Dog poo vigilantes - is this the way forward?

THE big story in Eastbourne this week has been dog poo vigilantes - well that, and the fairly amusing yarn of our newspaper sales manager who accidentally dropped his keys between a crack in the lift door and down the lift shaft of our office building; this was definitely a classic case of schadenfreude!

In newspaper terms, you can have murders splashed across the front page, clever investigations into abuse of power and sometimes heart-rending stories of people battling with terminal medical conditions, but when it comes to getting a reaction from readers then dog poo wins every time.

So the story is that in the Shinewater district of Eastbourne, locals have been getting pretty shitty about dogs fouling footpaths and their owners not clearing up the mess. In the past few weeks, blue flags have started appearing next to the poo, some of them planted just yards from a dog mess bin.

No-one knew who had placed these flags. We ran the story in the newspaper last week and put out an appeal for the dog poo vigilantes come forward. We had one "mad" woman who rang up on Monday claiming to be the mysterious crusader, but she was clearly off her rocker.

And then in midweek, one of our village correspondents who writes a weekly column about the goings-on in his community - Rotary and WI meetings, garden shows and schools news, good old run-of-the-mill noticeboard items - got in touch. He knew who the vigilantes were, but he wouldn't give us their phone number since the two ladies only wanted to deal with him.

He would take photographs, write the story and he wanted an appropriately big byline. We had an interesting exchange of views when I thanked him for his diligence in finding the vigilantes, told him to let me have a look at his story, but there was no guarantee it would be used.

When he did send in the story 24 hours later, well it was totally poo. Much has been made about this is the age of the citizen journalist, but when it comes down to brass tacks few can really write or get down to the nub of a story. He wrote his piece of poetic prose like a super sleuth out of a Raymond Chandler detective novel.

So, we got the names, one of my reporters found one of the vigilantes who could talk to the cows come home and we got our story. And here's the link, if you're interested: www.eastbourneherald.co.uk/news/local-news/dog-poo-vigilantes-celebrate-success-1-4949991

Naturally there has been a lot of debate on the newspaper website, on Facebook and Twitter about the actions of the dog poo vigilantes who believe their flagging and shaming antics is working. They reckon their stance is cleaning up the area as dog owners become more responsible.

I went out for an early morning Good Friday run along Eastbourne's prom yesterday, up towards Beachy Head and there was no escaping the side-stepping of dog poo as you headed along the seafront. In the grand scheme of things, dogs messing on the pavement is miniscule, but to many it matters. It's just so bloody inconsiderate and thoughtless.

I say well done to two ladies with their blue flags. How ingenious and imaginative. It may be a symbollic gesture, but their stance was noticed and in a small way it has made a difference.

Why I dislike Red Nose Day - surely charity begins at home

CALL me a bigot, but I dislike Red Nose Day and am so glad that the tawdry charabanc that is Comic Relief has passed for another couple of years.

This year Comic Relief fund-raising raised a record-breaking £75 million. In a time of great austerity, this is a truly amazing figure when you consider that in its first year, in 1988, £15 million was donated by the great British public.

But how much more can you take of One Direction harmoniously snivelling outside a hospital ward where children are dying of malaria, or doe-eyed Mike McIntyre beseeching you to part with your money to help fund a vital irrigation project in a dust-ridden part of Africa?

It seems so reprehensible to even carry such dark thoughts - it's akin to throwing rotten tomatoes at a portrait of Mother Theresa, or trampling over flowers in a beautifully manicured garden. How could you is the collective cry?

So here's why. To watch a lot of the Comic Relief coverage last week was to suggest the BBC and the British public was trying to single-handedly solve poverty in Africa.

It was hot shower/cold bath time - one moment we had the "Call The Midwife" team and Dr Who's Matt Smith causing comic chaos in a modern day "One Born Every Minute" delivery room, and the next there was a moving appeal from a tearful Rob Brydon witnessing the plight of a young malaria sufferer called Isaac.

