more proof ...

Remember earlier this week when I mentioned that Dizzle and Doodle asked to have salad for lunch? And how I suspected that they might have been replaced with androids?

Well, I have further evidence to support this theory ...

1. Doodle has been referring to herself strictly in third person. Everything is "Doodle wants to wear this," or "Doodle is not going to eat that." It's super annoying. And do you know who else talks in third person? That's right, androids. Just like Norm on Phineas and Ferb. (Apparently, he has a Facebook page. Weird ...)

2. Yesterday morning, Dizzle and Doodle told me they did something for me. Usually, "did something for me" means that they have teamed up to make my life more difficult. But to my surprise, they actually did something NICE for me. They cleaned their room and made their beds ... WITHOUT BEING ASKED. I am telling you, they are ANDROIDS.

3. No human being would dress like this ...

Believe me now?

important race information ...

This time tomorrow morning, I will be on a plane making my way to Chicago. And 48 hours from now, I should be about two miles in to the Rock N Roll Chicago Half Marathon. But, there are a few important things I need to fill you in on before any of that happens.

1. I know you have been in suspense all week as you waited for my answer to this question HERE. The vast majority of you felt that I should go with C (run all my miles and pray for a PR). While a few people, who obviously don't get how competitive I am, suggested B (use the race as a fun run). And now the time has come for you to find out my decision. Drum roll please ...

I went with C. I knew that I would be disappointed if I didn't run all of my miles this week. And I know deep down that "running for fun" just isn't my style. So, I packed in 27 miles in my four runs this week, will be taking off today and tomorrow and am praying for a kick a** race on Sunday.

2. For those of you who are also running (or spectating) this race, please say hi. To aid you in locating me, I am providing you with a snapshot of my race outfit.

Katye will be sporting it too. So, if you see two tallish women running together wearing this combo, introduce yourself. I promise I don't bite. Most of the time.

And if you happen to be looking for me at the expo, I am 99.9999% sure that I will be wearing this shirt.

It's bright yellow. You can't miss it. You probably won't be able to miss the bags full of running skirts I'll be carrying either ...

3. If you are feeling really stalkerish, go ahead and track me. I'm not promising anything exciting or super fast, but if you have nothing else better to do, go right ahead and follow my every move. My bib number is 8818 ...

4. Oh, and most importantly, don't forget to wish me luck. It would be rude not to ...

Three Things Thursday ...

1. You know you have good friends when they indulge your obsessions. First, there is my running obsession. G is always there when I want to run. And I can ALWAYS convince her to add a few miles or to attempt a 40K with less than four weeks to build her mileage (note: I am not actually recommending that anyone do that. And she's not either, nor is she going to run it.)

And then there is my cupcake obsession. After hitting 900 miles, I decided that a cupcake would be the perfect reward. But, life got in the way and I never made it over to the cupcake shop. In swoops, Dee a.k.a. RunHapi13. She offered to make a cupcake run. And yesterday afternoon, she treated me to these ...

Yumtastic!

Have I mentioned how much I love my friends?

2. My children have been doing things as of late that I don't approve of. This morning, I caught Dilly with one leg over the bar of her crib trying to escape (she's too young to be doing that). And yesterday, Doodle bit Dizzle. And then tried to justify her behavior. A few hours after the biting incident, she said this to me:

"Sometimes I am naughty. Like when I bite Dizzle today. But I only bite her once. So, it's OK."

No, Doodle. It's NOT OK!

3. You all really want new workout gear. There were 250 entries in my Nuu-Muu giveaway and thanks to random.org the winner is entry number 1 (I know, weird, right?)

Congrats Keri @ The Blue-Eyed Runner

Please email me with your size, dress choice and contact info and I will get you hooked up ASAP!

900 ...

I am a numbers person. When I was a kid, I used to find the patterns in phone numbers to help me memorize them (thanks to speed dial, I no longer need to do that). Since becoming a runner, my number obsession has intensified. Every bib number is an omen (this week's is 8818 - definitely a good one). Every split holds the key to the future.

