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

Nov 21st What a Friday!

Got into Philly in time to meet my friend for lunch. We went to Hip City Veg, it was massively good! Then I went to the expo, picked up my bib, changed my corral assignment and hung around getting free stuff, and even ran into a fellow MRR! I’m good like that, and there are tons of us, so we’re easy to find usually, even out of state! So then it was time to meet up with my friend again at his office. One of the women in his office was doing a happy hour thing for her birthday, and I was asked to tag along, that was fun, we had more good food and a couple drinks. Headed back to his place, played some board games and finished off the evening by watching a little known DeNiro film called Red Lights. It is one of the few movies I’ve ever watched that has kept me guessing.
Keeping it short tonight, because I need to be up, have to grab some stuff tomorrow, I realized I forgot to pack body glide! Holy crap! So I have to pick some up. No biggie. Alright, so goodnight, have fun, and remember, if Gil can run then so can you!

Nov 19th Episode 24 in the can, before I head to Philly

Yeah, getting ready to go to Philly in the AM, but I gave you some Gil Can Run goodness before I go! Have fun and enjoy, still no podcast yet, not for a little while, I mention that too, as well as more poop stuff.

And for reference, the way the washing machine mixing valve was before I started today, and how it looks now that it’s hooked up. That plumber was USELESS!

Nov 18th I cooked, I cleaned, I did some shopping

I keep wondering if I’m ready for a blistering 8:35 pace. So I tried to keep myself occupied today. I made the meatlessballs and sauce for my Saturday night meal. I’m staying with my friend in Philly, he’s going to get the pasta, and hopefully a loaf of bread, and then I’ll cook it all up and we’ll all have a lovely dinner. I haven’t thought of a veggie yet, but I’ll come up with something.
Meanwhile, it dawns on me, I’ve been joking about my faster running has happened since I shaved off my beard, but in reality, it also coincides with the complete end of my eating meat. If I keep improving, it will be interesting to see. Weather’s looking a little chilly, but good for Philadelphia, so I’m hopeful it won’t be an issue. Also finding out a few of my friends will be running Philadelphia with me, which is always nice. I don’t usually ask about who’s running the same race, but it turns out a few people are planning on running Philly and started posting about it on our bookface page.
So I’m all set with the logistics of the weekend as well. Have my tickets to and fro. Did some shopping today now that the insurance company made with the compensation check for stuff we already purchased. Got some new blankets and stuff. Finally will have a washing machine by the end of this week, that will be nice. I hate laundromats, clothes always smell funky after using them.
Beyond that, driving home from the store, I was thinking about how long the line at the shelter must have been tonight. Then what a horrible idea emergency shelters are when trying to deal with homelessness. We have so many empty buildings why not just take a couple, turn it into a home, hire a couple social workers, caretakers, maybe need to hire a couple facilities managers, and just have basically apartments for the homeless. They can get counselling if they choose, it gives them stability, and security. You can get them the help they may need, and may not know how to get. I don’t understand how this would be cheaper than running from crisis to crisis when homeless people are found struggling and in need of emergency care in extreme weather or conditions. It’s something to think about, these buildings aren’t doing anything and won’t be. They’re not a revenue source for the owners, or the city. So why let them just sit there?
Just something to think about, there’s no reason for there to be people living on the street, poverty is a choice society makes, and forces upon the most vulnerable of us. That’s my take on it.
So have fun, keep running, and remember, if Gil can run, then so can you!

Nov 17th And the nerves start to build

No running today. Going with some good eating and relaxing. Worry about how I will do on Sunday is starting to creep in of course. No matter how many of these races I run there’s always that apprehension, that worry, during the final few days. Logistically everything is almost in place I just need to actually buy my train ticket and at this point I may spend the extra $20 and get the high speed. Even though it only saves me 30 minutes each way, I hear they’re much nicer trains.
So usually I won’t pay attention to International friendly matches. But given the events of the last week, I was interested to watch England v France, there are also a fair number of United players on each squad, so I’m watching. Congrats to Rooney on his 51st International goal.
While I don’t support the big money of sport I see the value in it as a vehicle to bring people together. Even though sometimes those people will do some bad things too. There is a great potential in sport to help, to heal, to harmonize society. They did the usual national things before the match. Of course usually the English fans will sing God Save the Queen, then the French fans would sing La Marseillaise. But everyone sung which was a lovely gesture. Given that it was a friendly, not a Euro Qualifier, the match itself wasn’t all that exciting. But Rooney’s goal was a lovely strike plucked out of midair on the cross. Dele Alli scored the first goal for England on a beautiful ball struck outside the 18 yard box and just clipped off the French defender past Hugo Lloris. It’s also neat, but a little weird, to see “Liberté, égalité, fraternité” on the screens outside Wembley Stadium. But I think the important part of this; the French team were under no obligation, as a team or individuals, to play this match. Some had been personally affected, yet they all traveled to London and played.
The downside of today’s International matches, Germany v The Netherlands had to be canceled. According to reports as of right now, there was a concrete threat on the stadium. We will see what it was, but at least everyone is safe and well. While I advocate not giving people who commit violence what they want (violent response, with-holding our own freedoms due to fear), if we know something’s going on, we should definitely avoid it. If it means not playing a football match, that’s alright, you can reschedule those. But this probably won’t be, again it was just a friendly. Both Germany and the Netherlands are already qualified for Euro 2016.
So sport can help, I think it does. It’s also good that we avoided more disaster today. But let’s remember that there are disasters every day on different levels across the world. Whatever happens with any current terrorist organization, those disasters will continue to happen, until we find true brother/sisterhood in this world, and realy understand what those words mean.
So good job today world. Have fun, keep running, and remember, if Gil can run, then so can you!

