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

Mar 13th Sunday for communion

You heard me right. I ran today, and I communed. Hit my 41 miles for the week. My brain was in overdrive today. I’m mad-tired, but that’s not important. Sometimes the best thing to do is visualize the road, no matter what it is made of: rocks, dirt, petroleum byproducts, concrete, whatever, and picture it as all the bad that week. Not just the bad you hear, or the bad people gave to you, but the bad you put out in the world. We all do it, whether we intend to or not. Either we slip because we’re tired, or lazy, or just have taken in too much that week. It happens to the best people I know. So I just thought of all the bad this week, yesterday, whatever and just stomped it under foot. It was nice.
The other thing I did was think about, of all things, Jeet Kune Do. Anyone who doesn’t know that’s Bruce Lee’s martial art. But I was thinking about the physics of his philosophy, it’s all really amazingly intuitive when you think about it. Physics is intuitive, it should be. If you look at the world, and stop to think, you can see it all in motion. When you slow down, and pay attention, there’s an amazing display right before our eyes. But the thing about JKD is that Bruce Lee realized, unlike so many in this world, strength means nothing. Not strength like we think of it. The only strength that matters is mass and speed. the acceleration of the mass is what causes a reaction in the object, timing then becomes a factor as well. Patience, it’s the key to all things. If you are moving away from your opponent’s strike when they hit you, less damage will be done, if you’re moving into it, more. Simple physics, and not that I advocate violence or anything, but it all just is so brilliant.
Alright, time to get out there and enjoy this beautiful day I’ve been given. Like I didn’t already pound out 5 miles! Next weekend, long run, last long run before Roma! Ciao!

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

Mar 12th Just 4.4 miles to go

Tomorrow morning I only have to get 4.4 miles in to hit 40. My run today went a little further than I originally planned. 2 more weeks and this challenge is done, and I can focus fully on the Rome Marathon and then a well-deserved rest. Holy crap do I need and want a rest!
I realized that Monday is the middle of March, I only have about 12 weeks left to this school year, and I can’t wait for it to be done. but I also have to work on finding things to do for the Summer. I need to make some money, but I also need to travel and get home to visit. The plan is to go home, London/Engerland, Out of Puglia (if I’m not moving there) and get back up to Denmark. This work schedule is getting out of hand though, I have a 9 hour workday! I went on this course so my whole life wasn’t work anymore, but I found the place that makes this your whole life, all the time, and doesn’t pay you for it. If I wanted to work like an American, I could stay home. Alright, enough complaining. Sometimes you gotta vent.
So I’m looking forward to the end of the month, Easter Break, sorely needed, plus next weekend is San Giuseppe! Sooo…zeppole everywhere! That is too exciting. I can’t think of anything better. Apparently, all week there is zeppole everywhere, so I’m looking forward to a pastry heavy week. haha! While most people are worried about their “beach bodies” I’m worried about my pastries. This has never, and will never, be a vanity thing for me. I was fat, I still carry fat on me. Big deal, I don’t care, I want to enjoy life.
That’s the trick in life. Too many people spin their wheels and complain. I’m guilty of it sometimes too. (See above) But sometimes you finally have to say “Enough” and shove off from safe harbors and see what the sea has to offer you. Daunting to most, terrifying to some, but you have to do it. If all you’re going to do is complain, and stay in the same comfortable misery, using the same old systems, you have no hope. No matter how progressive, or wise you think you may be. You’re doing nothing, you’re going nowhere and nothing will ever happen. You have to go forth and make shit happen. That means being vulnerable, maybe getting into some shit and mixing it up with life. But if you’re strong enough and willing, you’ll learn something and find a better place. Gotta go out and sail on.
Have fun, keep running, and remember; If Gil can run then so can you!

