The Boys of Summer - Don Henley

Lyrics:- 'Those days are gone forever' - Henley & Campbell

Song Choice:- Yikes, I've gone back to 1984 for today's aptly named track 'The Boys of Summer'. It's well worth a listen if you've forgotten just how good the song was at the time or if you have never heard of Don Henley or 'The Eagles' in fact, the Group he famously drummed and sang lead vocals for all those years ago.

You see, for me there is no better time, certainly down here in Wales, than the Summer months. Walking across Llandaff Fields yesterday, the scorched grass reminded me of the long, hot summer of 1976.

My those Summer Days' were long... They went on forever, well into September actually, without a single drop of rain. Reservoirs dried up, hose-pipes were banned and the roads simply melted - Happy Days eh?

They were happy though. Perhaps happier for some than they are now, as there was SO much more time and far fewer distractions - our lives were just - emptier. The internet hadn't been invented and good old Apple Corporation, (without whom modern life simply wouldn't or couldn't exist) had only just been created.

Sure, things weren't all rosy and the brown nylon, transistorised world luckily blew out as we headed into the 80's and the digital world took over but is it just me that thinks there was something magical about those days? Temperatures peaked at 35.9°c (96.6°c) in Cheltenham on July 3rd 1976, and 23.65 billion Ladybirds swarmed in to feed on a plague of Aphids, that as I remember, were simply everywhere - Everyday the weather rulebooks were rewritten.

That year will always be remembered even though 1995, '97, '01, '03 and '06 had hotter specific Summer months - funny how Folklore is created.

For me, the one I'll remember the most is the Summer of 2016 as it's the one I missed out on. I spent all of it in hospital missing out on the light evenings, running through golden cornfields and feeling the warm Summer Sun on my skin. Therefore I'm making up for it this year and enjoying every single moment of it.

Are you? And what will you remember this Summer for I wonder? I'd love to know...

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

Happiest Days of Our Lives - The Pink Floyd

Lyrics:- 'By pouring their derision upon anything we did, exposing every weakness' - Waters

Song Choice:- Oh my, it's amazing just how much negativity some of you lot seem to encounter sometimes whilst striving for your fitness dreams.

For example, how's this for encouragement, word for word that one of my clients received. 

'Mate I'm not knocking it, but you know most people gain weight after losing it'...'Just being realistic...I've a pic of you from 5 years ago. You were as trim as now.

Also.. 

'I had a fat friend who is now thin and nowhere near as nice' and 'I thought you were ill cos you've gone so gaunt'.

Just how demotivating can you get? Luckily, these so-called 'friends' were duly 'un-friended' 'tout-suite' as they simply didn't believe the person concerned had the will-power to maintain their new lifestyle. A simple 'Well-done' would have been far more appropriate than the 'I know you'll mess up and revert to type soon as I've always known you as being overweight'.

But then that's the style of the 'Preying Mantis Energy Vampire'. We all have them in our families, friendship groups and at work. You know, folk that just like to spray a little (or a lot in the above case) 'Kryptonite' on our efforts.

Folk pointing that kinda stuff out to us, just ain't constructive.

So, this weekend when you are out of your work routine, seeing friends, enjoying Wimbledon or family time make sure you take your 'Kryptonite Kevlar-plated Armour' with you. Some trusty replies to throw back at the 'Energy Vampires' will help too - and will help you blow away the tempting 'Just the One glass' or one just one little 'Freddo Bar' that will come your way from folk or from the 'Energy VAmpire' that lives inside your own head...

Have a great weekend and don't pour derision on your own efforts... PLEASE :-)

Amen.

Rory Coleman - 995 Marathons - 244 Ultras - 14 Marathon des Sables
9 Guinness World Records - 8,583 Days' Alcohol Free - 431 Days' post GBS

& 1 Inspirational Running Memoir - Get your copy here.

Location: Caerdydd, Cymru

Gold Rush - Danny Byrd (feat. Brookes Brothers)

Lyrics:- 'I knew where I was going has forced my directions' - Byrd

Song Choice:- I spent yesterday coaching my latest #Average2Awesome Group at Stepnell UK, a building and civil engineering business headquartered in Rugby. And, as the weeks unfold I'll write more about my work with them and the journey of discovery the 12 candidates will be undertaking with me. 

It’s always good for the ego of course to speak to a fresh group of people about my life adventures and achievements – for me though that’s just my history which I’ve lived a thousand times over and yes, I’m proud of my work but the fascinating part of my first A2A talk is always where I turn the focus back on the audience and start to understand the personalities in the room, their needs, the way they interact with each other and their direction.

'I just spoke my mind' - Byrd

You see, I knew where I was going on my journey when I set off headlong on 5^th January 1994 – it’s been well document and luckily, I’ve never looked back but the journey for my #A2A Stepnell People has yet to unfold. For me it feels like I’ve just been given a favourite ’Boxed Set’ to watch, with a plot that will twist and turn and a hero that will of course save the day in the final episode. It's really exciting and as in all of our previous A2A's I'm looking forward to getting to know the strangers I met this morning.

I came away feeling very buoyant and ran my old ‘Cross Country’ course in Stratford-upon-Avon on the way home in the searing heat of the day and ran only a couple of minutes slower than I did back in 1994 when I first started running when I was 31 so that made me feel quite ‘Awesome’ rather than ‘Average’. That's when I listened to the above track. It's really worth a listen if you are out there pushing yourself.

It’s really ‘forced my direction’ and my advice today is - If you are currently being diverted from the path by folk, you know the ‘Failure Enablers’ and the ‘Energy Vampires’ we all interact with on a daily basis, don’t even listen – don’t waste your time telling them to ‘b***** off’, just get your head down, keep the faith and be the ‘Awesome’ person you want to be TODAY and FIND a direction to follow as the direction isn’t going to FIND you. I can tell you that one for sure...

Amen.

Rory Coleman - 994 Marathons - 244 Ultras - 14 Marathon des Sables

9 Guinness World Records - 8,568 Days' Alcohol Free - 417 Days' post GBS

& 1 Inspirational Running Memoir - Get your copy here.

Location:- Cardiff, Wales

Shine on you Crazy Diamond (Parts I to V) - The Pink Floyd

Lyrics:- 'Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun'.

Song Choice:- Probably one of The Pink Floyd's better known tracks and one of my all time favourites. I've listened to it thousands of times on Cassette, Vinyl, CD & MP3 and over the years in ever-increasing levels of musical clarity - Back in the 70's, who'd have thought that music would ever sound so good, it's amazing how good this 'Re-Mastered Version' sounds. No hiss, no wow-and-flutter and no skipping - it's pure magic...

It's really important to me too as the track is a tribute to the band's former member Syd Barrett and the 'Shine On' early concept was performed on their 1974 French tour and then finally recorded for the 1975 concept album 'Wish You Were Here'.

Lyrics:- 'You reached for the secret too soon, you cried for the moon'.

I'm sure we all know our own versions of 'Syd' - You know, the people that we grew up with that burned really bright but sadly burned out well before their 'Sell by date'. I'll freely admit that I've 'Reached out', 'Tried too hard' and been 'Out of Control' along my path to today - but I've have always been able to pull out of the 'Personal Nose-Dive' just before hitting the ground - I'm a very lucky man...

You see, I'm adaptable to change and 'a Raver, and a Seer of Visions' - Plus I'm still 'Shining' - are you?

Rory Coleman - 994 Marathons - 244 Ultras - 14 Marathon des Sables

9 Guinness World Records - 8,563 Days' Alcohol Free - 412 Days' post GBS

& 1 Inspirational Running Memoir - Get your copy here.

Location:- Cardiff, Wales