Madness is getting up on a Sunday morning at 7am, having dieted and trained for 6 weeks previously, before putting yourself into a 12 foot wide track with 5,500 other similarly disturbed people and running for 21,097.5 meters, or 13^7?64 miles. It’s more commonly known as a half marathon, the little brother of the distance made famous by the whims of the British Royal Family in 1908.

Runners head off at the start of the Liverpool Half Marathon

Luckily having completed one marathon and a couple of halves previously, I was let off running another one this weekend (The Liverpool Half Marathon 2010) through a combination of my own incompetency and a bit of bad luck due to higher than expected demand (who are all these mentalists who applied so quickly they closed applications early?!) Still, I went along for the weekend to Liverpool for a friend’s birthday meal the night before (not much drinking achieved) and to watch my usual jogger in crime partner complete his first race of that length (which he did in terrific fashion).

After spending 1 hour 55 minutes on your feet (walking around Liverpool whilst your mates put their legs through a hellish feat of endurance) what do you do for refreshment? You hit the pub, fill up your empty belly and craving muscles, and top up your water levels with a few halves of cask ale (because you’re driving the mad runners home once they’ve suitably recovered from their valiant efforts).

Courage Directors was about as drinkable as bitter comes, and much smoother than the slightly sour Pedigree that followed. Both were poured with absolute precision by the highly experienced barman. One pull for a half, two for a pint, poured at a snail’s pace using all the pressure of the beer engine to pull the amber liquids forth to each glass. Each was superior to the pint of Black Sheep that materialised from thin air at the local Toby Carvery back in South Leeds later that evening. The first pint poured from the tap was entirely transparent much to the amazement of the chap on the bar and the embarrassment of the bar manager behind him “That’s my fault, that” he said cheerily, before scurrying off to do whatever it was he needed to do to whisk a surprisingly clear pint of ale from out of a hat.

It’s Cask Ale Week is this week, so get down the boozer and sample some British ales (we’re pretty unique in the world for cask ale, you know). Walk if you can or get a lift/public transport (I’d avoid running if I were you!) It’s better for the environment and you don’t have to worry about drinking a pint or two then. Preaching over. Enjoy!

It's Cask ale Week. It looks like this and it's good!

Let me start by saying I’m not sure I gave this beer a fair run (which is an inadvertent pun!). I’ve just run 8 miles, never a good time for beer tasting. I doubt it was my fastest run ever but it did entail an hour and a half of running up the hills of Morley (of which their are seven, just like Rome, and Sheffield), over the Huddersfield-Leeds train line, across muddy fields, all the way along Churwell Hill, across to Dewsbury and back over the M62. In the rain. You know that rain. The rain that soaks you reet through.

Dunham Massey IPA and parsnip soup

On my return, after 2 x hamstring stretch + 2 x abductor stretch + 2 x hip flexor, but before my super hot sauna style shower, I popped open a beer whilst I liquidised the soup that had been simmering in the slow cooker.

This was part of a haul from the Beer Emporium in Sandbach, one of the first I picked up because I can’t help but be drawn to anything that says IPA on the label/pump clip. It poured very well for a bottle conditioned IPA, very clear, with a copper gradient and deep amber colour. Its nose and taste belied its appearance: I would expect it to be much more yellow and thinner because it tasted pale and gaunt, despite some upfront hop flavours and a little bit of biscuit. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been feeling worn down recently, running on empty as Jackson Browne would muse, a combination of long hours in front of a computer screen and not eating enough of my five a day. I haven’t been keeping up with 5-a-side footy either or generally exercising enough. Combine that with a regular (but not excessive, I think!) beer intake and a few days of lurgy and I haven’t been giving myself the best chance of reaching Christmas fighting fit.

So, I’m doing something drastic. I’m getting back into running. That’s not drastic, but my approach is.

I’m taking on a running diet. And in order to make sure I don’t have to crawl home on my return to the open road, I’m going on detox first.

The sorts of foodstuffs I may soon need to pair with my beers - thanks to avlxyz for the photo

It’s a detox diet whereby I sort out my body, clear it of caffeine, toxins and other particles that stop my body utilising my energy stores. It’s a prelude to a fibre heavy, low fat diet, high in low glycaemic foods that should have me slow burning energy throughout the day and firing on all cylinders when I hit the streets to jog home from work.

So where does beer fit into this? Well beer is a definite no no. And, as a beer lover and beer blogger, this causes me a bit of problem… Read the rest of this entry »