Food.....

It has been in the news quite a bit this week.

Unfortunately I think the truth is that unless you grow it, make it and cook it you can't be 100% sure what is in the food that you eat.

The more you think about it the scarier it can get.

We are meant to have complete traceability of meat from farm to finished product. Where I am you can walk past a field of beef cattle and see that each one of them has a separate ear tag and its own unique number. So, at what point did it happen ?? Oops, it's horse meat !!!! In theory this CAN'T happen but it has and we can't ignore it.....

So we need to start looking at WHY it has happened. The large supermarkets have enormous buying power and this is used to put pressure on suppliers. Just imagine you are the owner/manager of any company that supplies a large supermarket chain. You have been supplying them for years, in fact now with the way that people shop they are your ONLY customer.... they then turn round and instead of asking you what your products will cost they TELL you what they are going to pay for them and this happens to be lower than you can currently make them for... Do you :

A) Say no way, lose the business, close your factory, make hundreds of people unemployed - possibly people that have worked for you for many years and rely on you to make sure their families survive.

B) Take what is on offer and look at what you can do to make your product more cheaply - including using ingredients that aren't on the label....

So, who is to blame for this ? The factory manager that produced the product ? The supermarket chains that drive prices to unsustainably low levels ? or is it the pressure from investors on the supermarket chains to produce bigger and bigger profits each year ??

I don't know who is to blame but no doubt "someone" will be held to account. I feel that the causes behind this run far deeper than just putting horse meat in place of beef (no-one noticed). I understand the potential safety issues around supplying meat that may be classified as unfit for human consumption and that you haven't been getting quite what you thought... but I don't think the root causes of this problem are as straight forward as we may be told.

A week of wind, rain..... and beautiful sunsets !

I think sometimes I just happen to pick the wrong days for our long runs and Sunday was no exception..... I had planned our route from Shoreham to Brighton, a straight out and back route that covered the power station section of the marathon route. Quite a simple 13 mile route.... and the first half was easy ! What I hadn't planned for was running the second half back towards Shoreham head on in to 30mph winds with drizzle and bits of freezing rain thrown in for good measure.

I think it is fair to say that when the wind gusted we didn't actually move forwards much ! It was almost a relief to get back to the lock at Shoreham and on to the road sheltered a bit from the wind by the buildings.....

So now we have run the power station stretch of the marathon route, the one part that everyone says is hard but if we can run it in those conditions I reckon we should be ok ;)

Yesterday Holly and I took Millie out for a run over the Downs. We had been nearly 2 days without rain and the ground had dried out a bit (but still VERY muddy !). The views from the top of the Downs were worth it. It was so clear you could see the Isle of Wight just as the sun was setting. There was still a very cold wind but it was behind us for the stretch of the run across the top of the Downs so it wasn't too bad.

Anyway, these are a couple of photos from the last weeks running. We had to wait at the lock in Shoreham so I took the opportunity to photograph a boat or two.... and then yesterdays sunset. This is why I run.

Will it ever stop raining ???

Sometimes it just seems hard work to get out and go for a run..... and some weeks just seem hard from beginning to end and this week has been one of those weeks.

It just doesn't seem to stop raining ! The roads near us are incredibly wet and there is a real river running down Mouse Lane, the mud is really deep round here so if you try running through it you find yourself slipping and sliding all over the place with real risk of injury.

We tried running down by the River, a path that is normally mud free even when it has been raining but even that is now thick with mud in places (although not as bad as the Downs).

Somedays I just long for dry ! It seems hard to imaging being so hot that you are running early morning or late evening to avoid the heat and the biggest problem is dust......

Anyway, despite my lack of enthusiasm this week I have been out and been running. Tuesday Holly and I ran 15.6 miles, all on the road from Findon to Ferring, along the seafront through Worthing and back to Findon through Broadwater. I'm not a big fan of running alongside main roads but for some of it you just can't find any other route.

I think it is fair to say we didn't pick the best day, gale force winds and rain.... but we did it and at the end of the day that is what counts. It is getting up, getting out and getting running when the weather is bad that will make the summer runs seem so much more enjoyable even though sometimes I do think emigrating somewhere with a bit less rain is very appealing !

