School - Supertramp

Yesterday, I wrote that I’ve definitely had value for money from life so far and scrolling back through the years, I’ve certainly lived a full life. I haven’t filled up my time with things that I’m not good at or are not interested in. And if we wind my clock back to March 1976, I have only happy thoughts of that time and being 14 at school. Indeed, I wrote in my book ‘A Rebel and a Runner’ - 'My overwhelming memory of school life is one of happiness and fulfilment'. Only on reading my school report of that term, my teachers observations were quite different. In fact, in my last school report at 18, the headmaster’s comment was ‘He has never developed a serious attitude to his work’. Nice soundbite for seven years in one of the top Grammar Schools in the UK - and not one that reflects my current work ethic.

I was never highlighted as a child with a complete mental-block when processing written language(s) but on scanning a few of my reports – it’s clear where I was failing. Don’t get me wrong as this was the 70’s and the education process was more about exam preparation and university entrance than providing pastoral care. Learning how to find a route through the confusion of education, probably taught me more if I’m being honest and has given me a way of dealing with a complexity of adult life.

Told you it wasn't great...

Okay, I’m not the most literary of people as you’ll know if you are one of my regular blog readers’, but I do believe that the life-experience that I now broadcast has an in-built message that delivers both achievement and fulfilment.

Possibly my school years' taught me to be more pragmatic than anything else – putting my energies into knowing what I was good and where I could achieve - making a platform to bookmark my success perhaps. No wonder my marathon running and Guinness World Records etc. have been so fundamental in marking my success and investment into what I believe has been an important part of me becoming the present-day me.

I’m sure if I went back, I would invest more of my time and energy into my education and pass far more of my A and O Levels but what would it really achieve? Absolutely nothing. The 'School of Experience' offers much higher qualifications and I've achieved way beyond where predicted some 40-odd years on.

For this reports, I’m going to continue with my serious attitude to my work (that I’ve always had) and continue believing that I'm happy and fulfilled.

Are you happy and fulfilled too?

A* in 1,045 Marathons - 254 Ultras - 9 Guinness World Records - 15 Marathon des Sables

For what it’s worth - Buffalo Springfield

It looked a bit like this...

I’m glad I came up with the following ‘Quotebox’ earlier today, ‘Success comes at a price - Failure is free’… as it got me speaking with my old friend Andy McMenemy. He’s a pretty cool and inspirational guy and apart from the usual banter, we’ve decided that we ought to podcast ourselves out to the masses. Who will breathe-in first or name-drop the most - well, we’ll have to find out, but it is interesting speaking with someone else, whom is super-motivated and paying the price for their own success?

Let’s face it, nothing’s free - even life’s basics Air and Water for the car are £1 at the local filling station and no doubt somewhere sunlight comes at a ‘Cost’.

Anyway, 3-2-1 and back in the room and the point of today’s blog is all about ‘Value’ as that’s a whole lot different to how much things ‘Cost’.  How much something ‘Costs’ is what someone else is prepared to pay for it. ‘Value’ well that’s a completely different subject. I remember being shown one of the most valuable vintage Porsche cars ever built, one with a £1M+ price tag. I must say it did nothing for me. The average Top Gear addict would probably be salivating just to be next to it, but for me it had no ‘Value’. It was both ‘Priceless’ and ‘Price-less’ as it wasn’t worth anything in my world.

You certainly wouldn’t fit a family of four, armed with car seats, double buggy and half a ton of luggage in that posh ‘People’s Car’. My boys’ sticky fingers on the paintwork and leather upholstery would give the owner a mild heart attack for sure. The same goes for David Gilmour’s guitars that were recently auctioned for $21.5M. For that you get the guitar but sadly not the man - so again nice, but of no ‘Value’ to me. The ‘Value’ towards global warming - well hopefully more.

So - ‘Why we put such a high price on things but not ourselves?’. ‘Why do we think we are worthless?’. Why is a car or a guitar worth so much yet, we won’t invest in ourselves or our own future?’

Great questions I believe, and I still have to fathom out why, people just don’t understand their own ‘Value’. Everyone’s worth something, right? Anything you believe in is worth the investment? As it’s not about money.

It’s about paying the price for success, something that Andy and I both understand all too well.

1,040 Marathons, 252 Ultras, 9 Guinness World Records & 25 Years' Alcohol-Free

The future's so bright I've got to wear shades - Timbuk3

Back on the Malvern's

Lyrics:- 'I'm doing alright' - MacDonald

Song Choice:- I wanted a song that reflected my thoughts on the year that's gone by and what lies in store as we head into the second part of 2017 and beyond.

You see today was a great day as our 'Annual Lady Coleman's Birthday Pilgrimage to the Beacon at Great Malvern' celebrations were re-instated after last year's non occurrence due to my being ill.

