Do You Know What Your 'Child' Is Up To?

Those who read this and are parents... well do you?

This is meant in an aggressive manner. I run and having a half marathon next week means I needed to get in a 10 mile run last night. What is a hard run for me was made harder by the feral brats that live on my estate in Essex.

Name calling I can ignore, you think I haven't hear taunts about my glasses or size before? Maybe I would prefer the comments to be more witty but as their favourite pastimes seem to be abusing others I guess education is at the bottom of their list.

However shoving and attempting to trip a runner... seriously where do they get off? I note their bravery in doing this to a SINGLE FEMALE runner was not so tough when it came to two men running. Combined with name calling this is called bullying, something that if it happened to them their parents who be first to yell and scream about.

The fact is my run ended at 9pm last night and children as young as 4 years old were still out and being encouraged by the morons from earlier to yell out abuse including c***, and yet no parent came out to get their children in or to challenge this behaviour just tells me that if they can't hear their child over the TV then it doesn't matter what the heck they are up to in my town in Essex.

Thanks to these little bullies I had to run a weird route in an dim lit industrial estate instead, not something any woman would do especially after dark but somehow that was safer than running in a well-lit housing estate.

Windsor 8K & The Bricklayers Arms Beer Festival

Firstly I achieved a fairly respectable 54 minute time for my 8K (or 5 miles), despite the blistering heat of the midday sun on the day. My shoulders were pink come the afternoon which didn't go well with the blue ESB running vest but you can't have anything. Nor was I put off by the hilly course which included a few very nasty inclines to go up and now I am a proud owner of my first 8K medal. :)

The course was hilly as said but well organised race apart from the starting time and water stations, only one on this race at 3K when another at 6K would have been good due to the temperature. Personally I do prefer races that start earlier in the day so you can have lunch and still have your afternoon to yourself and more important miss the hottest part of the day if it is sunny.

After the race we all hotfooted it back so we could shower and change (it's not nice sitting on a train realising the rank smell is you) and head back out to Putney and the Derbyshire Beer fesitval. After the race you need carbs and beer contains them plus we felt the beer had been earnt. We arrived missing the morris men dancing although we still got to hear the 'merry' singing from them inside the pub.

If you fancy is good well run beer festival that is busy but not stupidly so then I really recommend you head to the Bricklayers when they do these. Food on the evening was hot pasties and they were superb to match the beer too. Sadly a few of the more interesting titled beers had already gone but with both morris men and Camra members around this was not a surprise.

Falstaff brewery was the winner for us with all of their beers being judged fantastic by our group. Lockwood and Assassin being personal favourites of mine. It was a nice end to a good day sitting munching pasties and drinking good beer after a long race.

Running On Empty

Not a lot of beer at the moment sadly.......

Time it grows short to my first (maybe only) ever half marathon. Due to injury, holiday and general fannying about on my part I am running up to the wire on my training this week is my first long run of 9-10 miles then I have only one more long run of 12 before I start tapering for the big day.

It's not all doom and gloom though whilst my run will be days away I get to experience 'carb loading' which is pretty much the runners excuse for nomming on jaffa cakes all day. However I have been informed that beer doesn't count despite the carbs it contains, shame really the idea of sitting watching a film whilst partaking of jaffas and beer was a rather nice one.

The only bad news is I don't get a medal for my half marathon but I do get a t-shirt and a bottle of beer so it's not all bad. :)

Great Northern Beer Festival

Every year I have been a blogger, I see posts about this beer festival and how great it is. One day I will head further north than York* and go to this festival, probably next year as this year's meagre holiday allowance has been booked up with trips with the other half.

This makes two beer festivals up the other end of the country I want to get to, this means I must steel my girders to face the most trying of experience known to bloggers....... The national rail system..... Oh gods.



Note: I was emailed to ask if I wouldn't mind posting the poster on my blog, I have no problems with this, as said I have never seen a bad review of this festival so it must be good. Just jealous that it's up north and I can't make it this year. :(

* Just been told York is further north than Manchester, I have no directional sense apart from being able to find a open pub anywhere.