Ironically, it wasn't until 90 minutes into the Comic Relief TV marathon that an actual country was mentioned. As Will Dean perceptively wrote in The Independent:

 The earlier films featuring members of One Direction and others were almost satirically vague about which undifferentiated blob of Earth they were on – "I'm in Africa, walking through a giant rubbish tip in the middle of a slum." Later, the boyband The Wanted visited a school and used the same shorthand, talking of wanting to help "people less fortunate in Africa". It's not fair to blame boybanders, but the idea of vaguely "helping Africa" doesn't really help the argument for this kind of aid. The attitude was neatly mocked by Jack Whitehall during the late-night Fresh Meat segment when he told a room of students: "Thanks to you guys, Africa is fixed."

But here's the rub. While Africa took centre stage, it was so easy to forget on a night of giving that Comic Relief also does a lot of great work in the UK.

Click on this link and you can read about the hundreds of valuable projects which the charity is supporting at home: www.comicrelief.com/how-we-help  There are some great projects listed - 115 in the south-east and 111 in the south alone - although there are some which are so minority you have to ask why.

Thank heavens for this money going to these worthwhile causes which might otherwise wither and die were it not for the generosity of Comic Relief.

No, my issue is with how Africa-centric Comic Relief has become. It has become sexy and good for celebrities' public relations image to be seen grabbing the Kleenex in Africa. It has also become politically correct for the Government to support such ventures. This year the Government threw in £16 million of tax payers' money into the pot, specifically for Comic Relief’s work to improve the lives of women and girls 

in Africa. 

Let's not even go there by debating the merits of the Government ring-fencing its International Development budget where 0.7% of our gross national income goes directly on supporting the rest of the world. That is obscene and so wrong. Surely this shows Britain's compassion as a nation, some may argue, but what does spending taxpayer's money on aid have to do with compassion when we are making stringent cuts on essential services in our own country?

This week's depressing budget offered a sobering reminder of how much economic do-do we are in. We can't afford to support even the most vulnerable in our own society, and yet we are shelling out hundreds of millions of pounds each year to support countries which have frittered away their money. It's a bit like giving money to an errant child to spend on food, who sits at home all day doing nothing.

What happened to their responsibility to look after themselves? Why are we supporting some nations with aid who are economically looking to overtake the UK in the next decade or two?

Why should it take Britain to help get Africa's house in order? 

I don't lack compassion, I don't have to justify my own charity work - that is a matter of public record - but surely charity begins at home. Think what difference £73 million could do to transforming the lives of people in the UK. 

Running in sodden Reading in the Mizuno Evos - and that's magic!

 

Former England cricket captain, Andrew Strauss, the mercurial magician's assistant Debbie McGee and one-time Olympic hurdles champion Sally Gunnell -it's not often you'd fit them into the same sentence but they were buzzing round at Madejski Stadium yesterday, the impressive home of Reading Football Club.

Straussy's young son was performing some some of hip hop dance move on the gleaming foyer floor, Sally was being interviewed by television crews, and Debbie, who looks pretty good for 54, was mingling with sponsors ahead of her role as starter of the Mizuno Reading Half Marathon.

I've never sampled VIP experience before a race. That's usually the domain of fleet-footed Kenyan runners, but yesterday I managed to snaffle a blue band before the race and was whisked to a swish hospitality suite which overlooked the pitch behind one of the goals, and which provided a superb view to the finish to the 13.1 mile race.

I'd managed to wangle a much-coveted VIP band and so escape the non-stop rain showers, because of the testing of the new Mizuno minimalist shoes. Reading was the finale of our six-week journey which has seen each of the runners blogging and tweeting about the shoes as we've swapped the comfort of our gel-filled, heavily cushioned, reliable running apparel for the bare-boned offering that is the Mizuno Evo.

Mizuno were extremely generous. We arrived at the Madejski Stadium and were given a carrier bag laden with goodies. Inside the hospitality suite they were dishing out running tops, bum bags, running bottles and t-shirts like there was no tomorrow.

I felt really sorry for the thousands of runners milling outside seeking shelter from the incessant rain, while we changed and prepared in the warmth of this plush hospitality suite. And after the race, drenched to the skin and shivering with cold, the room provided the perfect sanctuary and a great view as we watched runners stream into the stadium for the final 200 metre sprint to the finish line.