Malvern is a special place for us as we both have great childhood memories of happy times on the hills above the town.

It was a proper little family event too, made even more special by Jack (2) walking all the way to the top and Charlie (1) being the youngest person to be pushed to the summit all day i would imagine.

The other factor, apart from our Birthday Girl enjoying her walk, was that it was somewhere this time last year, that I never thought I'd never be able to see again - without some special help and a very powerful wheelchair anyway...

If you remember, I had a few bottom lip quivers out in Morocco at the MdS earlier this year but the interesting thing today was that I felt a real calm about being at the top 425m high summit with my brood.

You see, I feel like I've moved on from thinking about the past and really I'm now only thinking of what lies ahead and how bright the future really is, now that I'm returning to somewhere near my old level of health and wellness.

I often quote the line 'The future's bright etc.' and this time I really mean it as whatever's in the past has gone and if you need to be liberated, there's always time to go and run up a mountain to find out that you are glad to be alive, with the whole bright future ahead of you.

Amen...

Rory Coleman - 995 Marathons - 244 Ultras - 14 Marathon des Sables

9 Guinness World Records - 8,595 Days' Alcohol Free - 443 Days' post GBS

& 1 Inspirational Running Memoir

Location: Great Malvern, Worcestershire

Watercolour - Pendulum

Lyrics:- 'Feed the fire, Break your vision, Throw your fists up, Come on with me' - Swire Thompson

Song Choice:- There's nothing better than running whilst listening to Pendulum when you are cranking out a fast time. I shattered another Post-Guillain-Barre Syndrome PB today at Cardiff's parkrun and gave myself hope of one day soon being able to knock out a SUB 4hr marathon once again. Ironically, I did say early on in my marathon running career that if I ever did OVER 4hrs, I'd pack up!

We were all young and more stupid once...

Anyway, the interesting thing and the basis of today's blog is that a PB at any distance comes as a result of pure hard work. With every client, I've ever written a training plan for, I've always included at least three 'Long Slow Distance' runs a week, peaking sometimes at five LSD runs on consecutive days.

It's not a new theory at all, and it's been around for decades. Ernst van Aaken, a German physician and coach, is generally recognised as the founder of the long slow distance method of endurance training and if you are not in the know it's a form of aerobic endurance training where physiological adaptations include improved cardiovascular function, improved thermoregulatory function, improved mitochondrial energy production, increased oxidative capacity of skeletal muscle, and increased utilisation of fat for fuel.

In other words, it makes you dead fit!

The other main benefit 'Wiki' won't tell you is that at 75% MHR you'll be decreasing your waistline and therefore improving your PB's even more at the rate of 2 minutes per kilo of bodyweight over 26.2 miles.

You see, even if 100% of all your training was carried out at 75% Maximum Heart Rate and you ran 100 miles a week, you would make huge strides in your fitness. I ran 200 miles a week like this for four weeks during my 28 x 28 mile Marathons for 'Stoptober' and ran a 3:37 just a couple of weeks afterwards feeling 'Superfit' and 'Superlean'.

Now, I'm not saying go out and start clocking up hundreds of miles a week but if you want to do well in your events make sure you run 80% of your weekly mileage at 75% MHR and your PB's will start to crumble, especially if you add in the odd Power-Hour and ParkRun.

My confidence got a real lift today as I've been out there building my endurance and cardiovascular fitness just like I did twenty years ago, and I'll keep you posted on my journey towards 3:59:59 glory.

'Feed the fire, Break your vision, Throw your fists up, Come on with me'...

Amen

Rory Coleman - 995 Marathons - 244 Ultras - 14 Marathon des Sables

9 Guinness World Records - 8,584 Days' Alcohol Free - 432 Days' post GBS

& 1 Inspirational Running Memoir - Get your copy here.

Location: Caerdydd, Cymru

Don't give hate a chance - Jamiroquai

Lyrics:- 'And who's right and who's wrong' - Jay Kay

Song Choice:- I always loved Jamiroquai and I really love this track. Level 42's Mark King would be proud of the bass line and there's a definite groove within the track that I love to listen to when I'm 'Running' - even when I'm 'hating' it.

Well when I say 'Hate', it's not really 'Hate' is that's a very strong word and it wasn't the 'Running' I was 'Hating' last night, it was my legs inability to move at anything above a snail's pace. Yep, the Guillain-Barré Syndrome is still affecting me and it's monochromatic 'Rubbish/Great' - Runs on consecutive days scenario lives on and does drive me a little potty if I'm being honest.

Maybe, if I wasn't me and I was someone who was less extreme and more 'toned-down', I'd have given up by now. But then that isn't me and even on a Sunday that Frank Spencer would have been proud of, the GBS Kryptonite suddenly disappeared and I enjoyed a couple of speedy miles in the bright sunshine this afternoon.

