{"id":1151,"date":"2016-09-29T05:39:28","date_gmt":"2016-09-29T10:39:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gilcanrun.com\/?p=1151"},"modified":"2016-09-29T05:39:28","modified_gmt":"2016-09-29T10:39:28","slug":"end-of-the-quarter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gilcanrun.com\/?p=1151","title":{"rendered":"End of the Quarter"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yep, 3\/4ths of 2016 are done! Well tomorrow, but I’m not running tomorrow, because it’s Friday. I ran today<\/a>. I seem to have rebounded nicely from earlier in the year. My conditioning is still not where I want it to be, but that may be an artifact of all the moving around and lack of routine. And, while I don’t have a scale, I’m sure I’m still carrying around some extra weight. People don’t think 5-10 lbs (2.5-5 kg) is THAT much weight, but over the course of a marathon, or even a half marathon, it really is.
\nSo for September, 145 miles (233 km) again, over 22.39 hours, so about 9:12\/mile (5:43\/km) a little slower than last month, but my long run last weekend was pretty much all of that. So, even with a very anemic June where I rehabilitated and rested, I’m at 1130 miles (1820 km) for the year, over 180.53 hours! I’ll round the pace up to 9:36\/mi (5:58\/km).
\nAssuming no more injuries and an average work rate, I am projected to top 1500 miles (2414 km) again this year. Remember, at the start of this year I set no goals. Unlike last year, in which I set out to run 1 marathon (or greater) per month, and to complete at least one of those in under 4 hours, plus 1500 miles for the year. All goals I hit. At the end of the year though, I knew I was injured, and did not want to push myself until I was healed. I think stupidly took part in a challenge from my running club, which I don’t regret, but would not do again under similar circumstances. The problem with me is, when I say I’m going to do something, I do it. End of discussion.
\nSo, as far as running goes, I’m having a great year. Even though the last couple of weeks have been a little rough on me physically and mentally. I’m doing alright.
\nSo something happened last night that baffles me. It illustrates the problems I talk about perfectly. The Senate and House of Representatives in the United States overrode a veto by the President (in a bipartisan vote) to pass a law that said victim families from September 11, 2001 could sue the government of Saudi Arabia, since some people in the government there supported the terrorists, and ostensibly because most of the people who committed the act were Saudi?
\nLet’s forget about the issue of forcing a foreign government to adhere to the decisions of a court in the United States. Let’s forget about what this means for other governments opening up their laws to allow their citizens to sue the United States. I mean the millions between two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the birth defects caused by the weapons we use. The Kurds could come after us for selling Saddam Hussein the mustard gas he used on them in the 80s? We’ve been sending drones all over the world there have been innocent bystanders killed in these strikes. It’s a huge can of worms. But more than that, and exactly my point.
\nLet’s go back to when? The Crusades? I don’t care when, I don’t care who started it. There will always be an aggrieved party. “Well, they killed 3000+ Americans in one day.” Well, the West, including America, has been responsible for the deaths of millions over the centuries, and they have been too. So where does it end? Are we hoping we’ll stop murdering each other in the name of revenge and just keep suing each other? This is asinine. It will never end. And it’s always been about resources, and money anyway, so now it’s just court battles?
\nMaybe it’s time to stop being aggrieved. Look, if the United States was so inclined, we can do something they can’t. We can literally destroy the entire planet. I don’t know if everyone understands this. The United States is among a few countries in the world which could literally carry out a genocide, or even simply wipe the entire Earth clean if they wanted to, and there’d be very little the rest of the world could do about it. It’s hugely scary, and shows how much restraint and care must be taken by us when selecting leaders. Something we do a better job at than we get credit for sometimes, and something we could still be much better at. I think that has to be good enough. The knowledge that we hold this super-scary power.
\nIt’s like the teenager that picks on the grade school kid, and when the grade school kid hits him, he laughs. Not literally of course, any loss of life is tragic. But we can be the bigger nation, we can simply just ignore it. We did our damage, we have to say, “OK, we’re done”. That doesn’t mean “they win”. We can completely destroy the Earth if we wanted, without any other nation acting at all. There is nothing they can visit upon us that we cannot return 100 fold. But what is the virtue in such an action? What is the virtue in perpetuating the cycle of aggression? How does this end, if everyone’s constantly a victim looking for their “justice”? Is it possible we’re all wrong here? I think so.
\nSo, terrible tragedy can be met with forgiveness, with love, kindness even, and maybe that will break the cycle of terrible, endless tragedy? Instead of constantly trying to “recover” your losses in some manner, either through returned violence, or some other aggression. It just seems silly to me. I don’t see where this is going to solve or stop anything, and if anything it will most likely escalate international tensions. Good for arms manufacturers, bad for humanity.<\/p>\n