Gil Can Run!A blog on Running and all the crap that runs through my head while doing it

Mar 26th Almost there

Got my run in today. Just have to put in about 8 miles tomorrow and then one more week of 40 miles, then a rest before the Marathon, and a week of rest after. Maybe not fully rest, but nothing over 10km. I just need to take it easy.
Right now my biggest concern is what to eat for dinner tonight. I feel like I’m going to end up just having another pizza tonight. Oh and some frittes. There’s a place in Bari, all they do is fries, it’s a chain place, they claim to be from Amsterdam, maybe they are. They have all these different sauces and mayonaises to put on the fries, and I gotta say, they’re good. I did the curry ketchup. Also on the food tip, I grabbed a slice of ricotta pie (pastiera di ricotta) today. It was grandpa’s favorite, apparently it’s a Pugliese thing. Which is cool, I like it too, I still prefer rice pie, but I’ll never turn down a ricotta pie either.
So anyway, I took some great pictures today, but I also forgot the cable to connect my camera to the computer, so I’ll have to share when I get back to Somma. Doh!
The only other thing today is that I realized tomorrow I hit 160 miles for the month, and if I keep on schedule to finish up this challenge, I’ll top 180 miles for the month! I think that’s pushing way too hard. I may actually do more than that and run on Monday morning as well, just to make the end of my week a little lighter. Trying to sort all this out. Alright, time to take a nap.
Have fun, keep running, and remember; If Gil can run then so can you!

Mar 25th All killer no filler

What a beautiful day for a run. It turns out I forgot to pack my Garmin charger in my bag, I also forgot running shorts. It’s ok, I just wore my jogging pants (I hate wearing them running unless it’s massively cold) and used my phone. If I had remembered to drink water yesterday, and had not had things to do this afternoon, I could have just kept running, the conditions were right and I felt strong. I hope tomorrow and Sunday go as easy.
I went into Bari this afternoon, I cannot begin to say how much I love this whole area. It’s just gorgeous and relaxing.
From last night:

The “fun” vending machine! Safety first kids!

The booze vending machine, people don’t believe me, and it’s cheap!

The streets are beautiful and busy.

Love the port, always!

The cappucines doing Stations of the Cross

And then during the days, Trani and Bari are just gorgeous in daylight:

The parks are so beautiful.

This fountain is more impressive in person though, it’s huge.

A fountain in my beer! Yeah you can just hang out and have a beer.

A fountain.

The streets of Trani, ahhhh.

Right, I’m out.
Have fun, keep running, and remember; If Gil can run then so can you!

Mar 23rd I ran and got some bad news

So I went out, a little light rain and mess, and ran a good 8 miles. It was tough to motivate myself after yesterday’s failures. But I got out there, made it happen, today is the last day before Easter break. Tomorrow, I may not run, although I probably will when I get settled in, because, what else will I do while waiting for people to finish work? It’s how I roll.
So my classes are going well so far today. Having fun, enjoying life and seeing what comes today. But when i got back from my run, and a stop at the office for some problems, I found out my roommate gave his notice. This is a very difficult place to live and teach. There’s a culture down here that makes things much more difficult than they need to be. You either bend, break, or leave. So he will be moving on, and I can’t fault him, things can be very frustrating around here. It will be sad to have another friend go, that’s what 2 roommates and 4 friends gone since I started in January. That’s a lot of turnover.
There is a good side to it for me though. I have a tendency to rely on comfort, and when I get comfortable I tend not to move. It’s good for me to have to deal with discomfort and get accustomed to things being in flux and changing more. Everything in life can be viewed as a chance to grow and improve, or you can sit there and complain about it. I choose to grow and improve. Good things will come of this, my friend will find a better situation for him and I will learn more and be better off for the experience.
Meanwhile. Phife Dawg died, he was only 45. A Tribe Called Quest is one of those groups that was definitive of the era. Sad times, sad times. But people will come and go, some temporarily, some permanently, the important thing is what they have taught you. Always remember that.

Have fun, keep running, and remember; If Gil can run then so can you!

