What half marathon?

Running
Pressed for time this afternoon, I was in training all day and it didn't finish until after 5. I wanted to get home at a reasonable hour so I could cook a decent dinner so I only had about 40 minutes to run. Thought I'd just head out for about 20 minutes then turn around, just running on feel. 41:29 later I ran 8Km at an average pace of 5:10, there were even 3 sub 5 minute splits in there. I can safely say that I am just about recovered and certainly much quicker than last time. I do have speed work tomorrow night though and probably won't be as sharp as usual but that's to be expected.

Some books I ordered on Amazon turned up today, one is Running Within - A Guide to Mastering the Body-Mind-Spirit Connection for Ultimate Training and Racing. I am looking forward to getting into it, I spend enough time training my body but I think the mind definitely needs some attention.

Life
There has been a bit in the news lately about Muslim women and the veil in Britain, specifically about whether or not they should be wearing them. Personally I can't see what all the fuss is about, if they feel they want to wear the veil I could not be the least bit concerned. It certainly wouldn't bother me if I were talking to a woman with a full veil. But then again I was brought up to respect differences and appreciate all cultures, and when I am talking to someone I am far more interested than what they have to say than what they look like and what they are wearing. One of the arguments I have heard is that some people find it "confronting", what the? Isn't that the individuals issue, not that of the veiled woman? Personally I am not a big fan of beards, but I don't expect every man with a beard to be clean saven just because I am not a fan. Anyway, I know I am simplfing the issue and I could probably write an essay on the topic, but get over it people, veil, no veil, deal with the person underneath, not the covering. A few years ago I flew Emirates and on the flight home from the UK on the London to Dubai leg the plane was full of veiled woman, some had some pretty elaborate get ups with little gold eye masks and everything. Far from being bothered I was more curious, I am fascinated by other cultures and am deeply interested in the history and motivations behind certain practices. But like I said I was fortunate enough to be brought up pretty open minded and was encouraged to be curious about the world around me, not fearful.

PS - spell checker is playing up and frankly I am too lazy to proof read, dinner is ready. So please forgive any mistakes.