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

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.

Nov 10th A cold, rainy Tuesday

So I didn’t run, I’ll tack on a couple extra miles tomorrow and Thursday. Sometimes, even I am allowed to be lazy. So what will I possibly talk about today? How about the awesome United States Postal Service?
Some folks malign it, but they do a great job. First, the cost is so low. Case in point, if I mail a postcard in the US, anywhere in the world, it’s pretty damned cheap, it’s less than the cost of a stamp for a letter-size envelope. I once mailed a postcard from Vatican City…€1,50! That’s a little over $1.50. For a postcard!
But today, I had to ship my laptop to California. I needed a box large enough to fit the laptop and the power adapter. I got the large priority flat-rate box that would fit everything, loaded it up, and brought it down to the post office. $18.o0 later the computer was on its way and it will be there by Thursday. If I had sent it with a private company, to get it delivered in 2 days it would have cost me upwards of $90. To get it there for $25, it would have taken 4 days. People want to try and trash the post office, but the fact is they are good and they are cost effective. Plus, it’s a Constitutionally mandated government service. You can look that up. Article 1, Section 8:

“Section. 8.

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;
…
To establish Post Offices and post Roads;…”

There’s a lot of stuff in there actually, but the Postal Service is my favorite. So thanks in advance USPS, keep up the great work!
To the rest of you out there, have fun, keep running, and remember, if Gil can run, then so can you!

Nov 9th New Addition! Meatless Monday Recipes!

This is what I’ve decided, since those who still eat meat are encouraged to try going meatless on Mondays, as it does make a positive environmental impact every time someone decides to go without meat, even for a day. It is also how I ended up where I am as a vegetarian. Once I realized I could do it one day a week, doing it every day was much easier.
With all that in mind, plus the fact I love to cook, I will endeavor to share a meatless recipe with you every Monday. I may not always have a recipe to share, I may repeat an old recipe in the future, but I will do my very best, every Monday to bring you something yummy. Today, although I made an awesome seitan stew, instead of sharing the whole stew recipe with you, I will give you the way I prepare basic seitan. Then maybe next week give you the stew. I do not put nutritional yeast in my seitan, as I am not a vegan, so I do eat eggs and use milk products. But if you need the nutrients, definitely put nutritional yeast in your seitan.

Basic Seitan
2/3 cup Vital Wheat Gluten
1/2 cup water
1 tsp Gravy Master or Kitchen Bouqet (both are soy products)
Enough vegetable broth to cover seitan mixture

combine vital wheat gluten, water, and gravy master in bowl, mix, then knead for 5 minutes. Roll by hand into an approximately 2 inch diameter log. cut into 1 inch thick pieces. Place into a pot large enough to fit all the pieces of seitan on the bottom, cover in vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to simmer, cover and let cook for 1 hour. The seitan will expand, and may come up to the lid, this is ok.
When finished remove seitan and prepare however you’d like. Make sure to save the broth if you are making a dish that requires it!

And that’s it for week one of Meatless Monday Recipes on GilCanRun.com, give it a try, it’s not that hard, and when you use this in recipes that need beef, you’ll barely be able to tell the difference. Have fun, keep running, and remember if Gil can run, then so can you!

Nov 8th It was not easy like Sunday morning

Yeah, I went there. Woke up at 7am to the sound of the two dogs that should never be together fighting. Yeah, so blood and anger to start the morning, it was gross. So then I ate and watch a little BPL. United won yesterday, yay, and City drew, and then so did Arsenal today, way to go Spurs! It was not a terrible day to that point. Then I went for a run. My watch messed up a little bit on mile 5. No big deal, I still kept my pace. Cut the run short today though, legs were tired, foot is iffy, so I figured take it easier. This week, I don’t want to be fast and I’ll figure out miles as I go, to be fresh for Philly the following week.
So, I was just writing this and my brand new laptop powered itself off with no warning and will not power back on. Thankfully, the CMS I use automatically backs up while I write, and I am able to borrow a laptop I purchased for my mom to finish tonight’s update. Which just changed.
I’m pretty upset about this, and hopefully the company I purchased the computer from will be good with covering their product, it’s only 6 months old! I already put a multimeter to the power supply, everything looks good there. If they don’t cover it, I don’t doubt my ability to repair it myself, I just think at 6 months you should back up your major product. I mean it was not a cheap laptop, it was purpose built to do what I do with computers, audio and video editing and production. Don’t let the one shot, zero production value vlogs fool you, I simply lack all the other equipment I need at this point. Maybe one day I’ll share some of my work with you, which I have been actually paid for. While I don’t want to do it professionally anymore, unless I’m working for myself, I do enjoy making things sound really good. I never was too heavy into video editing, because I never much cared about how things look. That’s the funny thing about communication theory, they say people care more about how the message looks, than what is actually said (i.e. what they hear). I think that may be part of the problem we have.
I get the wiring, I get the evolutionary drive for things to look good, look safe, look strong, things like that. It makes sense, when we’re living in caves, in sparse population groups, and there is a real danger of death and possibly extinction. Quickly judging things based on what it looks like is wonderful, sensible strategy for survival in a world where you’re lucky if you make it past 35 years. But that’s not the world we live in anymore, yet we still allow ourselves to work off the same instincts. They just don’t work in the modern world however. I was never bothered by how things look. I’m always looking past that.
Not to say I don’t enjoy things that look nice, I just don’t give nice looking people or things any more or less credence in their message, I don’t trust “nice” looking stuff over “ugly” stuff. I wave at everyone, I say hi to everyone, I listen to everyone, regardless. What those people look like doesn’t determine if I agree, or am moved by what they say. Some of the most terrible people I’ve met in life have been some of the “best looking” people as well, just an observation.
With that I’m going to bed, there will be no run tomorrow, I need to recuperate, and hit the road on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday like normal. I really hope I can hold up the pace two weeks from now. It is going to be a big challenge. Have fun everyone, keep running, because if Gil can run, then so can you!