This was, without doubt, the wettest race I have ever run in. I’m sure other runners will argue there have been wetter runs, and maybe I have been lucky, but conditions were miserable. It was bitterly cold with rain and sleet showers for a large chunk of the race.

However, that shouldn’t detract from what was a brilliantly organised run. Reading doesn’t offer the most scenic of routes with its city centre half marathon, but the crowds were hugely enthusiastic along the traffic-free route, with more than a dozen bands and DJs adding atmosphere on an absolute stinker of a day.

Some of my fellow Mizuno runners opted to avoid running in their brand shoes for the half marathon. It was perhaps a wise choice because over 13 miles the shoes are unforgiving.

But, in for a penny in for a pound, I stuck with my Evo Cursoris for this final half marathon outing.

I’ll be honest, it was tough. Really tough. By eight miles my legs were hurting through the relentless pounding on the road and the lack of protection. I was running reasonably quick by my standards at just over 7min 30sec pace. I tried to keep my form throughout by running off the soles of my feet, but it was hard. The rain was wearing and I tired quickly.

Knowing how much I suffered after the Eastbourne Half Marathon a fortnight earlier, I remember thinking at eight miles that this is going to hurt. My hamstring and calves were screaming with pain. But you simply take it in your stride and knock off the miles to work through the pain. The advantage of running in a big race is that you are never isolated so there are always runners to pull you along.

I crossed the finish line in a respectable time of 1hour 36 minutes, and was happy with that. The foil wrapping were quickly thrown on to stave off the chill as I gingerly headed back to hospitality.

Twenty four hours on I am aching. My feet are numb and my legs feel stiff.

I love to Evos, truly I do. They are a great shoe, so light and easy to run in. And on my shorter training runs of an hour they have been great. They are fantastic up hills and make for a swift run along the prom. It’s once you go over the hour mark when your body tires, your form suffers, and you are not running wisely, that running in the Evos becomes problematic.

I wouldn’t run a half marathon again in the Evos, not without a longer transition from my normal shoes. I shall continue to run in both sets of Evos, and will probably give them a run-out next Sunday in the Eastleigh 10k.

Minimalist shoes are definitely the way forward, but the transition is important to get your feet used to the new-style shoes. Had we had time, I would have given myself a longer transition into the shoes.

If you’re interested to find out more about the Mizuno Evos, here’s an interesting video link: http://www.mizunopro.com/running/blog/article/wave-evo-is-coming-launching-january-5-2013.

And these are the Twitter links to my fellow Evo runners:

@jonmackintosh
@RunningPeekay
@gofasterfood
@Boshrun
@kimingleby
@BePrettyFit
@NatRunClinic
@Ashton378
@JuliaArmstrong
@sammymargo

You know you're 50 when......

I celebrated my 50th birthday this week feeling like an aged cripple.

Just 48 hours earlier I had finished the Eastbourne Half Marathon in a relatively comfortable two hours, but the following morning my body was aching as if it had gone 12 rounds with one of those WWE wrestlers. My legs ached, my body was a little delicate but it was my feet which were giving me a lot of pain.

The soles of my feet were red raw and throbbing. You know how when you've stood in the freezing cold and as your icy feet warm up once you've found warmth you can feel every bone in your foot as you walk? That is exactly how my feet were suffering in the days following the race.

In truth the aches and pains weren't down to fitness, rather the minimalist shoes which I had been running in - and it was my fault, not the shoe.

For the half marathon I didn't adjust the way that I ran the race, since I was pacing at a slow speed and relatively relaxed. I got lazy and I suffered the consequences. Think about it, for 13 miles and with two hours of running, with very little cushioning to the feet, it was a bit like slapping a piece of raw red meat against a butcher's counter. You are going to suffer if you don't run properly - and I paid the price.

Come Wednesday evening and the seafront speed training session, I took it very gingerly and delicately with the six x 800m repetitions, even resorting to wearing my favoured Asics with their sumptuous cushioning just to give my feet some respite.

This weekend, another long run beckons ahead of the Mizuno Evo finale next Sunday and the Reading Half Marathon when all the Evo testers will gather to run in our multi-coloured minimalist shoes.

As for the birthday, well the signs of old age and senility crept in immediately when I mislaid my work mobile phone only to discover it the following day lying under the sofa!