Over the past three years, I have kept a record of every mile I have run and exactly how long it took me to do so. When I found my passion for running in August of 2007, I never thought I would become the running addict I am today. But I should have. I never do anything halfway. It's go big or go home. And going home is not an option.

During the last five months of 2007, I logged 251.17 miles. Not bad for my first few months of running. Then, needing a goal for 2008, on January 1, I started my quest for 1,000 miles. I ran and ran, but came up short. I finished the year at 923.79 miles. So, I tried again. And again, I fell short. A broken foot at the end of November 2009, left me 78.65 miles short of my 1,000 mile goal.

I was ticked off. I resolved that 2010 was going to be the year. Third time's the charm. No matter what, I was going to log the miles and break that threshold. I decided to take my running to a new level. Failure was not an option. And it's working.

As of yesterday, I hit 900 miles on the year (well, 902.75 to be exact). 1,000 miles is mine. I am going to crush my goal and test my limits. I am going to break through the mental barriers I've set and prove to myself that if I want something bad enough, I can make it happen. Because the only person who can stop me is me. And I guarantee, that is something I am not going to let that happen.

where did my children go?

In my house, we have food battles. No, not food fights where people start throwing things and I am left to clean up the mess. But rather, food battles where I tell my children what they have to eat and they refuse, ultimately heading to bed hungry.

Most of our battles center around vegetables. Dizzle won't touch them. Any of them. All things green are apparently evil and will kill you if they touch your lips. In fact, if you even look at them, your eyes will ooze out of your head and you will die a slow painful death. Doodle agrees wholeheartedly with Dizzle, but at least I can get her to eat corn and beans (yes, I know neither of those are technically a vegetable.)

Dilly, on the other hand, is a saint. If it is food, she'll eat it. She doesn't care if it's a fruit, a vegetable, a starch or an internal organ. That girl is hungry and she doesn't care how she gets fed.

Our vegetable battles have been going on with Dizzle and Doodle since they transitioned from pureed baby foods. With Dizzle, that was over four years ago. Four years is a long time and I was almost ready to give up. Until yesterday. Because yesterday, Dizzle and Doodle asked to have salad for lunch. And not only did they ask, but they both ate it and wanted more. No bribing. No yelling. No hunger strikes. WTF?

It's obvious to me what has happened. Someone came into my home and stole my children and replaced them with androids or they were successfully brainwashed. Either way, I don't really care. All I really care about is that the next time Dizzle and Doodle tell me they hate vegetables, I can laugh in their faces, tell them they are lying and make them eat them. Being a mom is so awesome ...

what would you do?

Say that you were in the middle of marathon training.

And then you won free entry into a half marathon you weren't planning on running.

The race fits perfectly in your schedule, distance wise.

But you're not sure how it fits in the big scheme of things ...

Would you ...

A: Taper in the days leading into it, hope that the weather cooperates, race it all out and shoot for a PR.

B: Run all of your scheduled miles for the week and treat it like a training run, hoping for a decent time, not far off of your current PR.

C: Run all of your scheduled miles for the week, take the two days before the race completely off as a mini taper and pray for a PR.

D: None of the above (please explain).

Please submit your answer below ...

sharing the wealth ...

Recently, J and I have started to give the girls an allowance of sorts. If they go to bed without a fight, they get a quarter (note the importance of our kid-free evening time). If they clean the playroom, they get a dime. Nothing big. We are just trying to show them the value of money. To let them know that the money has to come from somewhere and that it has to be earned. And they are starting to grasp that J has to work to pay for all the things we need and he has to work so that I can stay home with them.

This fact became evident last night. We were asking the girls what they wanted to use their newly earned money for when Dizzle hit us with this one ...

"I want to go shopping. And I want to share my money with you, so that Daddy doesn't have to work so much."

So cute, selfless and heart-breaking at the same time ...