Mar 22nd Back to normal a bit

So my friend was finally cleared by his doctor to run. So we went for a short slow jog around. The extra recovery for me will be good too. It was nice to get out with my friend though, as much as I’ve always preferred to run by myself, it had become a nice little routine, and it was helping me adjust. He was impressed with how much my Italian has improved too.
I find myself procrastinating while writing this though, I can’t string together any consistent thoughts worth sharing. Lately, I’ve felt very much uneasy. Physically I have not been well, even though I’ve been hitting my running goals and been able to do my daily activities to the fullest. Mentally, I’ve felt completely off-balance, and emotionally I’m just beat. I’m hopeful that the sudden change in the weather, to a drier and more sunny atmosphere will help with the last part, recharge the emotional batteries a bit. The last few weeks have been positively dreadful. I believe the poor physical health is due to, what can only be described as, dreadfully inadequate sanitation in this area. I think mentally, it’s a combination of the physical and emotional, plus the beating that is teaching.
So needless to say it’s been hard to keep the PMA. I need to remember to be thankful for what I have, and the negative will be sorted in due course. Confront issues one challenge at a time and only worry about what you can, the things you can’t do anything about you have to let go and forget. Control is an illusion, and you must stay within that which is called you. I am simply me, and I can only do the best I can with whatever the situation is.
Time to run off to go help others in need. That’s part of what I do right? One of the other teachers needs to set up a bank account, so I’ll go do what I can.
Have fun, keep running, and remember; If Gil can run then so can you!

Mar 20th I own Vesuvius now

You heard me, I ran around it, I own it. That’s how it works right? Or did I need a flag?
So this was a tough one. About 2 miles in, my stomach decided it didn’t want to cooperate today, so I had to stop at a cafè and ask if they had a bathroom I could use. they did. Now, here’s where things get tricky, here in the Napoli area, I’m pretty sure no one’s ever supposed to poop outside of their own home. Even when you rent an apartment, you are expected to supply your own toilet seat. So basically there aren’t toilet seats anywhere and nowhere has toilet paper, well almost nowhere. But I didn’t have time to think about that, my colon was in full, emergency, settings and that was that. So as I finish up I look for anything that can be used for toilet paper and there’s nothing. Lucky for me, the sink had soap, so I did what no one should ever have to do, and cleaned up the best I could. At this point, I still had 22 miles to go!
So then I’m coming around the mountain and I accidentally took a wrong turn. Ended up going up the hill when I was supposed to go down, added a mile and screwed up my rhythm because I had to go onto a trail at one point, and climb a fence after getting turned around a couple time. There were gates everywhere, it was maddening. Dear Google Map, don’t say there’s a thru street when there is no thru street! Sincerely, every runner on Earth! After I got back on course I was cooked. A little past halfway, I was just done, but I kept motoring on the best I could.
I also had to keep a watch out for my hamstring, which is still tender and not enjoying any of this. Then of course I ran out of water, which wasn’t unexpected, as it’s a little sunnier today than the weather had reported it would be. But that’s alright, popped into the supermarket and grabbed a Gatorade. Now I’m a fan of orange…In the US…turns out the orange in Europe is wildly different and tastes fairly grotesque. But at least by the time I finished it, I had started sweating again. Rounded out my run a little slower than I would have liked, but all in all, with all the adversity not a bad day. Just a nice, not so easy Sunday morning long-run. So to all my friends who ran Savin Rock yesterday, and all my friends running Bataan today, I’m there with you and I claimed Vesuvius for all of us. I’ll leave you guys with this, one of my favorite covers of all time, take it away Mike Patton (plus this video cracks me up, and was totally progressive for its time):

Right, have fun, keep running, and remember; If Gil can run then so can you!

Mar 19th I ended up not running today

When I woke up, I just felt so tired and stiff and thought it would be better to just do the long run in the morning, as was the original plan. Apparently, I can make it around Vesuvius in 24.5 miles. There’s a part of me that really wants to give it a proper go tomorrow.
It’s more miles than I need, but it’s a challenge and something I’ve been wanting to try since I knew I was moving here. I think tomorrow is my best opportunity to do it too. The weather should be just right. I have plenty of band-aids and I feel like I can. Circumnavigating either way does have some major challenges, there are some fairly difficult elevation changes either way. We shall see what happens. I need a good night’s sleep and a little motivation in the morning and everything should turn out alright.
Have fun, keep running, and remember; If Gil can run then so can you!