You see, it would have been only too easy not to have even tried to run at all today with all that negativity surrounding my thoughts. It did however prove to be the perfect 'Antedote' to the corrosion that disappointment can often bring and I for one have no room left for that in my world.

So, my 'REAL' message is don't give 'ANYTHING' a chance to steer you away from your goal or from what you believe or who YOU are.

There are far too many 'Average' people out there to blend into if you want, but it's far better to keep trying to be 'Awesome' at everything you do - as you will if you want it enough.

Amen

Rory Coleman - 995 Marathons - 244 Ultras - 14 Marathon des Sables

9 Guinness World Records - 8,579 Days' Alcohol Free - 427 Days' post GBS

& 1 Inspirational Running Memoir - Get your copy here.

Location:- Cardiff, Wales

Skyfall - Adele

Lyrics:- 'Where world's collide and days are dark' - Adkins & Epworth

Song Choice:- I saw on Breakfast TV that singing megastar Adele has today pulled out of her final two Wembley gigs with damaged vocal chords. A really tough injury for someone who's fortune has been made using her incredible singing ability and I hope for her sake she gets to do the performances she personally hailed as 'her biggest ever shows'.

Having suffered previously with terrible stage-fright, she must feel a sense of relief as she now won't have to face such a large spectrum of fans and critics. Being SO famous with SUCH a well known repertoire of songs can be so dangerous for the ego. It leaves no margin of error at all and it's easy to see why her confidence has been knocked over the years.

If Adele were a tennis player, it would mean not only winning set but every game and every point in a match too. And as there is no possible change of doing so, there's only one way out -  and that's to do a 'Kate Bush' and just not perform live again, which of course is a real shame - not because I'm a big Adele fan, I'm not. I just feel sorry for her and where her singing talent has taken her.

To NOT singing...

Having ones confidence challenged about the thing in life you love the most, by some idiots that don't even know you, because they are intimidated by your talent or confidence really sucks. These folk aren't even 'Average' in my book and if you have a few 'Confidence Knockers' orbiting your world right now, maybe it's time to set them free and move on to your own 'Oh oh Heaven'...

We might not have Adele's cash but we've got the same spirit and hold your head high, light I do and be confident in being Awesome and don't give a damn what anyone else says as they're just scared... of you and of themselves.

Rory Coleman - 995 Marathons - 244 Ultras - 14 Marathon des Sables

9 Guinness World Records - 8,578 Days' Alcohol Free - 426 Days' post GBS

& 1 Inspirational Running Memoir - Get your copy here.

Location:- Cardiff, Wales

Play the Game - Queen

Lyrics:- 'When you're feeling down and your resistance is low' - Mercury

Song Choice:- Queen's first venture into using a synthesiser on their albums and it heralds in one of my favourite all time 'Mercury' classics. Back in the day I think I overdosed on Queen a bit too much and I must have heard this tune a thousand times over, so-much-so I now limit myself to a once a year Queen-Binge and this has been the 'Royal Week' on my headphones.

Anyway, it's the lyrics and title that I'm really interested in for today's blog. You might well be looking forward to celebrate your weeks accomplishment as a 'Captain of Industry tonight. It maybe with a couple of beers and/or a curry that will tragically eradicate all of your hard work and exercising/dieting efforts of the previous five days. What a bummer...

You see, having a 'Fat Friday' simply doesn't work, it's just a bloody good excuse to load in a weeks worth of abstinence all in one go. I'm sure if I had a weekend bender now (probably a couple of Top Deck Shandy's) I'd have to take a week off to recover! Well it's worth a thought...why live like Mother Theresa all week and Oliver Reed the weekends?

So why do we feel the need to spoil all that hard work? It's something that's really obvious to me and when I communicate that passion and drive, some folk just don't get it or  simply put up the 'Barriers of Failure'.

Sometimes though you have to shout and if it's not loud enough, shout louder. You see if you see 'Life' as a 'Game' like I do, I want to know the rules inside out so I can go on and 'Win'. For example, non-Competitive Monopoly wouldn't be much fun would it? And if you've worked hard this week, don't mess it up - rewrite your weekends' rules and 'Play the Game' properly eh?

Amen.

Rory Coleman - 995 Marathons - 244 Ultras - 14 Marathon des Sables

9 Guinness World Records - 8,577 Days' Alcohol Free - 425 Days' post GBS

& 1 Inspirational Running Memoir - Get your copy here.

Location:- Cardiff, Wales

Marathon - Rush

Lyrics:- 'It's a test of ultimate will' - Peart

Song Choice:- This is one of my all-time Rush tracks, and its lyrics have always spoken nearly as loudly as it's title to me over the years, for obvious reasons of course.