Mar 11th Some days…

Are incredibly beautiful, that is today. What a great day to run on. Granted, I’m exhausted at this point, but tomorrow and Sunday I can take it easy, just a little over 5 miles each day gets me over 40 for the week.
So then for lunch, after that glorious run, I stopped at the store near one of the satellite campuses and got myself some cashews and raisins, and maybe a Bounty bar. Yeah they don’t do Mounds here, it’s Bounty. Oh they’re still tasty though. I eat healthy I swear! I find myself constantly double-checking the labels on the things I love to eat to ensure no one’s sneaking palm oil or gelatin into things where they don’t belong. Companies really need to stop doing that, but they won’t stop doing that as long as we buy the stuff. It’s also not enough to simply not buy, but tell them why you’re not buying.
Meanwhile, I’ve been trying to explain to a person how labels, even if we’re trying to use them positively, only serve to perpetuate the current power structure and systems. That language is more than just a way to communicate ideas, but it is a way of thinking. Each language has it’s own particular patterns and ideas. It’s so difficult sometimes. I wish there was a magic button I could push where everyone would suddenly “get” that everything they’ve ever been taught, thought, or will think in the future is probably wrong. That there is a way forward in life, but it requires a knowledge that you will never really know anything 100% and that everyone else, no matter how great or terrible will never know anything either. From there, all that’s left is we are these beings, stuck on a rock together, and we should probably take a minute and acknowledge that we all have a place here and we’re all brothers/sisters.
Once you accept that, then the only thing left to do is look at everyone as if they were your own family. From there, let’s all just give each other the love and respect we all deserve. Make sure that every human has what they need to survive, and destroy any system that creates a situation where people go without, because those systems aren’t real, they aren’t proper. End of.
Soap box step down.
Have fun, keep running, and remember; If Gil can run then so can you!

Mar 10th Sorry for the late

I had to, that’s what my students say when they’re late to class. So I’ve been running. 10 yesterday, 9.5 today. It’s been a difficult week, I’ve been short on patience, but I’ve also been under-the-weather most of the time. I schooled the middle school class today on the BEST pizza in the world, Pepe’s (even though I like Modern better, I don’t have any documentation I can produce online to back up my claim). Why, because they were saying, without me saying anything about pizza, that all American pizza sucked. It was completely offensive! I get that they’re middle school snots, but fuck that shit! You step to me about pizza, you gonna get taken to school, end of. Fact is none of them have even been away from home at all, so what do they know, which I also pointed out to them in a very nice way.
So then we had to talk a bit about respect, I had to explain the concept to them, because they keep wanting me to listen to their questions, but they don’t bother to listen to my answers. So we had a nice long talk about this. because what the hell, I mean seriously, what the hell? It is really like herding cats some days.
Meanwhile, I’ve been using “Make Donald Drumpf again” as often as possible. Come on America, speaking of respect, have a little respect for yourselves. Stop supporting this charlatan. He’s simply the biggest charlatan in a field of charlatans on that side. As far as I’m concerned there’s only one 100% honest candidate out there, and not enough people are going out to vote for him. I will be filling out a primary ballot for him, and I hope I get to vote for him in the general election, but I feel I’ll have to settle for Hillary. Senator Bernie Sanders won statewide in Vermont when people said he never could, because the people knew he worked for ALL the people, and the people, not the corporations.
So that’s where we’re at for now. Have fun, keep running, and remember; If Gil can run then so can you!

Mar 8th Could not answer the bell Yesterday and Today!

You heard me right. I felt terrible all day Monday and today. I was so bad today I didn’t even run this morning. I’m still not 100% but I will get my run on in the morning I believe. 10 miles at a minimum I hope. My back is still very sore. I still haven’t had a chance to take care of the pictures from Denmark. Or even process my trip to Denmark in my head. I was that out of sorts from whatever malady has struck me.
I really hate being sick. This schedule, the strange humidity, and the general vibe down here aren’t conducive to staying healthy I don’t think. Anyway, as I said, my back hurts and it’s hard to sit here and type this, so tonight is staying short. Hope you all have a great day, and particularly all the women out there on International Women’s Day.
Have fun, keep running, and remember; If Gil can run then so can you!

