Target met! *happy Gab*

"Good news everyone!" (to be read in the voice of Professor Farnsworth in 'Futurama'.)

I am delighted to announce I've met and exceeded my target for the Fun Run fundraising for Alzheimers Research UK. I'd like to say thank you to those who donated and I hope to make you all proud on Sunday.

The page is still open to donations but I am thrilled to have met my £100 goal.

Just Giving

Thanks again xxx

Gab's Gallery

Another quick update, in case anyone's interested. I've recently re-homed my Gabrielle cosplay photos to Deviant Art to allow for feedback and followers, and to connect with fellow Xena fans and cosplayers. You can find me here:

Gab's Gallery @ DA

I also have a tumblr account which I use to mostly reblog Xena and other fandom related fun, occasionally interspersed with thought provoking stuff and activism:

GIFs of the Gab

Feel free to follow, add, reblog & respond, etc. Xxx

GMFR - The Trial Run

Saturday saw the fourth and final training run for the GMFR, organised by SE Fitness, my now-regular training group. We were to run the full 8.5 mile course of the Fun Run, following (for the most part) the actual route we shall be taking next Sunday. We were also (again, for the most part) running in heavy rain. Which was... pleasant.

I could use a Xena to drag me to the finish line!

Training has been going phenomenally well these past few weeks. On top of the difference it has made running with a group rather than solo, my speed has also improved and on Wednesday I graduated up a group. I had found myself running way ahead of the 12 minute milers, so latched onto the back of the 11 minute milers to see if I could keep up. The difference in speed was a challenge, not to mention the fact that on this particular route this change increased my run from 4 miles to 5.5.

I figured the speed increase was minimal, and as such my target for the Fun Run has remained at 1 hour 40 minutes. Additionally, when we turned up for training on Saturday we were told to take it easy and not treat it as a race, as we were to conserve our energy for June 1st. So I didn't push myself, I stayed at a steady, comfortable pace all the way round until I hit the last mile and half (which is mostly downhill and comes after the biggest uphill slog of the whole route, so really anything after that feels like a breeze!) At this point I was belting along at quite a nice pace but not, I thought, anything fast enough to make up for the tough and laborious middle section of the park run.

My total run time for the 8.5 mile route? 1 hour 31 minutes.

I don't quite know how I managed to do that but if I can replicate that on Sunday I shall be an extremely happy little Bard!

PS: If any of my readers wish to donate to my fundraiser, please visit my JUST GIVING page. I'm not far from my target now! Thanks in advance. xx

My Just Giving Page!

A Blast From the Past

I think I may have mentioned at some point that I had, in my misspent youth, made an Aphrodite costume for Starfury Decology. Well, during a closet cleanout I found it! My old original Aphrodite, held together with Wonderweb and safety pins, her flowing organza a little worse for storage. Like so many Xena costumes back then, she was made out of a bra and pants. She was quite beautiful in her hey-day, but dear old Dite is now a bit crumpled, bless her:

And then, to add insult to injury, the cat sat on her.

Clearly it just wasn't Dite's day!

The Prototype Peasant Shoot

Having completed my Gabwhacker I decided to do an impromptu photo shoot in a local nature reserve. Some minor elements of the costume still needed to be perfected - I wanted to source a looser weave fabric for the blue part of the sash, and I hadn't yet had time to add the lacing to the front of the blouse - but it was nice to have so many crucial elements in place and I had a handy photographer for half a day!

It wasn't quite perfect, but it is motivating to have some nice photos to show of the look so far, and to test the wig and makeup.

I'd chosen a mid-quality fashion wig modelled on Taylor Swift of all people! It was simple, about the right colour, and had the distinctive heavy season one fringe. There was, I felt a bit too much of a curl to the tips but on closer inspection I noticed that Gab's hair does indeed have a wave to it in season one, so with just a little bit of taming Taylor wasn't far off.

