Informal Survey

Do you think eating copious amounts of candy corn counts for pre-marathon carb loading?

Optical Illusion

My legs are just not that ripped.

Email Blogging

Last weekend in SF I couldn't login to Blogger using IE 6 (which, wtf?) so I had to install Firefox to keep you all apprised of my life events. It didn't even occur to me that I could blog by email until someone brought it up at work today, so I thought I'd try it out. If you can read this, it worked!








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The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Hallowe'en is upon us.

I don't know if I can fully express my love for this holiday (which I would argue should actually BE a national holiday, but then I wouldn't get to draw a spiderweb around my eye - see last year, at right - for work. It's kind of like birthdays - I mean, I understand not wanting to work on one's birthday, but what about all the desky birthday happiness? But I digress). This afternoon I purchased orange lights to deck out the bar of BP:LE (yeah it has a bar, sweet eh?) and my costume is SO AWESOME I can't even believe it - AND it's one of those packaged ones from a Hallowe'en Superstore! I cannot reveal the details yet, but I'm going to an '80s party (at which I was Cyndi Lauper last year - that link is for you, Farlow!), and I'm dressing up as someone who has been my nickname since I worked at Corel.

Also, my favourite cousin is visiting this weekend! Many pictures to follow. In the meantime, get carving those pumpkins!

11 Days and Counting

The NYC Marathon is only 11 days away. I'm officially tapering, which means more sleeping, slightly less running, and ideally paying more attention to what I'm eating. Starting tomorrow.

Following a kickass weekend in California, a red-eye home (sans Bliss Shut-Eye kit - so sad) and (most of) a day at the office, I'm unwinding with my pals Ben & Jerry and back-to-back episodes of ANTM (thank you, CW, for putting the full episodes on your Web site).

On the most recent episode, Tyra advised one of the girls: "Never dull your shine for somebody else." I'm sure that some combination of sleep deprivation, consumption of 1,200 delicious calories and PMS are contributing to my sentiment that that's wise cousel. And, of course, fierce.

In other news, earlier today I decided that I would use the word "nonsense" more, and then flummery popped up on my Google home page as a word of the day. Not only is it fun to say (try it: flummery!), it means "empty compliment; unsubstantial talk or writing; mumbo jumbo; nonsense."

UFF: Adding flummery to the internets since 2006.

I Choose Hope

The speaker at last night's Team in Training pasta party was Amy Bartlett, a cancer survivor. She was funny, charming, and inspirational, and she has a blog: I Choose Hope. Check it out. And if you're feeling generous, head on over to my fundraising page.

2:12!

I PR'd this morning! (For all you non-runners, PR == personal record. Hardcore, eh?) That means I won. For me. The course was *hard*, and while I remembered the suck hill at mile 6, I forgot about the one at mile 8. It was tough, but I worked it, and I really wanted that PR. I pushed through and finished one minute faster than my previous best-time for a half.

My final time was 2:12:01, which is 10:04 minute miles. W00t! Afterwards, I spent 2+ hours cheering for TNT marathoners, and this afternoon got drunk from a single glass of white wine. Good times.

Splits:

Mile 1: 10:45 [crowded start - probably good for my pacing]
Mile 2: 10:16
Mile 3: 10:04
Mile 4: 10:36
Mile 5: 9:53
Mile 6: 9:34
Mile 7: 11:20 [GIANT uphill]
Mile 8: 9:04
Mile 9: 10:43 [another big hill]
Mile 10: 10:20
Mile 11: 9:24
Mile 12: 10:19 [gradual uphill in Golden Gate Park]
Mile 13: 9:40

San Francisco Take 2

Aw Yeah
Originally uploaded by Kitty LaRoux.

I'm back in SF for the Nike Women's Marathon (this year just the half, since NYC is only 2 weeks away). I arrived last night, the weather is perfect, and I have the most luxurious of accomodations. A bunch of incredible women with whom I've been training and fundraising for the past 5 months are going to kick 26.2 miles' worth of ass tomorrow, and I couldn't be more proud and inspired.

Go Team!