Anyway, this is a photo of me on a very blustery Worthing beach... (yes, I'm still smiling)

Running in the snow.......

There is something quite magical about snow.... it muffles sounds as it is falling and covers all the mud and grey with a fresh layer of bright white.

It also stops all the traffic, closes the schools and gets people out of their houses !

I love running in the snow, maybe it is the child in me.... It is hard work and you have to be careful of the ice so in some ways it is much safer running over the Downs away from people (most people don't really go far). Luckily my new trail shoes arrived just before the snow, I had run the tread off my last pair !

My new trail shoes have a different tread pattern on the bottom and it is amazing the difference this makes, especially down hill. I had also forgotten how comfortable new trainers feel and it makes me realise that my old ones really were knackered; they had to go through the washing machine after the bog of doom and I don't think they really recovered....

Anyway, this is a photo of the snow. I have just ordered a new running camera so hopefully I will be able to post some of the photos from it over the next few weeks so this may be one of the last iPhone photos on this blog :)

Running in London

Well, I had a fabulous few days away (I was working !) and had the chance to catch up with some old friends. One thing I love about the new venue for the convention is its location, only a few minutes away from Hyde Park and right on the Paddington Basin and the start of the Grand Union Canal.

One thing running has done is give me a good excuse to go out to places that I might not visit otherwise. Before I started running I didn't really leave the convention hotel for 5 days apart from the evening out to pub or restaurant. Since I've been running I have been out and seen more of the area.

One run I wanted to do was round Hyde Park. I have never been round Hyde Park before.... I mapped out my route down Edgeware Road, round the edge of Hyde Park and back, a total of just over 5 miles so it fitted in perfectly with my marathon training plan.

This may sound strange to anyone that lives in London but it was quite strange seeing so many people out and about in the park. When I'm running over the Downs if I see 6 people it is busy and quite often I don't see another person for most of the run !

So, that is another run that I have wanted to do for a while ticked off the list :)





This (I think !) is the back of the Albert Hall.

The other run that I did while I was away was along the Grand Union Canal. I was chatting to some of the delegates waiting for my seminar about running in London and one of them pointed out that we were right on the Paddington Basin and it was a lovely run along the canal. So, the trainers were laced up and off I went ! There was a lovely smell of wood burners and bacon as I ran past on Sunday morning.... I love the colours of the boats and absolutely everything that is loaded on to the roof of the boat...

This was a shorter run, just 3.5 miles (again to fit in with the schedule) but it is a route I will remember and one that I will return to next year :)

On the train again....

Well, I'm heading off to London for a few days. I'm hoping to get some running in while I'm away, I don't want to start getting behind on my training this early in.

I took Millie running with me again last week, she really enjoys it and starts to get excited when she sees me putting my muddy trainers on. At the moment I'm still running 6 miles with her although I think this will increase over the next few weeks.

I have also taken advantage of the sales and bought enough trainers to last me the year. With various discount vouchers and offers it meant I was able to get them for less than half price ! Ok, they may not be the latest models in the most fashionable colours but then neither am I :)

Happy New Year !

Ok, I know I'm a few days late but it has been a busy couple of weeks :)

2012 was quite a good year for running for me; I ran my first ever marathon and achieved a sub 2hr PB for a half.

I still haven't got a sub 50 minute PB for a 10k yet and I'm not sure if I will achieve that goal this year or not.

I'd still like to improve my half marathon PB. I have found it is a distance that I really enjoy running; I can keep a level of fitness that means I don't have to do too much training before a race and because it is 13 miles I don't run it as fast as a 10k :)

Millie is still running with me, she came out on Christmas Day for a short but muddy run across the Downs.

I've entered Brighton Marathon again for 2013 and training has started. All I need to do is to stay injury free and make it to the start line. I don't have any real goals yet set after that, I think I will just spend the year enjoying running and being out on the South Downs.

Anyway, this is Millie and I after our Christmas Day run.