For makeup I'd found this reference shot of Gab with her eyes closed showing a good level of detail. It is, let's face it, very nineties! A combination of browns and silvers on the eyelids, bit of shading over heavily plucked brows, minimal blusher, and shimmery but neutral lipstick. I had most of these in supply except for the shimmery lipstick, so I improvised with a dusky colour and then layered a paler gloss over the top.

The hardest part in the whole process, to be honest, was being able to pin the wig in place and arrange the fringe in such a way that my hairline (and roots!) didn't show though!

The overall look was definitely fairly convincing, although I did find myself scanning through the photographs and thinking my eyes looked too dark. I stupidly pondered how this had happened - I had used minimal mascara and a pale silver eyeliner - and then remembered that unlike Renee's, my eyes are actually brown. I think some pale blue coloured contacts may be on the cards to complete the look.

My perfectionist elements are also emerging as I find myself looking at the blouse and thinking the sleeves are still a tad too voluminous, especially at the shoulders, and the neckline isn't quite right. I have bought myself another peasant blouse pattern with a different neckline so may remake the long-sleeved blouse at a later date if I find suitable fabric and perhaps butcher this one to create a short sleeved variant!

All in all I like the look of the photos though. It's reassuring that I can pull off Gab and get the character across. There was a lot of playing about at this shoot, including the "hitting self in face with staff" a la "Hooves and Harlots". And yes in the interests of authenticity I really did hit myself in the face and it hurt! The aim was to have some nice pictures to show off the progress and check whether I could pull off the character. And for the most part I think we achieved that!

Click the link below to check out the shots!

Peasant Dress Shoot #1

Team work

I haven't written as much about my running progress as I would have liked - mostly because I wasn't sure how to do so without it getting phenomenally dull: "Today I ran this amount. It was slightly more difficult than last time when I ran slightly less. Blah blah blah."

As a recap though, I have been maintaining my training since January, normally around 3 times a week, and seeking to extend the distance a little every time. I was managing this quite well, but my actual endurance for the run had plateaued at about 15-20 minutes, or about a mile and a half. After that I would have to walk for about a minute or two, then resume running again.

Fortunately, May 3rd was to mark the beginning of the GMFR training runs, organised by Sally Ellis of SE Fitness, a group which also hosts regular group runs for all ages and abilities. I hadn't run with them before - or anyone else for that matter! - so when I turned up on the day I was asked whether I was running or walking the route. Indecisive and self-depreciative as ever, I mumbled that I was hoping to run it but I was struggling to run further than a mile and a half without taking a little break. They made the call for me - I was to run the full 5.5 miles that morning with the intermediate group at a steady pace of 11-12 minute miles. My fate was decided!



There were quite a lot of people at the run, of many different speeds and abilities. Although we all set off together the group soon spread out and runners settled into smaller clusters with those of a similar pace. The main leader for the 11-12 minute mile group offered up various snippets of advice regarding pace, posture and breathing. I got the impression from the pace we were keeping that perhaps I had been pushing myself a little too hard in my solo runs which was contributing to my inability to maintain the pace. Most of all though, it has to be said that the process of running alongside others is extremely motivating and prevented me from falling into my usual pattern of slowing to a walk every now and then. I was able to keep running and maintain a steady pace, steady breathing and even carry on a conversation, and I returned to the meeting point alongside one of the 11 minute mile pacers - a proud accomplishment!

As such I made the decision to continue my training with the group from now on. Even though there was no group meet on the following Monday, my 4 mile solo run was completed at a consistent pace simply due to the knowledge that I COULD go the distance without a break.

Running with that extra boost of confidence and motivation felt like flying. It's amazing what you can accomplish with the right encouragement.

 

One month to go!

Oh crumbs! Only one month until the GMFR - which I have just been reliably informed is in fact 13.5K and not 10K as I initially thought. I'd love to make the £100 target but I still have a long way to go. Please check out my fundraising page. Alzheimers Research UK is a charity close to my heart for deeply personal reasons.

My Just Giving Page