The biggest disappointment of my birthday was going to the Belgian Cafe, my favourite restaurant in Eastbourne, for a slap-up meal where they had run out of waffles for the mouth-watering treat of Belgian waffles with hot chocolate sauce and Chantilly cream. What a huge disappointment!

But as a 50-year-old, I move into a new running age category as a Vet 50 and with that you set new goals and fresh targets. Running makes me feel young, maintains the vitality in my life, keeps me healthy and provides both a mental and physical stability. Age is but a number, just deal with it.

By way of entertainment after the waffle disappointment, I decided to Google the words "you know you're 50 when...."

There are loads of witty and pretty American offerings, but here is the best of a bad bunch which I used as a mental 50th birthday checklist: (how many of them do you recognise in yourself?):

You know you're 50 when:

1. Your back goes out more than you do.
2. You're proud of your lawn mower.
3. The twinkle in your eye is only the reflection in your bifocals
4. Your ears are hairier than you head.
5. You've stopped holding in your stomach no matter who walks into the room.
6. The clothes you have put away until they come back in style....have come back in style..
7. You keep repeating yourself.
8. You keep repeating yourself.
9. You hear your favourite song in the lift and sing along.
10. Pizza Hut and a movie is the whole date, instead of the start of one.
11. You keep more food in the fridge freezer than beer.
12. You have to double pump to get out of the car, instead of making it in one straight movement.
13. You occasionally have to find that extra hole in your belt.
14.. At restaurants you can't read the menu as your eyes are shot, you can't hear the specials as your ears are going and you couldn't remember then even if you could hear them in the first place.
15. You mistakenly go to movies you're already seen before.
16. It takes you three attempts to call your own children their correct names.
17. You begin to lie not only about your own age but the children's as well.
18. You see a withered old codger pass you on the street and realise he was one year ahead of you in school.
19. The content of your mail changes with more brochures for Saga holidays and funeral plans with Michael Parkinson's face on the envelope offering you a free pen if you act now.
20. You make grunting noises when you put on your socks and pants.
21. The Victor Meldrew syndrome kicks in with the first signs of grumpiness as you tell the little bleeder delivering your newspaper to not step on the lawn.
22. You fall asleep at parties rather than passing out.
23. You switch from tasting exotic drinks like "Sex on the Beach" to anything with a prune garnish.
24. Sex after 50 is the shortest chapter in the book.
25. You look forward to a dull evening.
26. Your hot flushes set off the smoke alarm.
27. Your best friend is dating someone half their age and isn't breaking any law.
28. People call on the phone at 9pm and ask "did I wake you?".
29. Your childhood toys are now in a museum.
30. Your joints are more accurate than the Met Office.
31. Getting a little action means you don't need to take a laxatice.
32. Your memory is shorter and your complaining in longer.
33. You write down a name with a telephone number and when you look at it again you don't have a clue who it is.
34. Your brain makes contracts your body can't honour.
35. You're the one calling the police because the kids next door don't know how to turn down the music.
36. Your "get up and go" got up and went.
37. Your wardrobe includes Hawaiian shirts, shorts, sandals and black socks.
38. You enjoy hearing about other people's operations.
39. You take a metal detector to the beach.
40. You stop half way up the stairs and can't remember if you were coming up or coming down.
41. At the breakfast table you hear snap, crackle and pop, and it's not your cereal.
42. You turn the lights out for economic reasons rather than romantic reasons.
43. You wake up in the morning looking like your passport picture.
44. An all-nighter means not getting up to go for a pee in the bathroom.
45. You sink your teeth into a steak and stay there.
46. You look for your reading glasses for half an hour and realise they were on your head the whole time.
47. You know where your prostate is.
48. You look both ways before crossing a room.
49. You light the candles on your birthday cake when a group of campers form a circle and start singing "Kumbaya".
and  50: You've seen it all, done it all - and can't remember any of it!!

It's like being driven over 13 miles of speed bumps without any suspension!

THE morning after the night before and I'm really struggling - walking or even cycling to work is not going to be easy.

Yesterday's Eastbourne Half Marathon was never going to be a test of personal fitness, endurance or even speed. The goal of pacing runners around the 13.1-mile course in two hours flat at straight nine minute miles was always going to be straight forward.

