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

Aug 19th Even a good run can be bad sometimes

I had a really great run tonight. It was hot, humid and bleh, but I stuck with it, minimal pain in my foot, had a nice circuit course, instead of out and back, I really felt great. Except the last couple miles…what happened? I forgot band-aids today. There’s a little blood on my shirt, but not terrible. I’m not too far off my projected distance for this month either, I might be able to catch up tomorrow and Saturday, depending on how my foot is feeling.
I really like runs like today though. Nice and easy, not pushing too hard, not expecting anything at all. I was smiling and waving at everyone and I got lots of smiles per hour back! That’s the best part. I love being able to run a loop now too, and that I’ve been running past New Haven City Hall and the awesome Amistad memorial they have. If you don’t know what the Amistad is (haven’t seen the movie or read history) check it out. I love that New Haven was integral in getting the Amistad revolutionaries their freedom and that we had the good sense to put up a memorial to people who deserve it from the days of slavery, folks who fought the system, and wouldn’t be slaves! Not some douchebag slave-owner or person that fought to uphold slavery, like most monuments in this country depict. I take great pride in that monument we have. I don’t get how people don’t understand how insensitive and cruel it is to have monuments and worship the symbols of hundreds of years of oppression, apartheid, murder, and enslavement of a people. I’ll never understand that. When folks say it’s “heritage”, yes a heritage of oppression, apartheid, murder, and enslavement. I’m sorry, but any positive you try and pull out of that is just way overshadowed. It’s like saying “Sure the Nazis killed millions, but look at the GREAT highways they built.” and yes, they built great highways, but you won’t see any sensible Germans getting all teary-eyed over the swastika, or wanting to put up statues of Joseph Goebels. Seriously, ask them.
And that was my run, then I got the microwave installed in my house, and apparently there will be hot water on Friday! Almost there. But then, in searching for a coaxial cable jumper tonight, I had a thermos drop on my toe. It was really painful, and of course it was my left foot. Let’s see what happens. Time for me to go though, have fun and keep running, because if Gil can run, then so can you!

Aug 17th Coming toward the end of my odyssey, in a way

So I signed up for my September marathon tonight. The Inaugural Suffolk County Marathon in Islip, NY. With October already done, that means I just have to sign up for November and December, then I just have to complete them all to make 12 marathons (or more) in 12 months. I’m not going to lie, it’s still way up in the air, I’m in massive pain this evening, my left foot and right knee are howling, and I didn’t even run today! We’ll see what happens, either December comes and goes and I hit my mark (which I’ve already done at least one marathon per month over the past twelve months average) or I break, either way, I’m not giving up. I will finish unless someone forces me to stop. One thing distance running teaches you, it’s to be determined. I hope I make it. In the meantime, I may have an official place to live by the end of the week! Being technically homeless sucks, I don’t suggest it for anyone. remember to give to your local homeless charity, and go help out the less fortunate at a soup kitchen or something equally as great. Lobby to get those horrible laws about not feeding the homeless and such repealed! It’s important! Alright, I need sleep, long week ahead of me, after a long day today, and with this level of pain, and me not using pain killers, chances are it’ll be a restless night. But have hope and stay positive! I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t love it! So have fun kids, and keep running, because if Gil can run, then so can you!

Aug 16th My left foot! No, seriously, it hurts!

So yeah, went out and ran. Right now I am icing my planter fascia. It hurt so much, I did what I could today, if I could have called someone to pick me up and drive me back, I would have. I cannot properly describe how much this hurts. I hope the swelling and pain will go down enough to have an enjoyable Tuesday night run. Luckily, I accomplished all my other goals this weekend. So it wasn’t a complete disaster, just my running left something to be desired, which isn’t too bad.
I’m going to shave and go to sleep, I’m tired and sore and that’s all. So have fun and keep running, because if Gil can run, then so can you!

Aug 15th The State St Bridge is OPEN!

Seriously, this bridge has been out for 6 years. 6 years it took to replace this thing, and it maybe spans 100 ft. So it finally opened on Friday, I had to run it today! I was a little short of 10 miles, but no big deal. I spent all morning and most of the afternoon on my sister’s roof finding a leak that caused a partial collapse in her kitchen ceiling. I think I found it, really she needs a new roof anyway, but they just got the house, so that’s not an option right now. Tomorrow I will shingle the area I tore off and go from there. Believe it or not I’m pretty handy. The only stuff I’m not confident with is electrical, but honestly it’s just a matter of confidence. Now that I’m older and a bit more patient I think I can handle electrical.
So after all that I went for a nice Saturday run over the State St. Bridge. I bonked around mile 7, it’s ok, it was a really hot day, tomorrow will be hotter. While running through downtown I saw a girl who looked kind of like a girl I don’t really like at all. I don’t like people who lead me on. Long story short, I was going too fast at that point to know if it was her, but whomever it was looked kind of shocked to see me, maybe it was her; or maybe a sweaty, bearded guy barreling toward her on a city sidewalk at 6pm was a bit shocking, no idea. At this point my legs actually hurt pretty bad. Worse than normal for sure, being on a roof all morning and afternoon was not helpful. Mentally, I’m thinking about that girl, and others who have led me on and made me feel used and crappy. I don’t like that feeling. As you can tell, I’m a pretty straightforward, from the heart, type. So when people don’t return the favor, it bothers me. I shouldn’t let it, but it does. Pisses me off really, more than I ever admit. I am a big fan of staying real and being honest, yet for whatever reason I keep end up getting attracted to people who are so horribly fake. I need to not be bothered and let it slide. Forgiveness is the one thing I really need to work on, I really suck at it, once I’m mad, I stay mad. It really is not good, I don’t lash out in a particularly bad way, I just don’t forgive people and withhold my awesomeness.
Well, that’s my problem, not yours. Do your best and I will do the same. Have fun, keep running, because if Gil can run, then you can you!

