#15 - Back to Enjoying It

It's been a little while since I last posted, which usually means one of two things: either nothing interesting has happened, or so much has happened that I've forgotten half of it.

It's probably somewhere in the middle.

Since the challenge of the Rose of the Shires and the injury that followed, life has largely been a case of plodding along. Not particularly well, not particularly fast, but with enough stubbornness to keep things moving in roughly the right direction.

The main objective was simple: make running enjoyable again.

That might sound odd after spending months training for an ultra, but the truth is that by the end of the training block I'd stopped enjoying it. The constant mileage, the endless long runs and the relentless focus on ticking off another session meant that running had started to feel like a chore. The Saturday long run in particular had gone from being something I looked forward to, to something I felt obliged to complete.

That's never a good sign.

So after Rose of the Shires I decided to reset.

The plan was straightforward enough:

• Two 7.5-mile runs at 4:30am during the week
• A 15-mile run on Saturday
• A gentle 5-mile recovery run on Sunday

For most sensible people that would be more than adequate.

The problem is that I've conditioned myself over the last couple of years to view a 15-mile run as somehow "short". When you've spent months turning up every Saturday and running well beyond 20 miles, your perspective becomes slightly warped.

As a result, the Saturday run has gradually drifted back towards 15-20 miles. Usually closer to 20 than 15.

The Easter and May Bank Holidays didn't help matters either. Faced with an extra day off, I naturally decided that what was really required was another long run.

At some point I may have to accept that I have a problem.

Back on the Beer Trail

I promised in the last blog that I'd focus a little more on beer this time, so it seems only fair to keep that promise.

I've continued with my Brewser subscription and, more importantly, managed to convince my regular beer-drinking accomplice to join as well. The arrangement is fairly straightforward: we both receive the same brewery box each month and compare notes.

Results have been somewhat mixed.

For April, I allowed my mate to choose the brewery and he went for Pipeline Brewing from Cornwall.

To be honest, I found the box a little disappointing.

Two beers had obvious issues. One showed signs of oxidation, while another suffered from hop creep to such an extent that opening the can felt more like launching a science experiment than pouring a beer. It was essentially a can of foam.

I dropped the brewery a message, not to complain or seek compensation, but simply because as a home brewer myself I know how useful feedback can be.

To their credit, they responded quickly, acknowledged the issues and explained what had happened. In fairness, I already knew the likely causes, but it was refreshing to receive such an open and honest response.

They kindly offered replacements, but I declined.

The reality is that running a small craft brewery is hard enough without replacing beers every time something slips through. Margins are tight, costs are high and most of these breweries are operating largely through passion rather than financial reward.

I'd much rather they invested the money in improving future batches.

The bigger challenge for Pipeline was perhaps timing.

The previous Brewser box had come from Phantom Brewing, and the comparison wasn't entirely fair. Phantom were absolutely outstanding.

Comparing Pipeline to Phantom felt a little like comparing the Premier League to the Championship.

That said, I'd happily revisit Pipeline in a year or two. One thing I've learned from craft beer is that breweries evolve remarkably quickly.

Never write off a young brewery after one mixed experience.

Current Brewery Favourites

Talking of newer breweries, I've started to notice a fairly clear pattern emerging in my own tastes.

Current favourites include:

• Copper Beech
• Baron
• Nothing Bound
• Burnt Mill

Copper Beech in particular continues to impress. I've visited the taproom several times now and every visit seems to reinforce the same conclusion: excellent beer, excellent atmosphere and genuinely nice people.

There are worse combinations.

The latest Brewser box arrived from Rivington, a brewery renowned for hazy pales and IPAs.

It's been very good so far.

The only slight issue is me.

While I can appreciate a well-brewed hazy beer, I increasingly find myself gravitating back towards West Coast styles. Give me a crisp, bitter, hop-forward West Coast IPA and I'm generally happier than I am with the latest juice bomb haze machine.

I'm a Westie fanboy and I'm finally prepared to admit it.

Birthday Beer Research

For my birthday I decided to conduct some entirely necessary beer research.

By "research", I obviously mean placing a sizeable order from Trembling Madness, one of my favourite online bottle shops.

The theme was simple: less haze, more bitterness.

I deliberately focused on West Coast IPAs and breweries I either love, want to reassess, or haven't explored properly before.

The order included beers from:

Established favourites

• Track
• DEYA
• Burnt Mill
• Kernel

Breweries deserving another chance

• Verdant
• Siren

Newer favourites

• Nothing Bound
• Rivington
• Glasshouse
• Bayonet

First-time purchases

• Abbeydale
• Fierce
• Otherworld
• Two Flints

Plus a 7% Yorkshire Heart beer in a 70cl bottle.

Why?

Because sometimes that's reason enough.

The Scorecard

I've not quite finished working through everything, but so far my entirely subjective rankings look something like this:

Outstanding

• Burnt Mill
• Kernel
• Nothing Bound
• Bayonet
• Rivington

Really Good

• DEYA
• Track
• Glasshouse
• Two Flints

Slightly Disappointing

• Fierce
• Abbeydale

The real surprise, however, was a beer from Siren.

Not because it was strong.

Quite the opposite.

It was a 0.5% West Coast IPA and it was absolutely superb.

If someone delivered a hundred cans of that beer to my door tomorrow, I wouldn't complain. It's one of the most convincing low-alcohol beers I've had and proof that breweries are finally starting to take the category seriously.

Years ago, low-alcohol beer was often little more than disappointment in a can.

Now some of it is genuinely excellent.

Looking Ahead

So that's where things stand.

The running is improving, albeit slowly. The injury seems to be behaving itself most of the time, and more importantly, running is starting to become enjoyable again rather than feeling like an obligation.

The beer exploration continues unabated.

As always, there are more breweries to discover, more taprooms to visit and undoubtedly more questionable running decisions waiting somewhere on the horizon.

But that's a story for another blog.