Mar 5th A run and a wedding

I did my traditional new country 5k. So the town of Vorbasse is very flat, most of Denmark is very flat apparently. It’s very pretty here, very quiet. There was a light rain, almost a mist, and it was near freezing this morning. Glad I brought my gloves, but I forgot a hat to run in. Not knowing the area, I just hit an out and back.
But that wasn’t the main part of the day, got back, took a shower, and then it was off to my friend’s parents house. Got my friend dressed, ironed some shirts, things like that. Got the last little details done just in time as guests arrived. It was a fun, yet more subdued than I’m used to with weddings. In some ways it was crazy and other ways very conventional. It was lots of fun. I took tons of pictures, I have to go through and edit all of these now, but I have plenty of time.
I’m keeping it short tonight, I’m not feeling well right now, too many foods and alcohols is making my stomach feel not well.
Have fun, keep running, and remember; If Gil can run then so can you!

Mar 3rd 0.02 short for the week!

No seriously, I thought I had it all calculated out, and I seriously missed by 0.02 miles. But that’s not a problem, I will get that in Denmark, easy. Of course it was raining AGAIN today on my run. I am just sore right now though. My shins are not happy with me, and my shoes are soaked again after having dried them out yesterday.
Got home, started packing and prepping everything to be packed when I get home from work, so all I have to do is eat, pack and leave. It’s like that old George Carlin bit about taking a smaller version of your stuff. Luckily I don’t need much, couple shirts, socks, underwear, pants, nothing too fancy, well it is a wedding so I need a tie. Have to remember to charge the camera battery and all that good stuff tonight. It’s craziness, but it’s also lots of fun, I’m really excited to get to see my friends, and see them get married.
So last night I made pasta with oil and garlic and I used some romanesco broccoli to round it out. Gotta love fractal veggies. All I can think about though is that damned Big Bang Theory episode where Sheldon starts (and quickly ends) cruciferous vegetable night. But it was very tasty, for those that don’t know romanesco has a better flavor than regular broccoli, plus it looks really cool. It works very well as a tempura I found out in Philly one night. Something to think about.
So sorry about still not getting a new show up. What happened was, and this is kind of silly. I was playing lots of Minecraft and Farming Simulator 2015, and kind of used up all my bandwidth for the month. Sooooooo, I have to buy more and I’m not doing that until I return from Denmark. Then I’ll sort out the show and how I’m going to make all this happen. So much craziness going on still. But I feel after this weekend it will settle down. Next paycheck I have to get my train tickets for Trani during Easter and Rome April 9 and 10 for the marathon. Then I can settle in until June, but I also have to look for everything else, a job during the Summer, where I’m going to stay and keep my stuff! And going home and how I will get there! Well, I have time to figure all that out. Until then, here’s the George Carlin bit:

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

Mar 2nd Getting there!

Three days into the week, 30 miles done, beautiful day for a run today! As bad as yesterday was, today was perfection. The only problem I had was my shirt was cutting me up a little. The stares I got on the second of May with my shirt over my head, as everyone I passed on the street was still in a Winter jacket.
By the way, it’s 60 degrees here and everyone’s still wearing winter jackets. Well, that’s their problem, not mine. Beyond that I was correcting my Wednesday prep course’s papers today, and holy crap, some of them may have better English writing skills than I do! It was really impressive. Best class ever!
Began making limoncello last night, it’ll be ready when I get back from Denmark. I also have to start correcting my student’s tests, ugh. Need that all done by the 9th, maybe it won’t be too bad, we have answer keys at least. One class already though, I had one student score higher than all the other students combined, man is that depressing. But then I had another class where all the students scored perfectly on their tests. The sad part about the one class is one of the students who didn’t do well is trying very hard.
Alright, so anyway, having a great day overall, can’t wait to get to the airport tomorrow night/Friday morning. But tomorrow, more running, work and have to pack. Oh and in my high school prep class I got to play them songs and ask if they were talking about actions in the past, present, or future, they did well. And I got to play music hahaha! I’m never going to grow up, that’s a fact! You don’t like it, tough. I don’t even know what the phrase “grow up” means!