The fact that I had never run the course before, including a tough, two-pronged climb towards Beachy Head at three miles was a little unsettling, but I figured that if we got a little ahead with our pacing before we reached the Meads area of Eastbourne where the hills kicked in, we would be back on track by the descent. And so it proved.

No, the test was going to be the new shoes. The furthest I'd run in my new minimalist Evos was eight miles last weekend in the New Forest when they had felt comfortable enough. Add another five miles in a race situation was a different matter.

My fellow pacer Jon runs four or five times a week with his dog over the South Downs so was an experienced runner, although not exactly a keen pacer. "I'm not sure why we're pacing," he said to me beforehand. "Why can't people use their watches to keep time?"

Not the point really and I hope his initial cynicism was corrected by the end thanks to the large numbers of people who tracked us along the route and were genuinely grateful afterwards for having a target runner. Here's my article which appeared on the Eastbourne Herald's website which describes the pacing experience: http://www.eastbourneherald.co.uk/news/local-news/eastbourne-half-marathon-a-day-of-1-582-individual-success-stories-1-4847167

During the race, I felt comfortable throughout. The only time I noticed the Evos were the two climbs when the shoes felt so light that I was able to push off my soles and ease gently up the hill. Without the drag of cushioned heels, these are smooth uphill runners. As for the rest of the run, the shoes didn't give me any jip and the only aches and pains were the usual muscular ones after being on your feet for two hours.

But come last night and now this morning, my body aches as if its been put through a spin cycle all night. I feel like a car which has been driven over 13 miles of speed bumps without any suspension to cushion the blows.

My feet are sore and bruised, especially around my left foot which tends to pronate and strike from the side. My heels especially feel a little raw and are pulsing. As a consequence my hips and the back of my legs are aching with the sort of pain you tend to feel after running a marathon. Usually after a half marathon I'm a little stiff, but ready for a gentle tempo run the following evening - not tonight, I fear.

It is down to the shoes and in many ways that is my fault.

I totally forgot about adjusting my style or my running form. I had tried to run as I normally do. Because I was running slower than normal, I allowed my running style to become lazy by running too much off my heels. I was ambling along the course, allowing those heels to drop and not thinking how I should be running.

Of course, running 13 miles and two hours in shoes with minimal support to your ankle or the base of your feet has its consequences, but it is going to be interesting how the shoe stands up to its final test in two weeks' time.

Then Team Evo gets together for the Mizuno Reading Half Marathon. The dozen runners who have been testing the new shoes will be running the race. It's the culmination of our six week testing where each of the runners have competed in a wide variety of events.

For me, I'll be able to run at my speed and tempo. I will have to run properly and think about rushing off the soles, leaning forward and running much more balanced. If I do, then I am sure I won't suffer that horrible Monday morning feeling afterwards.

These, by the way, are the Mizuno Evos which I have been writing about:  http://ow.ly/iaKlu 

And these are some of the blogs from my fellow Team Evo runners:

Fiona Bugler: http://sherunsshewrites.com/?p=3053

Kim Ingleby:  http://www.energisedperformance.com/blog/energised-performance/balance-barefoot/ 

Jon Mac: http://www.pixelscotland.com/2013/02/first-impressions-mizuno-wave-evo-cursoris-and-levitas/ 

Scott Goodwin (BOSH): http://boshrun.com/the-new-mizuno-evo-minimal-range/

Kate Percy (Go Faster Food): http://www.gofasterfood.com/recipes/chia-seed-energy-balls/

Lewis Chalk: http://newshoes.blog.co.uk/2013/02/21/first-impressions-count-15553793/

Sophie: http://beprettyfit.com/2013/02/26/first-run-levitas/

Louise Nicholettos: http://www.naturalrunningclinic.com/blog-2/

Luke Ashton: http://lukeashton.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/the-feel-of-evo-mizuno-week-two-140213.html

Ian Brazier: http://barefootbrazier.blogspot.de/

Sammy Margo: http://therunningbug.co.uk/rbblogs/the-physio-room/b/weblog/archive/2013/02/18/10-top-tips-on-running-minimalist-barefoot-running.aspx