We live in our own personal 'Marathon Worlds' and everyday is a school day in the 'University of Hard-Knocks' and we all have our ups and downs. I've always said it's not how you get knocked down, it's how you get up that counts. Rolling with the punches will always get you to the finish line I've found - every time.

You see, psychologically, the last 35% of any accountable goal is always much harder than the first 65%. Marathons definitely follow that pattern with the last nine miles providing the 'Make or Break' mountain or wall to climb or break through that can shatter anyone's inner resolve in a matter of moments.

It's like that in our daily life and sometimes it's so easy to give in when someone that doesn't understand you and your needs, ignorantly attacks your personal protocols, your whole modus operandi. How many times has the wind been blown out of your sails just as you felt you were really starting getting somewhere? It's so rude...

My advice is to blow their 'Kryptonite' quickly away and surround yourself with the positive people that know and understand you, and what you stand for. Luckily these occasions are really rare but crop up when you least expect I've found.

Anyway, if you've encountered the same kind of experience, you'll know the best thing to do is to stick to your values, take a few deep breaths, get your head down and press your reset button knowing that you are happy being you, running your own race and not someone else's.

Listen and take it on board but remember you don't become a 'Winner' in this life being #Average.

Amen.

Rory Coleman - 995 Marathons - 244 Ultras - 14 Marathon des Sables

9 Guinness World Records - 8,57 Days' Alcohol Free - 425 Days' post GBS

& 1 Inspirational Running Memoir - Get your copy here.

Location:- Cardiff, Wales

Short and Sweet - David Gilmour

Lyrics:- 'Building a Vision New' - Gilmour & Harper

Song Choice:- This is one of my favourite 'Gilmour' tracks and I bought it on release back in 1978. I had the 'Promotional Poster' on my wall from WHSmith's Record Shop in Stratford-upon-Avon for years as a sign of being a 'True Fan' and nearly 40 years on, I still am.

I love the 'Short and Sweetness' of the song and what it stands for.

You see, today has been one of those 'Short and Sweet' days as we started our #Average2Awesome Programme with Stepnell Ltd - a Building and Construction company, in Rugby. The 'Short and Sweet' bit comes to mind from the time we get to spend with each of the individuals where following our introductory workshop, the candidates give us their 'Elevator Pitches' into why they should be included in the Programme.

It's amazing what we learn and what's shared in such a 'Short and often Sweet' conversation  with relative strangers. Cutting to the Chase is SO refreshing and I always come away feeling very privileged to be invited into someone else's world.

I just know they are going to be a great group to work with and I'll keep you posted on their progress.

The Lyric - 'Building a Vision New' seemed most apt today as that's what A2A is all about I believe...

Amen

Rory Coleman - 995 Marathons - 244 Ultras - 14 Marathon des Sables

9 Guinness World Records - 8,575 Days' Alcohol Free - 424 Days' post GBS

& 1 Inspirational Running Memoir - Get your copy here.

Location:- Cardiff, Wales

These are the days of our lives - Queen

Lyrics:- 'Sometimes I get to feelin', I was back in the old days - long ago’ - Taylor

Song Choice:- I'm always saying to folk that 'These are the best days of our lives'. It's TRUE. It's just that we don't realise it right now. Take-a-look at the 'Lump in the throat’ Queen video that accompanies this track if you need to see where I’m coming from. It’s super sad… It was the last video to feature frontman Freddie Mercury as he was in the final stages of his battle with AIDS filmed on 30th May 1991, just six months before he died on 24th November 1991 - nearly 26 years ago... His last words to camera were ‘I still love you’ and I’m sure he did.

Since then, so much has happened – We’ve all lived a lot of ‘Life’ that I’m sure Freddie would also have lived to the full, with its roundabout ‘Ups and Downs’, ‘Successes and Failures’.

‘The days were endless, we were crazy - we were young. The sun was always shinin' - we just lived for fun’ – Taylor

You see, we never thought about getting old when we were young – The ‘DFS Sofa buy-now-pay-later' mentality hadn’t been invented and I for one thought that my battery life was endless rather than slowly ebbing away at 1% annually.

‘You can't turn back the clock, you can't turn back the tide - ain't that a shame?’ – Taylor

And ‘Yes’ it is a shame we can’t wind our clocks back to make amends or live life’s highs all over again but I believe it’s our duty now to make the most of what we’ve got. Not of what’s left as none of us know how long that particular piece of string is.

We’ve just got to do, what we do – BETTER… as Freddie says, ‘Cos these are the days of our lives’…

Make the most of YOUR DAYS… Please.

Amen.

Rory Coleman - 995 Marathons - 244 Ultras - 14 Marathon des Sables

9 Guinness World Records - 8,574 Days' Alcohol Free - 423 Days' post GBS

& 1 Inspirational Running Memoir - Get your copy here.

Location:- Cardiff, Wales