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

Mar 1st Two days in and half-way to my miles

Yep, 20 miles in and it’s only Tuesday! The run today was in heavy rain. Road drainage is a problem here, lots of standing water, very difficult conditions to run in. I hope my shoes are dried out for tomorrow’s run, at least at a comfortable level. If they do, I should be able to get another easy 10 in and be in great shape for hitting 40 miles this week, even if I only do a 5k in Denmark.
So the Sony Walkman MP3 player is not so waterproof. But it seems to be working now that it’s drying out. It worked through most of my run, but from now on in heavy rain I’ll leave it at home. Meanwhile, it was very difficult for me to motivate to get out in the pouring rain today. I managed and I was happy with the results. I’m keeping my pace up, even with discomfort. I’m feeling good, I’m breathing alright, although I find I am much more congested here than I was running in the US. The air is very polluted around here. It’s actually rather gross.
Tonight, I have some lemons, I have some grain alcohol, I have some jars…it’s limoncello time. It can steep while I’m in Denmark, then when I get back I’ll be able to mix it up! Yay!
So right now my students are taking progress tests and I’m massively worried about it. It seems they’re not doing as well as I anticipated they would, but I have to wait until they are done and I get to correct the tests. I really want them to do well, they are very smart. But we shall see.
So that’s all that’s poppin’ over here. Definitely going to sleep well tonight. We’ll see how tomorrow goes! Should be a good one, and then Thursday, and I’m off to the North!
I haven’t done any #sappypunkrocklovesongs recently, so let’s make that happen now. I was thinking about this song because I have to teach my students the future, and I was considering using it.

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

Feb 29th Holy Crap! No seriously, I didn’t realize what I was doing

So I went out today and ran 10.5 miles (17km). I need to get my 40 miles in for this week before Friday, even though I plan on doing my traditional 5k in a new country Saturday morning in Denmark. Here’s the thing though, last March I ran exactly 150 miles, that is the most I have ever run in any month. Today, February 29, 2016 I have passed that, 151.82 mi for the month of February.
If I successfully complete this challenge, I will surpass even that this month. Craziness, what did I get myself into? But I am proud of my accomplishment. Sometimes though, I look at what I’ve done and just think how absolutely insane this must look to most people. I know the people around here who know what I do, don’t really know what to think. They also give me lots of crap about my diet, but oh well.
So I go into my Monday Pacioli class today and one of the girls had written “Imagine all the people” – Ed Sheeran, so I had to correct that. I then proceeded to play the class Imagine, by John Lennon of course, and then we talked about Senator Bernie Sanders going Vegan. If you didn’t know, Senator Sanders announced on Saturday that he’s going Vegan. He cited intersectionality and his gout as his reasons. To end all oppression we must face all oppression, whether it’s against genders, orientations, ethnicity, or other animals, oppression is oppression, and as long as one remains, they all remain. Pretty cool, shame no one’s showing up to vote for him! I am getting an absentee ballot sent to me for a primary, what’s your excuse?
Alright, more music, oh and I should do a recipe today, did I do my vegetarian chili yet? Italian style, because they don’t have things like campbell’s tomato soup here?

Vegetarian Chili

2 cups TVP (or equivalent meat substitute)
1 can red kidney beans (drained)
1 can white beans (drained)
1 can crushed or strained tomatoes
6 oz milk (I use whole milk)
I medium red pepper
1 white onion
3 cloves garlic
3 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp chili powder (or make your own mix)
1 tbsp Tobasco (or Frank’s Red Hot)
Salt and pepper to taste

Sautee the peppers, onions and garlic in oil with salt and pepper, in a large saucepot, 5 minutes or until onions are translucent. Add 1 tsp of chili powder, tomatoes and milk, then add the tvp (already reconstituted), beans, hot sauce and rest of chili powder to taste.
Allow to simmer 15-20 minutes and serve with cheddar cheese and rice or starch of your choosing, tortilla chips, whatever!

Enjoy!

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