S.A.D.

I know its not possible to get Seasonal Effective Disorder in week. But the cold feet and the news (Trump blowjobbing Putin) and the weather is getting to me. 

I was in Sedbergh a few years back in the best summer they have ever had and you can see how glorious it was. Today however reminded me of my youth, and probably why I don't seem to do nostalgia as much as other people. I went for a run in Sedbergh. 

I do almost feel nostalgia for PB Fell Running trainers , I am not going to buy any, but  but they are still a thing and for very good reason, even down by the river on the flat 'normal 'runners near killed me. Very slippery mud.

Run one was in 'Nice' weather, Nice for Sedbergh in February. I had prepared, I bought some tracksuit trousers, in the old days it'd have run in rugby shorts and rugby shirt with the sleeves cut off. Yes horizontal sleet did freeze to my leg once.  I decided that a long shelved fishing shirt, a cap and the tracksuit was sufficient. It wasn't. Chill blanes in my hands. It was 3 degrees. Well not including the wind chill which was biting.

Todays run I was better dressed, added gloves, and a fleece, still didn't break a sweat. Cold and rainy, incredibly slippery and foul as it was it wasn't too bad. Not for Sedbergh, but it was enough to remind me just how foul it can be here.  I feel little nostalgia for this place, but admit to some for fell running I now remember truly what its like to run in wet in Sedbergh in February. I am cured.

When its really foul here, it really is foul, its so dark even in the middle of the day it looks like twilight and wet with it. I joked about it - but in truth its why I left, and I don't really, its much better now, its not like I'm living in drafty farmhouse who's central heating runs off the fire in the lounge. This house has under floor heating and double glazing that works. But my feet get cold again as soon as I go out of the downstairs.

Sedbergh's a wonderful place full of wonderful people, but thank god for modern heating and double glazing. 

Uuuurgn (Definition)

Uuuurgn

SailGP needs to work on its green credentials

Sail GP makes a lot of claims about single use plastics. However its OK with plastic tat and I'll be generous here "double use" plastics.

By that I mean (alert first world problem) people arriving at the main spectator event in Sydney had any disposable water bottles were confiscated  and thrown away at the ferry to the island.

We were then given France Sail GP plastic water bottles (edit on review it tuns out to be aluminium) of the corporate tat no one would actually buy grade - while the law may describe this and not single use, in reality it is. I'll not be using mine. Many were left on the island.

We also got a breakfast in cardboard with plastic disposable lid inside a mini sail GP Esky bag. Again free corporate grade. Really its just disposable, many again, were left behind on the island, Add the lunches in same packaging and sauces those plastic lids went to about 4. The lids were fully transparent and there for unlikely to be recycled. Defiantly not reusable - plastic and straight to landfill. 

Probably the worst was glasses and cans. It was a can bar, whist not plastic, cans are disposable and I suspect plastic coated. The wine glasses, well they were again not officially single use but they were not being refilled, new glass with every wine pour and I saw no sign of washing up on the island.

 The cups in question are not high grade, you can get genuinely nice plastic glasses. These cups I do re use, but they cloud and scratch easy. I'll bet every single one of them was brand new and I doubt they'll be used again. 

The most generous I can be about Sail GP's 'Single use plastic' is its a hollow marketing slogan. Running the event on an island in the middle of the harbour is probably as hard as can be from a practical point of view. Glass may have been banned by edict. But refilling was an absolute minimum I'd expect from someone who threw away full water bottles on the ferry.

The plastic flags, could of and should have been paper
I'll let the giant Slingsby heads go. The kids liked them and someone was carrying one to the event, probably from  a previous one.

But apart from the severed head of Tom Slingsby is was mostly plastic tat. I shall be writing to sail GP about this - and asking the fate of all the glasses. If they answer I'll post it. If they send me plastic tat I'll post  a rant!