Dark and Long - Underworld

Lyric:- I want to smash it up. I want to break it down. I want a wall of tears...to wash away.

Song Choice:- This song matches my mood tonight after running yet another marathon in the leg-sapping sand dunes of Merthyr Mawr.

This time was different though to my previous circumnavigations as I really smashed the miles out and ran long and hard, very hard in fact loving every minute of the relentless sandy route.

Thing is, I'm finally getting better at getting my 80kgs to glide over rather than plough through the sand. How it copes with the 55 degrees Celsius again at the Marathon des Sables in just four weeks, well who knows but hey, I'm training like a good 'un here...

Are you?

Rory Coleman - www.RoryColeman.co.uk

969 Marathons - 240 Ultras

12 Marathon des Sables - 9 Guinness World Records - 8103 Days' Alcohol Free.

Location: Caerdydd

Age of Loneliness - Enigma

The REAL Enigma Machine

Lyrics:- 'Life is crazy, Life is mad, Don't be afraid, Carly Don't be sad, That's your destiny, The only chance, Take it, take it in your hands'

Song Choice:- I'm new to Enigma and I wish I had been aware of them for many years now as the first couple of tracks on their Platinum Collection Album are outstanding, as well as this one here.

The other reason I chose this particular artist is that over 35 years ago, I was described as being an 'Enigma' by one of my then college lecturers (Yikes his lectures were drab, I used to fall asleep). I didn't take to kindly to this at the time, but I deserved it and it must have hit home as I can remember it being said to me really clearly and now I whole-heartedly agree with his comment.

You see, I didn't set out to be different or awkward or anything really, I did find art history really dull in 1980....it's just that I'm not that easy to fathom out a lot of the time and don't give out many visible signs or much verbal content about my inner-self. I do however just get on with things and don't need any kind of push or reminder on getting my 'Enigmered Arse into Gear.'

There's no need to give me a MTFU pill as you'll never know if I need it, and even if I did, I'd never ask for one.

But then I'm a bit odd, an Enigma...but that's ok as I only have myself to answer to and  blame for my own mistakes and riddles, and 35 years on, I'm quite happy being a bit different.

Are you?

Happy Days, Diolch :-)

Rory Coleman - www.RoryColeman.co.uk

968 Marathons - 240 Ultras

12 Marathon des Sables - 9 Guinness World Records - 8101 Days' Alcohol Free.

Location:Caerdydd

Don't Leave Home - Dido

Lyric:- 'Everything is clear and everything is new' - Armstrong

Song Choice:- Whatever happened to Dido? - Although I bet she's not too bothered as the royalties must still be rolling in from her fantastic, Greatest Hits Album. Shame as it would be great to hear some more songs like the above and here it is, if you'd forgotten just how good it actually was.

Anyway, Dido's message of not leaving home always sounded like a bit of a warning to me.

You see staying at home is actually quite dangerous as over 6,000 people accidentally died at home last  year as a result of an accident or of their own mis-adventure, that's over 16 people a day! 11 more a day than died as a result of a Road Traffic Accident - which is  2.9:100,000 if you are interested.

Interesting or just bloody frightening? The stats say that it's safer to run a marathon as your chances of kicking the bucket are 0.8:100,000 and hopefully having run 968 of them I've acquired a lot of 'Living Air-Miles' during them and I'm looking forward to cashing them in over the next 150 years or so as there's a whole new world out there for me to discover and re-discover many times over still.

So my advice is don't listen to Dido's lyrics, apart from the your 'best friend is out there waiting to be discovered', where I promise 'Everything will become clear and everything will renew'.

More tomorrow...Gosh, I'm getting deep on these blogs!!!

Rory Coleman,

968 Marathons, 240 Ultras, 9 Guinness World Records, 12 Marathon des Sables

8100 Days' Dry.

Ship to Wreck - Florence and the Machine

Lyric:- 'Did I drink too much? Am I losing touch? Did I build a ship to wreck?' - Welch & Hull

Song Choice:- Well I'm not the biggest Flo'Machine addict but this might just entice me into a longer look into their back catalogue to see what I've been missing (sounds a bit like The Pretenders, if you remember them.) But then life's like that a lot of the time and it's amazing that we can find enjoyment in something that we might have previously found totally terrible. Don't worry UB40 and Denys Midnight Runners are two artists you'll never find me blogging over...well this week anyway but then again, well whom am I to say never.

I DO however just love the above lyric as I believe we all lose it during our lifetime's a bit, by building something marvellous and them monumentally f*cking it up. Yep, we are all 'Wreckers' in one way or another.

Just how many of your own ships have you ever wrecked?

If it's less than an average sized Navy, I'd be very surprised. Mine would include most of the world's aircraft carriers at least but then again, at least I'll own up to scuttling my fleet in times of self-desperation.

There is an upside though, as the best bit is we don't have to wait for anyone except ourselves to rebuild our ships and set sail again in deeper oceans, hopefully a bit wiser so we can voyage towards fresh horizons. 

My Horizons are set and I sailed 26.2 miles around the dunes at Merthyr Mawr today in my ship...Where did you sail to today?

Rory Coleman

968 Marathons - 240 Ultras - 12 Marathon des Sables - 9 Guinness World Records

8098 Days Dry

One Vision - Queen

Lyric:- 'I had a dream when I was young, a dream of sweet illusion' - Roger Taylor

Song Choice:- Just to prove there are other GREAT Roger Taylor songs I thought I'd choose this one next. I can remember it shaking the walls of my first house on my Philips CD player. Wow that was power back in '86 but hey, it still shakes today and makes a wonderful backdrop to today's blog.

You see I love the 'One Vision, One Hope' bit etc. but actually whom has just one of their own or even shares one of them with anyone else?

Even right at the top I'm sure Boris and Cameron share a vision...Yep, their own! Thinly disguised as a vision for the UK which will then deliver them, not the 62 million other people in what they believe will pinpoint their place in British Politics. And if you know me well, you'll know neither are part of my 'One Vision', but then again no-one is as its my perspective on my world that counts to me in the cold light of day.

It's kinda sad ain't it that I'm so selfish, but then again so are you. Everyone has a what's in it for me in them and it's tragic that we seldom like-minded find people to share our friendships with let alone our lives with.

I reckon Roger Taylor should have written about having a Bigger Vision that folk could share, he tries to in this song but it doesn't really work. It actually needs a sort of 3D two pairs looking together 4K version where things are clear to at least two people in the room about where the fuck they are going and what they should be looking out for along the way to their joint objective.

As they say 'Two pairs of eyes are better than one' and that's two different pairs not just a 'Double Vision' version solo version.

Do you need to go to Specsavers and get another prescription? I reckon I do a lot of the time...

More later...

Rory Coleman

967 Marathons - 240 Ultras - 9 Guinness World Records - 12 Marathon des Sables - 1 Vision

www.RoryColeman.co.uk

Radio Ga Ga - Queen

Lyric:- 'So don't become some background noise' - Roger Taylor

Song Choice:- I ran with my good friend Mark Wynn today and thoroughly enjoyed our journey around Cardiff which included a trip to Whitmore Beach in Barbados. As usual our chatter turned to our loves of music and the subject of Queen.

The theme of our running day quickly became 'What's your favourite Queen track?'...bearing in mind that Mark had already given me a fantastic book titled '1001 songs you must hear before you die', on his arrival. (The Book's awesome by the way).

Anyway, not wishing to make a point his 'Brighton Rock' didn't make it and neither did my 'Hammer to Fall' but in hindsight I think 'Radio Ga Ga' (which did make the book) would  have been a much better choice. Especially looking back at some of the live cuts of them playing at Wembley in July 1986.

In our desperation to get some agreement, we turned to asking everyone we met what their choice would be. Amazingly Bohemian Rhapsody, the obvious choice, only cropped up once and it was the quieter later Freddie songs that had touched folk the most in our very random 'Queen Straw Poll'. Even the dreary Bowie, Under Pressure was mentioned...Yikes.

Now I'm sure you will have your own choice and you'll know immediately which track from their discography means the most to you in your own world. 

The thing is choice is a wonderful thing, debate a matter of opinion and friendship far greater than being 'some background noise' that only Roger Taylor could turn into my new favourite Queen track ever as my Hammer HAS Fallen today.

Diolch Mark...

Rory Coleman

967 Marathons - 240 Ultras - 12 Marathon des Sables - 9 Guinness World Records

8094 Days' Dry

The Price of Love - Bryan Ferry

Lyric:- 'A debt you pay in tears and pain' - Everly & Everly

Song Choice:- Well I wanted a song with a money, cost or price in the lyrics and this oldie popped up - I'm glad it did as I'd forgotten just how good it was, but then it did chart in 1976. When a single cost a mere 49p, nigh on 10/- in old money.

That '10 Bob Note' got me thinking...

And that's the theme of my blog today as I remember being given such a 10/- note for my 7th or 8th Birthday just before they weren't legal tender any more, thinking it was a HUGE amount of money. My 11 year old daughter celebrated her birthday this week and her birthday card 10/- was now a big red £50 note! That's over £1 a year inflation...I wonder what else has escalated at that kind of rate...no doubt someone will tell me.

Anyway, hopefully her sentiment will match mine in that she will save it and save it for a considered purchase just as I did all those years ago. It did make me think about how I value things though.

You see it's really easy just to undervalue money, people and life itself. I coach folk about all of those values and try to get folk to treasure every 10/- they are dealt in life.

Look after them, like I try to, as you never know when you'll need to spend them on something you really want.

Rory Coleman

966 Marathons - 240 Ultras - 12 Marathon des Sables - 9 Guinness Book of Records

8092 Days' Dry