Nov 7th One hell of a run!

Ah yes Saturday! I ran and it was good. I had to stay focused on how my left foot was landing to keep it from swelling up again. It worked out nicely. I need to work on keeping my pace steady, but it’s difficult with all the intersections I have to stop for. Either way, I was happy with my run. It was a nice, cool day. but warmer than normal for this time of year around here. There were lots of friendly people out today too, mostly other runners, but it was nice to get lots of smiles and waves back today. It really does help.
Then I tried a new ingredient preparing my seitan, to use in my meatlessballs recipe. It worked very well, the secret ingredient is Gravy Master. It’s just flavoring, nothing to it really. It made a huge difference, and I made lasagne with it. If I made it without telling anyone, they wouldn’t know it wasn’t riddled with meatballs. It was so good. I like it when I figure out a new recipe, I like it even more when I perfect it.
I also had leftovers for lunch of a fantastic sweet potato stew my mom made for me last night. I need to find that recipe and share it with you all. It’s got curry and cauliflower. It’s as amazing as that sounds. Tomorrow night I’m doing buffalo cauliflower. I’ll share that recipe with you soon too.
Have a great Saturday night, have fun and keep running, and remember if Gil can run, then so can you!

Nov 5th Episode 22 is on!

Indeed, it’s an interesting one. I ran today. Got pissed off about a certain presidential candidate’s interpretation of the Egyptian Pyramids. Talked about low voter turnout, and what you can do to actually help (hint: vote). I also muse about finishing the book I really need to write. Hope you enjoy and remember to share!

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Nov 3rd I ran and I voted, not at the same time!

My run did not go as planned and I cut it short as I was struggling pretty bad. I started out too fast, and I held onto a pretty fast pace through the first 13 miles (21 km). Between not feeling well, starting off too fast, and all the intersections I had to stop at, I just lost focus, and couldn’t maintain pace. By the time I hit where I should have turned to add on the last mile, I figured discretion was the better part of valor, as my ankle was starting to feel off, and my foot was getting sore. I’d rather have a bad training run and save it for the race. So that’s what I did. Walked a mile, then ran a mile, walked a mile, then ran another mile. I made it home, I feel like I’m in one piece, I’m really hungry.
So before I seized up I decided to drive up to the school and vote. Municipal elections, the most important and impacting elections we have, and yet the lowest turnout, in a country with a turnout that should really invalidate our elections most years. So I voted for most every office, but I couldn’t vote for either mayoral candidate. One tried to sell our ice skating rink and refuse transfer station off to a private concern, and the other is from a family that has consistently turned this town to shit whenever they’re in office. So, I tried to think of someone equally as awful, who I think would actually be a better mayor than either candidate.

Now, in this state, a write-in candidate must be an official write-in candidate with paperwork filed with the Secretary of the State’s office. But I think when counting the votes, they’ll get the point. Ridiculous. And it’s partially my fault, I didn’t participate in the primary, but there wasn’t a primary, the candidates ran unopposed in their parties. Also, in this state, you can only vote in the primary of the party you are registered with. Should I have run against one of them in a primary? Considering the current general plan is to find a job out-of-town, probably not a good idea. So that’s where I’m at today. Not feeling great, but tomorrow is a new day where I can redeem myself.
So that’s what I look forward to. So if you can vote today, go do that. If you’re in Milford’s 2nd District vote for Jeremy Grant, Row B, and if you’re in Newtown vote for Rebekah Harriman-Stites on Row A! Everywhere else, just get out and vote, do your very best! These are the important election years. Beyond that have fun, keep running, and remember, if Gil can run then so can you!

Nov 2nd Another fine start to the week!