Nov 16th Your Meatless Monday Recipe!

No running today, it’s Monday, plus we’re gearing up for Philly this weekend, so not a lot of running this week. I can’t wait to be hanging out in Filthy Philly, eating stuffed French toast at Sabrina’s and drinking copious amounts of coffee. Seriously, it’s wondrous. I invite anyone to try that. But it is Meatless Monday, and so I give you a meat-free recipe to try out, I promised meatless seitan vegetable stew, so here it is:

8 oz seitan (I prepare my own, here’s last week’s recipe for it)
2 medium russet potatoes
2 carrots
1 medium yellow onion
1/2 cup peas
1 cup vegetable broth (if you did not prepare your own seitan, if you did save the broth you used to prepare the seitan)
1/4 cup ketchup
2 Tbsp flour
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
salt and pepper to taste

Cube seitan, potatoes, and carrots, slice onions. In medium frying pan, cook potatoes, carrots and onions over medium heat until tender (about 5 minutes). Set aside and fry seitan until crispy on the outside. Add flour to seitan, stir until seitan is covered. Put vegetables and seitan into pot with vegetable broth, if needed add vegetable broth until liquid is to the same level as vegetables and seitan. Add salt, pepper and ketchup. Bring to slow boil then simmer until liquid thickens. Add peas, once peas are warmed, it is ready to serve.

It’s really that simple, it’s super tasty, and great comfort food on a cold day.

Nov 15th It is Sunday, I get a little Church-y, I had to say this

So I ran and I’m feeling pretty good. I may need to put in a few more miles this week, we’ll see how I’m feeling. But I cannot escape these feelings I’ve had this weekend.
Before I ran, one of my old co-workers from the “liberal media conspiracy” posted on her professional facebook page something about how we need to be afraid of the terrorists, and kill them because they would kill us and our families if they had the chance. I was so upset about this I said something facetious. I was met by a private message about I should talk to victim’s families of ISIS (Heretofore always referred to as Daesh) or Nazis. Just real stupid stuff. So the argument is we should be afraid of people who want us to be afraid, because somehow that will work, giving them what they want. People don’t realize that Daesh, don’t care if they live or die. They want an unending cycle of this. So being afraid of them and either doing nothing, or going to war isn’t going to work. Going to war is, in fact, what got us to this point in the first place. Decades and decades of propping up this dictator over that dictator in order to get the best deal for whatever resource the imperialist power doing the dealing was looking for, that’s how we’re in this mess, make no mistake about it.
So being afraid, and marching to war doesn’t help. Doing nothing, well how well did that work out for Germany from 1933-1945? not well right? I mean we didn’t have to kill almost all the Germans, because most of the Germans were only guilty of being so afraid for their lives they did nothing, and nobody blames them for that, but we all blame the Syrians, Iraqis, Lebanese, Jordanians, etc., doing the same thing today. Even those who went off to war, in by far the most justified war of imperialism ever undertaken by people, were still scarred and damaged by it. We talk about substance abuse and suicide among modern veterans, we act like these things didn’t happen before Vietnam or the Gulf Wars, but the fact is these things have been happening for a very long time. Both veteran substance abuse, and veteran suicide are things that have personally touched my family. Those veterans were World War 2 veterans. So if their cause was so great and just, why? Maybe because it is completely unnatural for a human being to kill another, regardless of circumstance.
So basically, doing nothing and meeting imperialism with imperialism isn’t going to work. We know it’s not, this is the same war that’s been going on for over 100 years now, there are fits and starts, but it’s all the same war. The only thing that is going to stop it, is the concerted decision to stop it. The decision to not cower, but also to not fight. The decision to forgive, the decision that understands you may lose your life, loved ones may lose their lives to those who aren’t so quick to forgive, who truly believe in bringing about their empire, regardless of what side of the battle they are on. But to actually link arms when the army comes to march into town and say “I will not fight you, but I will not accept your way of life, I will not allow you to impose your will upon me, I am free, and I wish to remain free, to live as a brother or sister, not a subject or a slave. This is my life, this is my freedom, you can take one if you insist, but you will never have the other.”
Because honestly, those crying out for war now, what will they do to stop me from being peaceful? They will threaten me, they will try to sell me fear, and when that doesn’t work, they will call for me to be jailed, to be shunned, maybe even to be killed. Because they are no different from the Daesh. Daesh have killed hundreds of thousands more of the people they would wish to rule, other Muslims (I argue Daesh are no more Muslims than the KKK or the Nazis are Christians (there are still Nazis about make no mistake). Their power deserves no legitimacy either. I may die in this quest, but I will live free, because if I am not free, if I am not on the path that I know is right and just, peaceful and loving, compassionate and forgiving, then I am already dead inside. So if you come at me with fear, with hate, with violence, online I may block you out. I am very clear on my understanding that my way is not easy, it may mean suffering, it may mean death, but in the end it also means a lasting peace is possible. I know this, I am secure in this information, and there is no argument anywhere that will ever change me from this, because I know this is truth. I don’t need ridiculous lectures in fear-mongering, I’ve heard it all, I’m not buying, I never was, and I never will be.
So to that argument I will say this, even though I am a terrible Catholic, I am one. I am not one prone to quote scripture, but this one verse stuck in my head while running:

“…For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me. Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’…” -Matthew 25

Being so many consider the USA a “Christian nation” then are we not commanded to treat even the Daesh, who are certainly among the least of our brothers, as we would treat Jesus? Is that not the entire essence of being “Christian”? The funny thing is, all faiths have parables like this. You may say “But Jesus wouldn’t behead somebody.” That may be true, but that doesn’t mean Jesus would behead them in return either. In fact he was quite clear on that, right above, he says what you do to these least of my brothers, you did for me, later on in the passage he admonishes those who hadn’t done these things, and casts them out and tells them that what they did not do for the least of these they didn’t do for him either. It is very clear.
Since the old way isn’t working, and hasn’t been working for a long time, regardless of how you feel about things spiritually. Maybe we need a new approach, maybe it’s time to try something that may actually heal, that may make humanity stronger. That’s not to say there won’t be great suffering, there most certainly will be. But we already know the unending path that will continue to unfold and replay in front of us if we continue our current heading. This is the last I will say about all this. Just something to think about for today.

Usual sign-off withheld.

Nov 14th A good long run

It helps, it really does. So I ran for 10 miles or so. My Garmin was acting up, which caused me to push a little harder than I intended. The original, as the satellite kept dropping, said 10.2 but the route is 10.65. So I fixed it manually. I’ll go out tomorrow for a final, maybe penultimate shakedown before Philly. It was also the first day I ran this Autumn where it was really cold, and it was very windy. That made it tough, physically.
On the upside, usually people are not drinking coffees while walking down the sidewalk in New Haven, but today, there are LOTS of Starbucks red coffee cups. I don’t like Starbucks, I’ve discussed my distaste for their burned, overpriced coffee. But people getting upset over red cups, that’s just stupid.
Other than that, I’ve been even more bothered today with things people are saying. So much of the history and the entire point of what’s going on is missed by so many people who you would think would be smarter than that. People saying horribly bigoted things on feeds of my friends, terribly insensitive things about these friend’s religion. And the way they’re just throwing it out there, it’s clear they either suffer from serious cognitive dissonance, or they don’t care that these are things that will hurt these friends.
Look folks, one thing is for sure, there’s been more than enough hurt around the world for everyone, we don’t need to spread anymore of that shit. I heard a lot of things like “they started it” and the like today, and why is that acceptable now, when it wasn’t when we were kids? Someone has to stand up and say “not anymore” because someone hits someone, that person hits back, it goes back and forth, maybe another person gets hit by accident, it just keeps going, and it doesn’t stop until someone has the guts to stand up and say that they’re not going to do this anymore, and that they forgive, no matter how big the insult or injury. We need somebody to be the adult, we need somebody to say there are no winners here, and that we are sorry and that we forgive.
That’s the only thing that is going to help, we need to embrace all the people hurting today, and the people of Paris aren’t the only ones who are hurting, enough hurt has been spread throughout the world. Like I just said, and spreading more of it is not going to solve it. Let’s meet this tragedy with compassion, with kindness, with love, with forgiveness for all, even those who are so horrible as to do these things.
Some folks won’t get what I’m saying, they’ll want blood, they’ll want vengeance. They’ll spread anger and hate my way, call things I’ve said weak, or whatever they want to say. They need compassion, kindness, love, and forgiveness too. They won’t want it, just like Daesh doesn’t want it, they want hate, they want violence, they want hurt, and all those people they don’t see how similar they are. There is a better way, and we have to stand up and be an example of it, stop spreading hurt, let’s spread love.
Have fun, keep running and remember if Gil can run, then so can you.