Mar 18th Getting there

Got my run in today. Was thinking about this guy I met on the street the other day, selling lighters. I was late to work so I’m rushing back and I say in English, “I don’t smoke” and he says in English “Wait a minute, please?” So I stopped, and we start talking, he’s Nigerian, he speaks perfect English, he also speaks perfect Italian. He asked me for 0,50 euro anyway. I didn’t have it on me, I would have given it to him if I had it.
Meanwhile, I just realized class started and I forgot to finish and post this last night! What they hell is happening? So yeah, the guy, spoke perfect English and yet he won’t get anywhere around here. When will this world give things out based on merit and not on who you know or what you look like? I don’t get it.
Alright, cutting this short because I have lots to do today, unfortunately.
Have fun, keep running, and remember; If Gil can run then so can you!

Mar 16th I ain’t no ox you moron

Yep, I went there. Trying to take it easy while running 40 miles a week is tough. But today’s run wasn’t too bad. It is a fine line I’m walking right now though, between doing something bad and keeping my mileage up for the challenge. But at the end of the day it’s all about the marathon, so if something threatens that I’ll stop. Right now, I’m totally on for the long run on Sunday as scheduled though. Have not decided on a route, I am really tempted to try to circumnavigate Vesuvius though.
Meanwhile, I’ve decided I will obviously stay up to date with the politics back home, it’s important. But it’s too upsetting, so I’ll try not to pay so much attention. How Drumpf keeps winning is beyond me. He is literally just copying Mein Kampf and people are voting for him. Like how dumb can you be? Something something, doomed to repeat it…Apparently, he has his own secret security force forming now. I shit you not, because you know, protestors are a problem apparently. Complete insanity is happening, and it’s too upsetting for me. But I know if he wins come November, I’ll never step foot in the United States again. Forget all the fascist rhetoric, he’s a horrible human being, and I mean that sincerely. He’s a slumlord, who then made casinos, and he pimps himself and his family out, turned his fake name into a shitty brand. Most of the things he’s done have actually failed, and he just sits there on TV now and talks down to everyone, and talks about how great he is even though he’s a miserable failure by most measures. It’s amazing. Meanwhile, the first 100% honest politician to run for the presidency in forever, keeps coming in 2nd place to Hillary.  It’s like, the fuck?
So anyway, I’m going to stay out of it. I’ll vote when it’s time, and whatever happens happens, but this is too upsetting. I leave and the whole place goes crazy. Anyway, I have to go make some dinner.
Have fun, keep running, and remember; If Gil can run then so can you!

Mar 15th Interesting Tuesday

So here it is, I ran a few today.  I shouldn’t really run short even though I have a long run planned Sunday, but who knows what may happen. I do need to be careful. To be perfectly honest, I don’t want to run long on Sunday, but I know I have to.
I’ve been feeling a little down the last couple of days. It happens to the best of us sometimes. The trick isn’t to let it get to you too much. The downside is I feel like it’s been affecting my performance in the classroom, which isn’t good. I need to work harder at compartamentalizing things, for the kids’ sakes. Even the bad ones deserve consistency from me, if nothing else.
Meanwhile, it’s the Ides of March, so if your name is Julius, watch out. Just a few more months and this school year is over. Time to get on my horse and make everything happen. But for now I need sleep.
Have fun, keep running, and remember; If Gil can run then so can you!

Mar 14th Happy Pi Day!

Yep, it’s 3.1416. Yes I rounded, I can only recite pi out to 3.1415926… I don’t have a math degree, I’m thinking English all day.
So no running today, but I did have a zeppola. Tomorrow I’ll put in a few miles. Figure out what I want to do for a long run this weekend. I started asking around about jobs come August, see if my friends needed some help over in Trani, also need to find out where to keep my stuff over the Summer. So much to do, and I have to save up for a plane ticket to wherever I’m going. The trip I want to take looks to be around $900 if I buy right now. But that also depends on where I end up. So I have to wait and see.
Rome is coming up in a couple weeks, that will be fun, I have to finalize all my arrangements there. I hope I run fast, they say it’s a pretty flat course, but I’ve had people say courses were flat and they were anything but, so who knows. I will give you all a run down when it happens.
Other than that, today is fairly uneventful. Beautiful weather, my first class was pretty easy, can’t complain. I think I’ll go with leftovers for dinner tonight, I don’t think I’ll feel much like cooking. Made myself some seitan stew last night. And I don’t have a recipe for you guys tonight, sorry about that. I had no chance to prep today, it’s been going by so fast. So we’ll hopefully pick it up next week and all will be good. Right now I’m just enjoying the zeppole.
Have fun, keep running, and remember; If Gil can run then so can you!