No running, tomorrow morning should be interesting though. I do have to get in my very first long run of the entire year. What a wonderful day though, I cleaned up around the house a bit, had a lovely lunch of leftovers. I applied  to some jobs and inquired to a few other places as to if they had any openings. We’ll see what happens from this round of inquiry.
So it was a nice, easy day. Perhaps some breads were made, and a fantastic salad. Artichoke hearts are one of the true joys of the culinary world, just saying. I will be preparing some vegetarian stew this week, and I may be adding a little something to those meatless meatballs I put up the recipe for last week, or so. If I do I will update. I will also post up the stew recipe when I know it’s a big pot of awesomesauce. I test all my recipes I share, actually, everything I’ve shared here (not on my personal page) are my own recipes.
Other than all that mess, someone was talking today about how meaningless the half marathon splits are during a marathon, and even the 20 mile split (for the races that have that). They’re 100% right. The one thing I’ve learned with all these marathons is: There’s no way of knowing how it’s going to end until it’s over. When I hit mile 20 during Hartford, I was well ahead of any other marathon i’d ever run at the 20 mile mark, but I knew my job wasn’t done. To the uninitiated, or the unwise, 10 km (6.2 miles) after already having run 32 km (20 miles) does not seem like much, but that’s almost a full quarter of the race still left to go! So at that point, I told myself, “stay on pace, stay calm, you have a lot of race left to go.” I was right, and had I not contained myself, as excited as I was, I would have bonked at the end. I think, when it comes to marathons, that may be my greatest revelation, it’s a long race even when you’ve gone a long way, you still have that much more to go.
In non-running news, today marked 15 years of a constant human presence in space. For the last 15 years, there has always been at least one human being inhabiting the International Space Station. Considering that just over 100 years ago we first took to the air in powered machines, that is quite a feat. We have to move forward from that. The more we can leave the old ways of thinking behind, the more we will be able to spread out and explore the new frontier. We have so much more to learn, and we need to stop getting in each other’s ways while trying to figure it out. Although I know the ISS is coming toward the end of its useful life, it still has plenty of life to go, much like that last 10 km of a marathon.
I suppose the glass is neither half empty, nor is it half full. As long as it is progressing and still being filled, you’re in the game, and have plenty of time left to get things done. With that being said, I will bid you to have fun, keep running and always remember, if Gil can run, then so can you!

Nov 1st November starts out well!

It’s a new record! By 2 seconds officially, 3 seconds by my watch, there was no chip timing. Plus I got to campaign for my friend Jeremy who is running for the Board of Aldermen, District 2 in Milford, so if you live in Milford’s 2nd District, get to the polls and vote for Jeremy Grant, you’ll find him on Row B. I haven’t gotten a chance to campaign much for my friend running for Board of Education in Newtown, (yes that Newtown, for people not from the area) Rebekah Harriman-Stites, if you’re in Newtown, that’s Row A where you’ll find Rebekah. How a row is determined on a Connecticut ballot is the order in which the gubernatorial candidates finished in the most recent election for that office. Since the Democrat won last time, Row A is for Democrats, the Republican candidate was second, so that’s Row B, generally row C in Connecticut is the Working Families Party, usually the Working Families candidate and the Democratic Candidate are the same person (but not always).
With campaigning out of the way, oh and sorry Jeremy doesn’t have a campaign FB site, let’s talk racing. It was a weird start, I was up at the front for once, because without chip time I wanted to be as accurate as possible to make sure if I did get a PR I wouldn’t get cheated out of it. Well the organizer gave a thumbs up to the guy with the starting pistol. There was no verbal countdown or anything. No warning, no nothing, he gave the starting pistol guy the thumbs up, starting pistol guy fired, and we all looked at each other and started running. I started out way too fast because of the startling start, startling start, haha. I was doing alright once I slowed down a little. One of my good friends from the running club caught up to me, he was pushing his son’s running stroller for the first time during a race, so congratulations to Greyson on his first race! We got cut off by someone in a pickup truck with a dump body who decided they didn’t want to wait in traffic, and he backed up right in front of us and we had to stop short. I don’t mind too much, although it cost me valuable time. But Tom had his infant son there, and the truck driver should have been paying attention. Once again, I will beat this drum, if you are in a vehicle, watch out for pedestrians, no matter what your rush is! That was way dangerous and luckily we were able to stop in time and nothing happened. I won’t blame a cellphone (which the driver was talking on in violation of state law); but I will blame impatience, impertinence, and a general lack of good sense.
My club won lots of trophies, I was 6th in my age group and I believe 42nd overall in a field of 182 and in the most competitive age group there is. I’ll take it. But we had lots of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers across all age groups, good representation. It’s nice to do well, it’s even better when you have good people around you doing even better and getting to cheer them on! Although, I did notice that the person handing out the trophies were handing out the “Women’s” trophies to the men (the figurine had long hair) and the “Men’s” trophies to the women (figurines had short hair). I got a good laugh out of it, I think most people did. I don’t really think it matters, I think it silly there are gendered figurines on trophies anyway, what does it matter. But Jeremy and his wife both came in the same place in the same age group, so they just swapped trophies, how convenient.
The swag for this race was pretty nice, it’s the Bic/Shick area, so more razors, some shaving gel, a shirt, and some pens. I can’t complain about that at all. Usual 5k food, oranges, bananas, apples, yogurt, bagels. I don’t eat too much after short races, but I had a little bit extra. Next up is Philadelphia the weekend before Thanksgiving. Need to put in a long run this week, 20 miles or so around New Haven, sounds like fun! So take it easy out there, hope everyone had a great day running today, int he Northeast it is perfect weather for PRs! Have fun, keep running and remember, if Gil can run, then so can you!