It’s an awesome excuse for, oh, just about everything.

Training for a marathon? Eat more pizza. Carbs and all that.

Playing with a baby? Sure. I’m training for a marathon. And life is marathon, not a sprint. (Or something.)

Eating lima beans? I never need any excuse for this. I weirdly like lima beans.

Eating a little Chateaubriand? I’m training for a marathon! I need protein!

Oh, puppy pumpkin pictures don’t really have anything to do with training for a marathon. But he’s cute, right? And yes, he’s trying to eat the pumpkin. He will later blog about how all of you eating pumpkin-flavored things or baking with pumpkin are weak–he eats it straight.

My parents have been taking pictures like this since they got married, and they were so glad I’d be home to take these pictures with them. Yes, the pumpkin’s sort of small.

I was trying to rest my “chin” in the palm of my hand. Didn’t work so well.

And yes, my parents were well aware that our weird little Halloween tradition would be going on the internet.

Training for a marathon? Also an awesome excuse for chocolate cake and ice cream. My mom actually served me this saying “You need it! You’re training for a marathon.” I’m glad she gets it.

I’m pretty sure I could use “but I’m training for a marathon” to justify, oh, just about anything.

A few random things:

• You have until noon to enter my 30/60/90 prize pack giveaway!
• You have until Friday to vote for me for the Shape Best Blogger awards. Vote often and vote often.
• Runner’s World is hosting an awesome live chat about NYCM tomorrow at noon.
• My former coworker-from-another office Jen (although some of you know her as Morgan) has, oh, maybe the most epic proposal story ever.
• The New York City Marathon is 11 days from now. I’m so glad I’ve been carb-loading for months. I’m ready.