Aug 14th Friday night run!

Best part of my day, seriously, my run. Mostly because the “plumbers” that are supposed to be working on my house destroy more than they complete while they are here. They are a walking disaster. I will not even begin to list the devastation, suffice to say as the grandson of a great plumber, I KNOW I could do a much better job, faster, than they can. They broke a toilet installing it, they have an open pipe on the sewer stack! No wonder they “warranty” their work for two years, they know no one in their right mind would ever willingly invite them back to touch anything in their house. There is hydraulic cement on my walls now, because one of them patched the foundation by hand. Who puts concrete anywhere, with their hand? Then touches newly finished walls with said hand? It’s a disaster, they are shameful.
Enough complaining, I needed to vent. If you’re in my area and need contractors, plumbing and otherwise, I can tell you who to avoid now. And one guy you should definitely hire if he’s available. My general contractor is great, he’s a perfectionist, the ass clowns he hired as subs are not the usual subs he works with, long story short we started way behind schedule and his usual crew had taken other jobs. Anyway, I’m going to bed, I have a big weekend. Have fun and keep running, because if Gil can run, then so can you!

Aug 13th Switching it up again

I was so tired tonight I actually fell asleep instead of running. I will put my Thursday miles in on Friday, and Saturday and Sunday will be lots of fun.
Yes, today the bear hugged me. I can’t believe I was that tired. Very rarely do I lack energy, but today was definitely the day. Being out of a home and not sleeping well, lots of stress and worry, it’s all quite the mix. This weekend will be big though. and I’m a week and a half out from my next marathon, the Self-Transcendence Marathon in Nyack. Well just outside Nyack.
So it’ll be one more week without the show. I guess show 13 wasn’t lucky! hahaha. It’ll get here, I promise, I miss you all! So have fun, keep running, because if Gil can run then so can you!

Aug 12th oooooh look what I did

So I ran, wanna fight about it? I wanted to average 9:30 min/mi, but I went a little faster, I’m telling you, starting at the bottom of the big hill gives me power. It may be completely mental, I don’t care, it works. That’s the thing, like that scene from Bull Durham, “if you think you’re doing well because you are getting laid, or you’re not getting laid, then you ARE…” And that’s the thing, there’s power in our minds. We can definitely move mountains with will. Don’t believe me? Give it a try sometime, convince yourself of something, positive or negative, your choice and watch what happens. When we make up our mind and we stick with it, we have tremendous power. Based on the energy we put into it, positive or negative, we can do great or terrible things. It’s why I try to stay positive as much as I can, no one can be positive all the time, and that’s ok. Just get out there and be the best you, you can be, then see the difference it makes. The longer you do it, the easier it gets too!
Alright, I need sleep, so have fun and keep running, because if Gil can run, then so can you!

Aug 11th Things are starting to normalize

Got some good news about getting a Certificate of Occupancy today, meaning I will be homeless for less time than I originally thought. This is a good thing.
So I went out and I ran, and this song came on the Walkman:

So I was really thinking about it and what it all means. I’ve posted the song before and I think about it frequently. I think about the friends I’ve lost in this world, and the ones that are still here, and then there are the friends that, turns out, were never friends at all. They can all suck it. But the friends that aren’t here anymore, and the friends that are still here, you all rock and thank you. I don’t really say it enough. Even though I’m always thinking it. Even the bad experiences help make you who you are, and I think I’m a fairly decent person, so I have to be happy with it overall. But the good people, they make it the best. It was really nice to run today with such great thoughts of great people! I really am lucky, mostly, in that respect. I suppose it makes up for the fact that when really bad people find their way into my life, they are REALLY bad. So that’s the yin and the yang of it.
All in all, I wouldn’t have it any other way, thanks you guys and girls, you know who you are!

Aug 10th Monday Monday

So my jeep parts should be to the mechanic tomorrow…long story short, my fuel tank sprung a leak, no seriously. It’s old, polyethylene gas tank leaked, crazy. I don’t have time to change the tank myself, so I dropped the jeep at a mechanic I trust. Other than that, did more work on the house. Installed some lights, got the thermostats set (air conditioning got hooked up today), paid the last power bill from the old house. It was a busy night, oh and upgraded to Windows 10! Can’t get my feed the beast minecraft server running though. I will sort that out tomorrow night. Sorry friends that play on my server, it’s down for the day.
alright, you all have fun, keep running and remember: If Gil can run, then so can you!

Aug 9th Sunday was beautiful

What a nice day. The weather in Southern Connecticut was absolutely perfect. Not too hot, not too cold, not to humid, not too dry. The perfect Summer day, with just enough cloud cover to make running super comfortable. Finished the closets, put some lights in the house and then ran, I took it easy today.
There’s hope on the home front, maybe by the end of this week, I’ll have a place to live, with  hot water and air conditioning and all those great things that houses have. I will have much to say when the house is done. I have to bite my tongue right now, long story short, I’ve been screwed on this thing at every turn. People should do what they’re supposed to do. If I say I’m going to do something, I do it. End of.
I actually found 45 minutes to play some Arkham Knight. Got through the first part of the story. Hopefully this week, I’ll have some more free time, and relaxing time.
Beyond that I’m starting to think of asking for donations to reach my goal of running a marathon on all 7 continents happen. I have 5 to go, and travel is a bit expensive. Well, I will work it out. Right now, I need sleep, it’s been a long weekend. Have fun, keep running and always remember: If Gil an run, then so can you!