupied when I need to get things done. But when we travel we never have enough toys. Or the right toys. Or we come home with new toys ...

8. The limited wardrobe - Kids are messy. Even my three girly girl princesses (who have an affinity for getting dressed up and playing in the mud). And when you are traveling and only have a few outfits with you, your kids either end up very messy looking or you are stressing out about where you can do laundry. Or you end up buying more clothes ...

7. Poor food choices - At my house, my kids eat what I say, when I say. But when traveling, it's every man for himself. We definitely don't eat a balanced diet and sometimes eating something (even if it's goldfish) is better than eating nothing at all ...

6. Sleeping arrangements - I LOVE my bed. My kids LOVE their beds. When we travel, we don't have our beds. And Dilly has to sleep in a Pack and Play, which is code for a wood plank with a 1/4 inch cushion on it. No one sleeps well. This makes for an unhappy mother ...

5. The excess whining - The lack of good sleep leads to an increase in poor behavior. Mainly whining and screaming. And in case you forgot, my kids are already beyond loud ...

4. No schedules - I am a creature of habit. I like structure and I rarely deviate from it (and my kids have come to expect it). Except when we travel. I try my best to keep everything as close to normal as possible, but it's nearly impossible to do. And it drives me crazy ...

3. My workouts are erratic - Traveling makes working out hard. Especially, if you have to work around someone else schedule. Or don't have child care. Or it's 1000 degrees out ...

2. Traffic - Getting stuck in traffic is hellish to begin with, but add three unhappy/bored/tired children to the mix and we are all lucky that I don't just drive off the road ...

and the number one reason, I hate traveling with kids is ...

1. PUBLIC RESTROOMS - Enough said ...

and the completely random ...

Back on my 300th post, I asked you to comment with any question you wanted me to answer. The response was huge. Way too much for one entry. So, I have decided to categorize the questions and reply in a series of posts over the next few weeks. Today, I answer all of those questions that didn't really fit anywhere, the completely random ones ...


Paige asked: "What is one new food you have tried that you cannot live without?"

OK, this one is kind of hard. My mom is a caterer, so growing up, we tried a lot of different foods and I have always been one to eat almost anything. As a kid, two of my favorite foods were escargot (snails, in case you didn't know) and frog legs. Seriously.

Although, for a long time, I did not like stinky cheese. Then the summer before college, that all changed. I was working as a waitress and the restaurant I worked at made this Buffalo Chicken Pizza with huge chunks of blue cheese. It was fantastic. I ate it almost every time I went to work. And ever since then I have been obsessed with stinky cheeses (the stronger the better). I can't get enough.

Kerrie T asked: "When are you just going to move to Seattle already?"

Yeah. I expected this question. I don't think we are moving any time soon. However, I have told J that if we EVER move, it's only going to be to the Pacific Northwest. I've never even visited, but there is something about that part of the country that intrigues me. OK, so I'm not moving there, but I am coming out there next year to race. All I need to do is find the race to run and book my flight. Any suggestions?

Stephanie asked: "What is your favorite running website ever?"

Easy. McMillan Running. I am always on there plugging in my times. Finding my training zones. I love that site. DailyMile and Runner's World don't suck either.

Jameson asked: "If you were an animal, which one and why?"

Again, this is another easy one. I'd be a cheetah. And here's why. First of all, I look super hot in cheetah print. Second, cheetahs are beyond fast. And that is exactly how I want to be. And lastly, cheetahs are stunning and powerful animals. I like to think of myself as both of those things.

MCM Mama asked: "When are you coming up here to run a race with me? You know you want to. ;o) I'll even take you out for a beer afterwards."

Soon. My fall race schedule is on the light side and I'd be up for the trip. Did you have a race in mind?

Allie asked: "Is there some secret technique for taking awesome running photos? Because you always looks so cute and I always look like death."

I'm sure you do not look like death. My number one secret is SUNGLASSES. Not only do they keep the sun out of your eyes, but they hide the agony in your photos. It also helps if you perk up when you see a photographer. If you are light on your feet and stand tall as you run past, I promise your pictures will look better. Oh, and posing never hurts.

Judi asked: "I would love to have my own Garmin but I know very little about what is a good one to buy. They vary in prices . . ."

I have the 305 and love it. I purchased mine on Amazon, where I believe you can currently find them in the range of $150-200. Many of my friends have the 405, but have had issues with using their watches during the run (switching screens and the like) and also problems with their watches freezing. All I can say is that the 305 has been great to me. And I'm sure that no matter which model you choose, you will find that it is money well spent.