hey there, remember me?

I actually have gone a little crazy.  My life is a whirlwind trying to get ready to move.  

The race. First of all THANK YOU A MILLION TIMES OVER for all of your generous donations to The BCRF - it was such an inspiration and truly touching.  In the end I raised a whopping $1600 in one month for the cause.  Awesome awesome awesome.

The race was difficult for me this year, more so than last year mostly due to the heat and humidity.  I had to take it a little slower but I only finished 3.5 mins slower than last year - not awful.  Of course you know this is a disappointment to me and I'm still not over it, haha.  I'm in better physical condition this year but for a multitude of reasons I couldn't quite pick up the pace. Grrrrr.

Anyway it's done.  Next big race on the agenda is the Copenhagen Half Marathon on Sept 12th with the hubby.  Yep, that is our 1 year anniversary date.  We'll be running 13.1 miles and then going home to eat frozen wedding cake!  (He hates me)

Moving. Well it's all coming along, and SWIFTLY at that.  I am realizing that even what I consider not to be a lot of "stuff" - it's A LOT OF STUFF. Holy Cow!  Let's all join my campaign to Christian that he needs to buy me all new clothes over there instead.  :P

Job. It's a WIP.  I have some contract work with my current company/role to keep me busy for a month or so and a couple things in motion for a full time placement with Experian EMEA so fingers crossed these "approvals" happen and I'll be fully and gainfully employed by end of June.

Celebrating. I LOVE MY LIFE.  I have the best friends and family a girl could ever ask for.  Not a dull moment around here these days.  I need to work out extra hard just to minify damage to my body from alcohol and dinners out.  Wouldn't swap it for the world, though.

This weekend. GET READY FOR THE GAGA BAR CRAWL aka THE JMAs (Jill's Moving Awards).  Gail has done a fantastic job planning and gathering all my loved ones for this fantastic event.  I have super amazing friends flying in from all over the country.  This is going to be epic.  How are you going to get your JMA? 

Christian.  Firstly, I love him.  He gets in TOMORROW.  He has to help me with all my "stuff" as mentioned previously.  But can't wait to plant some big kisses on his face, I've missed him so much!

That is the update - as you can tell I have a bit of excitement running through my veins.

Countdown:

1 Day til Chr gets here
3 Days til the best going away party ever
7 Days left of work at QAS Boston
7 Days til we go home to see the fam
11 Days til we SHIP OUT!

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not enough hours in the day

I'm tired of looking at that ugly picture of salad, too.  Time to post!!

(someecards.com)

I am back in a tornado like disposition which is good but sometimes frustrating when I can't find time to things like blog! :)

I don't know how many people I've told but I'm doing a presentation for our "Company Day" at work.  Basically I get to stand up in front of my entire company and share a 'personal story' for 15 minutes.  And yes, that is about as much direction as I got about it.

Needless to say I've been frantically trying to conceive an 'interesting' subject that isn't overly personal (no one needs to be up in my businesssss), tells a good story and can make people laugh.  Because I'm funny.  Or at least that's what everyone keeps telling me… no pressure.

I'll share it with you all once it's over and done with but it's coming along, finally.  I will be rehearsing it 100x over this weekend – it's okay I’m used to talking to myself but let me know if you want to drop by and listen in.  Could always use some feedback!

What's good for the weekend with everyone?  I am running the Cambridge City Run again this year – 5 miler around Fresh Pond.  I hope I beat my time from last year, but then again I did kind of pull my groin during last night's LCW, will see how it goes.

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evidence, not always synonymous with pretty

Is it weird to have a goal to look more attractive when I run?  I mean, I know I'm married but come'on - some of these are pretty dire.  Anyway, thought I'd share some evidence with you all :)

Clearly I refuse to pay for these so please disregard the watermark.  The middle picture below is Seb and I starting the race together - I like that one, we look happy.  My expressions soon change...

These are from mile 11ish

Not sure when the left side picture was, the right is again mile 11ish

And the rest are so horrific I could never bear to show you!  ;)

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Can you wing a half marathon?

Yes and no. I essentially tried winging it this weekend at the Hamptons Marathon and Half. It wasn't my intention to be so under prepared but things happen. Things like weddings and horrible colds.  The 4 weeks leading up to the half I had only ran combined 20 miles. I should have been doing 20/week. Whoops.

I was running for a cause so I really wanted to stick with it.  My friend Sarah (Seb)’s mom has had MS for some time now and last year she was also diagnosed with Lymphoma.  Sarah wanted to do something to raise money for research to donate in her mom’s honor.  Thankfully Seb’s mom is now doing well post chemo and we were able to relish in our running victory with her after the event.  Here's a pic of that:

At mile three I really thought I was going to need medical attention, my knee was locking and at verge of hyperextension. In true Jillian style I tried my best to ignore it and it went away before mile 4.

Miles 4 through 9 felt great, super, spectacular. I was pacing perfectly and felt like finishing this would be no problem. Then the mysterious injury came back with a vengeance.

So essentially miles 9 through 12 I had to do a run/walk routine. I was hugely frustrated. I trotted along mile 13 and finished but not at a time I'm proud of, 2 hrs 28 min.  But should be easy to beat it next time! ;)

The trainers at the finish line weren't much help. "Does it hurt right now?" "No, only when I run." "Well if it was something serious it would hurt right now... sounds like something random." THANKS GUYS, YOU WERE A GREAT HELP.

I was pretty fuming mad until I discovered free flip flops. Plus I had that mylar sheet around me, I felt pretty damn cool with it. Look at me, I ran a half marathon and I've got flip flops and a mylar sheet to prove it. I'm a runner, the real deal. Now where is the damn free food?!

Funny how small your appetite is after running like that. It’s kind of bad because your body actually really needs nutrients stat. Half a banana and a mini cliff bar probably didn't exactly cut it.

After my little personal pity party I walked with one of Seb's older brothers down to mile 25 to cheer on Sebby and Nicole.  Both looked totally unphased. Running along as if they started 10 minutes ago, not 4 hours ago. Seb was fiddling with her ipod to find a certain song to finish with, typical - I love it.

But two days later my legs are finally starting to work and I might even dare attempt a 3 mi jog this evening. I wish I had photos to share.  I’ll post some when BrightRoom makes them available.  :)

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forget face masks - will need an oxygen mask come sunday

So you're probably thinking that when I've decided not to make this blog all about myself anymore that I suddenly have nothing to say, haha. Let's just say I have been hugely busy and nothing to show for it!! At least it feels that way, highly frustrating.  Don't worry, I haven't dropped off due to a Swine Flu infection, haha. ew.

What have I been doing worth sharing? Well I have been trying to launch my project all last week but hitting hiccups along the way, as all projects do. We did a "soft launch" (sorry for the industry speak) on Tuesday. Aiming for full launch early next week. I will blog more specifically about this mysterious project at that point!

The weather in Boston over the last seven days has been monumentally higher than avg April temps. Tuesday we hit 94 deg!! Back to normal for the next week I think, though. This is good because a 10 mi race in 90 deg weather isn't going to cut it!

Speaking of the race. It is a mere 3 days away...eek! I might die but I am uber excited just the same. The one and only Mike Prible has signed up to run with me. Thank you Mike, please let the EMS people know that I have no known allergies and no prior heart conditions.

This does mean I'm coming home to PA but unfortunately I am only going to be home for .2 seconds, running for 1 hour and then in hospital for 2 days. No but seriously, flying in Sat afternoon and leaving Monday afternoon. Apologies in advance if I don't get to see all my fam and faves. :)

Has anyone reading this ran the Broad Street Run before and have any good tips or tricks???

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