Nov 13th What do you say?

I don’t know what to really say. In the past 24 hours the world has seen 45 dead in Beirut and now 45 or more dead in Paris. Social media is absolutely abuzz about Paris, but barely anything was said about Beirut. It is important to remember, it’s not just the people we consider “friends” are our brothers and sisters, everyone is. Yes, even the people who committed these acts in Paris and Beirut.
I understand that each and everyone one of those people would kill me on sight if they had the opportunity. That doesn’t change the fact that they are part of our human family. We need to work to resolve these issues. Part of it is education. Part of it is exploitation. Part of it is indoctrination. Not just on the “bad peoples” part, but on ours.
The sooner we realize that it’s not us vs them, but us vs us, we can start to find real solutions to all this senseless bullshit.
Between Beirut, Paris and driving by the emergency shelter with the line around the corner this afternoon, I am emotionally spent. All I can do is urge love, understanding, peace, and calm. Nobody deserves this violence, and more violence would not have saved the day. All I know is my heart goes out tonight to all people who are suffering and in pain, regardless of how the violence was visited upon them.
I cannot say more this evening, please just do your best and stay safe out there.

Nov 12th Episode 23 happened! If it ever finishes uploading

So there’s no podcast yet, I’ll put it in as soon as I figure out what’s wrong with the audio editor on this computer. I may have to reinstall! I use an old copy of Cool Edit Pro if anyone’s wondering.
Anyway, in this episode I get upset about people correcting things incorrectly, and I explain how a proper serving of lentils, is just as healthy for you, and has almost as much protein as a 6 oz steak. Then I get into more stuff about not eating meat, because. Less than two weeks until Philly! Let’s rock!

Nov 11th Armistice Day is here again

Yeah, I called it Armistice Day, that is what it originally was, a day to remember “The war to end all wars” as it was called, and they were wrong. So I went for a run, and it was cold and damp and I made it through. I like the pace I’ve been able to keep, and I like that I’ve been able to get up the big hill to start off at such a good pace. I only have 3, maybe 4 more runs before Philly, if I decide to put in a few miles Wednesday or Thursday next week.
3:45 is going to be a tough time to hit, that’s a further 8 minutes off my current PR and that’s a tall order. I hope I can maintain. Focus is going to be key.
Meanwhile, all I could think about today was what I would say about Armistice Day. I suppose I should preface everything by saying that some of the finest people I know in this world have served in the Armed Forces, during wars. They are not the finest people I know because they served in a military during a war, they were good people before, and they are good people now, if they had never joined, they would still be as good as they are now, their service has no bearing on how I feel about them personally.
That being said, I have said many times that all freedom is self-inherent. It is not granted to us by nations, pieces of papers, armies. It is not protected through violence, or the threat of violence. Quite the opposite, in fact. If I am fearful “that guy over there” is going to “take my freedom away”, then I am already a prisoner. I understand the implication of what I say. People will say “Some tyrant could come and what about this historical figure who was awful, what about a law that stops you from…” I’ve heard it all. Here are the important parts, there are already laws that tell me not to do things that I think are right and just. I still give homeless people food if I have some on me. Ticket me, sanction me, throw me in jail, I don’t care. If some tyrant took over the country I was living in, or even the whole world, ask yourself, would you blindly follow along, or would you resist? Is your “freedom” worth more than your life? If the answer to that is yes, then you are already a prisoner.
To that end, I believe in Satyagraha insistence on the force of truth. I’ll let Sir Ben Kingsley, playing the part of Gandhi, explain. “They may torture my body, break my bones, even kill me; then they will have my dead body, not my obedience.” That is the essence of freedom right there.
So where does that leave me? Well, regardless of the fact that I believe all wars of modern civilization are wars of choice and imperialism, the people who sign up do not agree. It’s a difficult atmosphere to even have this discussion today. This hyper-patriotism makes it near impossible to make the argument that wars don’t need to be fought. I suppose when peace wins the day, then I will celebrate everyone who went to war for all these centuries. When the “War to end all wars” is finally over, then I will finally be able to thank all of us who fight this war called civilization.
Have fun in the meantime, keep running, and remember, if Gil can run, then so can you.