Physical vs. Mental Health

Running may counter the calories in ice cream, but ice cream offsets the mental anguish* caused by a 20 mile run.

*OK, maybe I'm exaggerating - but only a little.

Abstinence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder

Dear Ben & Jerry,

Perhaps I was hasty in my earlier assessments that we've been spending too much time together. It's true that we saw each other pretty regularly - at least once a week, sometimes twice - but who's to say that's too much? Every relationship is different. We get along so well - why should we put unnecessary or artificial restrictions on time that is obviously beneficial for both of us?

And so, fellas, I'm hoping we can get together real soon. I miss you.

Love,
Gillian

The Good Ol' Days

When I first moved to NY in February 2000, I didn't know a single person except for the guy who would be heading up my company's soon-to-be-opened office here, and I'd only met him once. Let's call him "Hal." Hal was a real-life Michael Scott. I'm totally serious. In fact, go read the Wikipedia Overview, because it describes Hal EXACTLY. He was sweet and insecure and well-intentioned and frequently said painfully awkward things that were meant to be funny.

Hal was also very neurotic. He had a label maker that I swear he'd have had sex with if he could have found a way. The guy labeled EVERYTHING, including, I kid you not, the shelves in our office fridge as to WHICH CANS OF SODA WENT ON WHICH SHELF:Hilare, right? And totally without irony. Of course, my co-workers and I found the label-obsession hilarious, and on occasion, messed with it a little:
Hee. (Our sales people once labeled all of their office supplies, including STAPLER, MONITOR, CPU, etc. Good times.)

One day, my officemate came over to my desk and conspiratorially said, "Gillian. You have to come see this." He signaled me into the kitchen and pointed me to his lunch leftovers:
Office pranks? Don't get any better than that.

While we're reminiscing, I must also share with you a photo of the worst sunburn I've ever had, in the Summer of 2000:
Ouch.

OK, Let's Have An Adventure

Sparkly D is in NY and just forcibly pushed me off the wagon. The conversation went something like this:

D: Gilly, do you like prosecco?
G: Totally. But D, I'm doing this thing where I'm not drinking for a week.
D: OK. I'm only going to ask you this once, but why does it have to be the weekend I'm visiting? Start tomorrow.
G: ...
D: Let's have an adventure.
G: OK. Let's have an adventure.

No Sugar: Day 1

I ran a half-marathon this morning in Central Park and finished in 2:13, exactly the same time I ran the NYC Half in last year. How... consistent. Turns out training notes are useful - last year I had one Gu one hour in, and today I had two (one at 1h, the second at 1:40). I probably could have run it slightly faster, had I not overindulged on Thursday night (see: margaritas, beer, hookah) (see also: this week's resolution).

Speaking of which, I desperately want to snuggle up with my pals Ben & Jerry tonight but I'm so resisting their delicious siren calls. SUCKAS! But boys, save it up for November 4 because that night, you and I are going to party.

Marathon Countdown: 30 Sleeps To Go

After a mere 30 more sleeps I will wake up and run the NYC Marathon. Good times.

Despite my earlier vows, I haven't been so nice to my body this past month. I've kept up with training (ran 20 miles last Saturday!) and have managed to throw in some hiking and yoga, but I've also kept up with the drinking.

In the immortal words of H.I. McDunnough: "That ain't me no more." Starting tomorrow, until after I run the Staten Island Half-Marathon (+ an additional 7 miles) next Sunday, I'm going eliminate alcohol AND refined sugars from my diet.

The latter is going to be a real bitch. I can go without a drink, but I may need a twelve-step program for the chocolate. If I seem crabby, be nice to me. And please don't offer to buy me a drink (or a Ritter Sport), at least until after I finish my second 20-mile run next weekend (at which time you may hand me a martini and a cupcake).

Blogger Play

Mike just posted a link to Blogger Play. According to the FAQ, it's "a real-time slideshow of photos Blogger users have recently uploaded to their blogs." I'm pretty sure I could watch it for hours.

I love the internets.

Charlie at 5 Months

Remember The Amazing Race back in April, and the amazingly cute baby who started the whole thing?

He's now 5 months old: