Right Here, Right Now - Jesus Jones

Lyric:- 'There is no other place I want to be'.

Song Choice:- I just loved JJ and was lucky enough to see them twice in the early 90's. Singer Mike Edwards is now a mountain bike instructor and I suppose the band are long gone now. Take a listen here for yourself and see what I'm on about as it's a great tune.

Anyway, the above line has always made me sit up and take heed of exactly where I am and what I'm doing every time I hear it. I mean, 'Is there NO other place I want to be, right now?' Or even 'Is there someone else I'd rather be right now?'

Anywhere? Hmm...that's got global implications. Somewhere Hot? Sandy? Mountainous? By the Sea? Northern Hemisphere? Geez, it's not an easy dart to throw at this planet of ours and hit the perfect place. And how long for anyway? A minute, a Day? a Lifetime?

I've got different answers for ALL of those situations.

Someone else? Erm that's a NO THANKS! That would be really odd and I'm happy being ME, acknowledging that I'm not perfect by any means...and slightly annoying to those that don't or even do know me and rather opinionated I'm quick to admit but hey, I'm ok with the me 'Right Here and Right Now Me' and there's no other 'Roryworld' I'd rather be in.

How's your Right Here, Right Now World? Wanna swop it with someone else's or just wanna improve it?

Come and see me and we'll make it happen...Right NOW!

More tomorrow...

Rory Coleman - www.RoryColeman.co.uk
966 Marathons - 240 Ultras - 12 Marathon des Sables - 9 Guinness World Records
8090 Day's Dry - 1 Roryworld

Wild Hearted Son - The Cult

Lyric:- 'Cause I'm a wild hearted son, the world didn't want me to run' - Astbury & Duffy

Song Choice:- The Cult were one of my favourite bands of the 80's and 90's. Ok, they did go a bit Guns 'N' Roses on this particular track but it clatters along nicely with great rhythm and pace. I particularly like the bashing snare drum throughout. Sure it's a bit pretentious but check out the video with the very shy bass player and Google, Ian Astbury, the lead-singer to see his downwards transformation over the last 25 years.

Anyway, I just love the track and of course believe that I'm a pretty 'Wild Hearted Son' myself, with all the things I've done in life, but thinking about it...erm I'm not. 

OK, I do some very extreme activities that are seen as being 'extraordinary' and very 'out of the ordinary' but they're not 'Wild'. In fact, they're VERY calculated and EXTREMELY controlled affairs. Everything is worked out in the minutest detail, training is played out like a daily dress rehearsal and equipment is evaluated for comfort, durability and effectiveness to the power of 10.

How UN-wild is that?

It made me think when did I last do something REALLY wild, and I'm not sure when that was. Maybe it was in my hard-drinking days? Booze can unlock the potential 'Wild Child' in any of us. The list of A-List celebs, currently out there blowing their fuses on the way to rehab only underlines that the 'Wild Child' lifestyle. Looking at how they conduct themselves it only shows that the lifestyle isn't worth it and hopefully they will eventually see the light and do an 'Alice Cooper' and dry out and play golf.

It's certainly worked for him and maybe running worked for me too as it STOPPED me becoming the 'Wild Child' I never was.

Whether I become one in the future, well who knows. I'm not sure how 'Wild' I'm going to be today. I can't see myself rushing off to the local Harley-Davidson Garage, credit card in hand, off to get myself 'heading off down the highway, born to be 'Wild'. Then again, it would be very 'Wild', as I've never even ridden a motorbike before!

Well back in the room and that ain't gonna happen and I'll stick to stepping on the cracks in the pavements for my danger today. 

How 'Wild' is that!

How 'Wild' are YOU?

Rory Coleman - www.RoryColeman.co.uk

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

8089 Days' Dry

Summer Son - Texas

Avebury - 15th June 2015

Lyric:- 'Here comes the summer's son, he burns my skin, I ache again' - McElhone, Spiteri & Hodgens

Song Choice:- This is my favourite Summer Song and after feeling some warm rays for once over the last few days...I can almost start to smell even warm sunny days coming our way again. June 15th is just 110 days away and I of one can't wait to be let loose again in the cornfields. They are some of my favourite places to run...in the world.

Until then, I'll have to make-do with the intermittent bright days of the Welsh Spring and a brief overdose in Morocco in April.

I just can't wait and neither can my Vitamin 'D' Levels.

Are you a Sunshine Babe?

Rory Coleman

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

8087 Days Dry

www.RoryColeman.co.uk

Get the Message - Electronic

Lyric:- 'I live and breathe' - Sumner & Marr

Song Choice:- Well there's just something magical about anything that Johnny Marr ever created and this is one of his best in my opinion even if it is from the far off galaxies of 1989.

It's a mighty fine song and I love the 'Get the Message' lyric of course as I spend my life broadcasting messages out-to-one-and-all about the simplicities of life and how to get the most of out of it.

I know that I twist the last remaining droplets out of each of my days like its a rare wine vintage that simply can't be wasted. I wonder if you see yours that way or whether you are saving it and bottling it away for the future when you hope it will be a far greater vintage, full bodied that you can savour like the warm long gone summer days that created it.Yikes, it's risky as those days might never come...

And it's not like me to witter on about wine as I simply never got the 'This old-vine Bordeaux exhibits a mature, multi-layered nose of delicate, spicy fruits, velvety smooth on the palate, with rounded, mature tannins and an exceptionally long finish' garbage - I mean WTF are Laithwaites on about with this bottle of plonk description? I'm not sure if I've ever experienced the 'Long Finish' though...can you do that after a bottle of wine?

Anyway the 'Wine Analogy' works well here as life is multi-layered, delicate, spicy and can be velvety smooth but it gives you headaches and you can't ever bottle it...as it has to breathe to live. Ahhh now that's rich...

Question...Are you bottling it up? I'm meeting a lot of folk at the moment whom need a bit of uncorking if I'm being honest and when they take that first breath of the clean air with me that they've been starved of of so long, their world just goes 'pop'.It's totally priceless and a moment well worth drinking in.

I've got my bottle opener and it's here waiting for you to come and use it...

More tomorrow...

Rory Coleman

965 Marathons - 240 Marathons - 12 Marathon des Sables - 9 Guinness World Records

8086 Days without any Drain-Cleaner from Laithwaites...

Sharp Dressed Man - ZZ Top

Pic by Ian Corless - Packed by RC

Lyric:- 'Clean shirt, new shoes, and I don't know where I am goin' to' - Beard, Hill & Gibbons

Song Choice:- Well you can't beat a bit of ZZ Top out there in the desert to brighten up your day and the song is a perfect refection for today's blog. If you've forgotten just how good the Rockers from Houston were btw well check them out here.

Over the last couple of days, I've been asked lots of times about how to get the most out of the six weeks leading up to this year's Marathon des Sables which starts on Sunday, April 10th, as folk are getting nervous with just 45 days to go.

The easy answer is to say 'Well, all the training should already be in the bank and all you need to do is to stay healthy and keep on running as you have been, tapering down slightly to race day'. T

Then again, it's not that simple as there are still some folk that are still coming to terms with what they've let themselves in for and they will be taking there heads out of the sand just before they step over the start line...Of course that's their prerogative and everyone gets to the start line in their own individual way. I bet everyone though will say that they could have done more and that's only a natural thing to say but here's what I think about the next 45 days approach...

I always ask folk how much in % they think they will improve before the race and the how much in % they believe they can cock it up. The answers are usually less than 10% and 100% respectively, which is about right as it's dead easy to train in a mad panic and get to the start line feeling tired or carrying a nasty niggle. The race is hard enough without having to be on a go-slow due to some last minute MdS madness.

You see, back in the 50's coaching was all about building up the base miles followed by a period of sharpening up prior to race day, it still works today of course and I'm a great fan of this for my performance athletes for whom it works perfectly. For the MdS though, people have constraints of time and ambition and there's a spectral dichotomy of competitors but what they all can do, me included I believe, is to sharpen their approach and put in some weekly hill runs and run in the sand dunes in the UK so the Saharan Sand doesn't come so much as a shock on the first day. I can't believe that folk run their first steps in sand on Day 1. 

The other sharpening is down to pack weight and bodyweight management as both again .can make a massive difference on how your race goes. One lady I knew of at the Grand2Grand last year weighing in at 45kgs took an 11kgs pack and not surprisingly lasted just a day by getting massive blisters from the pack overload. Yesterday, one of my clients looking for the top 10 at the MdS this year turned up yesterday with an 8kgs pack full of 'Just-in-Cases'. Yikes! Stripping out the extra 2kgs was easy though as the huge roll of Gaffa-Tape and Tube of 500 Handy Cable-Ties certainly aren't essential race gear if you ask me. Pack-Cullingat  this time of year is now a regular part of my job leading up to the race and there's no reason for anyone to be much over the 6.5kgs limit whether you are running or walking in my opinion. Those extra kgs just mean you are out in the sun longer, rather than in your tent enjoying the 'crack' and recovering for the next day. If you aren't sure whether you need something or not, just ask me and I'll tell you.

Add to this some sharpening of your diet in the last few weeks and you are onto a bit of a preparation winner. There's no point in shaving off the head of a toothbrush if you are still whacking down the quarter-pounders and copious amounts of wine worrying about the race. I'm looking to knock a couple more kgs off my waistline as I know a sub 80kgs Coleman runs a lot further than one weighing 82kgs, just cleaning up your diet can do this. 

Feeling lean, with a light pack having sharpened up your diet and your running will give you a massive psychological boost on the start-line and you'll be able to enjoy your 'Running Holiday' rather than it being a week long slog in the sand. I've done that and it's a lot tougher being 1100th than 150th I can tell you...

And lastly, whatever you do in these last few weeks, make sure you enjoy it as it could be the fittest you've been for years and enjoy being a 'Sharp Dressed Man' or 'Sharp Dressed Woman' as everyone will love you. 

Even you...

Diolch

Rory Coleman

965 Marathons - 240 Ultras - 12 Marathon des Sables - 9 Guinness World Records - 8085 Days Dry

Dark and Long (Hall's Edit) - Underworld

#SmegUK - A2A Go Group

Lyric:- Thunder, thunder, lightning ahead - Emerson, Hyde & Smith

Song choice:- I just love this song! Where's it been hiding these past 20+years?

Yep, I know it was used in Transpotting in it's original mix, but this version is simply incredible. I must have been in a 'Dark and Long' tunnel, a very long tunnel in fact, to have missed it. Boy I'm mad...

Call myself a music fan? Anyway, I know it the track now.

#SmegUK - A2A2 Group

And that seems to have been the theme of the day today. A day where our latest Average2Awesome folk at Smeg UK showed just how serious they are about their A2A journey with us by smashing away 66.1kgs of unwanted body fat between them in just three weeks.

For them, it's been an awakening - it's been like the moment where you come out into the light of a bright day from a long dark tunnel...You know, where you squint, become aware of your surroundings and then gather your thoughts and journey on ahead knowing exactly your where you are heading.

For them there's no more Dark and Long just a bright future...and it's a sweet feeling to help them reach this point in their lives knowing there's more fro them to come.

So join the Revolution Folks and Be Awesome - Average Sucks...Ask our friends at SmegUK.

More tomorrow...

Rory Coleman

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

8083 Days Dry

Big Time Sensuality (The Fluke Magimax 125bpm) - Bjork

Madeira Sunshine - Yum Yum

Lyric:- 'I can sense it, something important is about to happen it's coming up. It takes courage to enjoy it the hardcore and the gentle big time sensuality.

Song Choice:- This is the first Bjork track I ever bought. Why, because it's just simply Juicy, very JUICY. I love the way it washes over your ear-drums leaving you gasping for more of her unique musical sensuality. Take a look and a listen here for yourself and see what you you've been missing all these years.

Sure she's barking mad, but we are all aren't we? - I know I am.

Anyway, after being incarcerated all weekend by the Caerdydd weather and following a couple of sand-marathons towards the back end of last week, I need a break from the pissing rain - and I'm in need of the feeling of accomplishment.

February's the worst month of all I reckon in Wales and I for one will be glad to kick it's rather wet and cold backside into touch and get my teeth firmly into a nice bit of some March Springtime Heat.

I'm not sure how 'hardcore' my desire is but I know I need the sensuality of the warm Spring Sunshine to fuel my courage for the busy months ahead...

It's coming up, I can sense it. Can you?

Rory Coleman

965 Marathons - 240 Ultras - 12 Marathon des Sables - 9 Guinness World records

Marathon - Rush

Lyric:- 'You can do a lot in a lifetime, if you don't burn out too fast' - Peart

Song Choice:- One of my all-time Rush favourites and even though it’s titled ‘Marathon’ the lyrics are fabulously apt for my thoughts today...

It’s true of course that 'You CAN achieve a LOT in a lifetime’. We’re on this planet a long time. Some of us longer than others. Some will make their mark more than others and some will leave a legacy for generations. Others will squander opportunity after opportunity and repeat the same daily routine for years, maybe until one day they wake and finally smell the coffee.

This seems to happen when folk get to 40 or 50. Yep, those threshold birthdays where suddenly the rear-view mirrors de-mist and the sheer quantity of the passage time passed crystallises in a heart-stoping cold-sweating moment.

Following the moment of realisation, the big mistake is to go into mid-life crisis overload and completely burn-out climbing mountains, rowing oceans or buying fast cars only to burn out. My advice is to plan the future in a shallower climb avoiding the all to familiar stall and just keep climbing. The rewards will be much bigger, the accomplishments even greater and you will look back on your time on the planet knowing you got the most out of it.

Don’t be ‘A streak of lightning, that flashes and fades’…

Make sure you DO a LOT with YOUR lifetime...What are you waiting for?

Rory Coleman

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

8081 Days Dry

Obscured by Clouds - The Pink Floyd

Today's Song Choice:- Written by Gilmour and Waters, it's off a 1972 Pink Floyd Album of the same title which has never been part of my album collection if I'm being honest - That maybe of course that in it's own way, it's been 'Obscured by Clouds', ha ha.

Seriously though we all get our brains misted up a lot of the time, not necessarily with the 'Smoke and Mirrors' Bullshit clouds which we get sold on, nope the ones that mean we don't see things clearly for what they are. 

To reach such a clear state of awareness is a real gift, I've found...to acknowledge it and use it to it's full potential, well that's down right scary.

Honesty, and by that I mean just cutting out the BS, becomes a more effective tool with age I've found. I for one would rather know the truth about where I stand with folk, otherwise what's the point. Character Camouflaging drives me potty...do you know folk like that?

I've found in recent years that even events get 'Obscured by Clouds'... I see my specialist subject, The Marathon des Sables, so clearly after 12 completions. It's part of my DNA and yet folk are endlessly blowing 'Smoking up their Mirrors' about it now - there's nothing worse that an armchair expert that's never even done the race. The amazing GUCR145 has simply lost that 1990's magic with it 'Nouveau Racers'...

I love exploring life and I saw the 'World today, clearly for what it is and for what I am' - Did you - Or did you someone elses?

That's the million dollar question or do you need to wait for some 'Blue Sky Thinking' or check on Google first.

Rory Coleman

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

8080 Days Dry.

Solid Rock - Delirious?

Lyric:- 'The solid rock we will' - Delirious?

Song Choice:- 'Solid Rock' was my instant choice following a run out on the coast at Sully near our World Famous Dinosaur Footprints earlier this week...

The song is tremendous and it's the small edit of the lyrics above that gets my sap rising. The song is about God, of course, and He's the rock in the song BUT if you take the 'Rock' idea as more of a 'Foundation' for life and wtf you are doing with it, I'd be interested to know is what would you build on your mythological 'Rock' if you were given one.

What would your 'Rock' look like? Would it be a massive granite block? Would it be a polished marble plinth? Or would it be an ordinary block of stone on a beach covered in seaweed and algae that no-one would ever pick out as being extra-special enough to choose at all?

It's an interesting thought as I believe we all spend a huge amount of time looking for a perfectly formed 'Rock' to build our very existence on and because we are so busy looking we never quite find what we are looking for or we choose one that looks great but is in fact a completely unstable platform.

It's something I'm becoming more and more conscious of as I get older and I'm very careful nowadays which 'Rock' I choose and what I intend to do on it. 

Above was my 'Rock'. It was nothing special - but it was a safe and supportive place for just a moment.

How are your Foundations?

Rory Coleman

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

Glittering Prize - Simple Minds

Lyric:- 'Shine On, Shine the Light on me' - Birchall & Kerr

Song Choice:- An easy choice when I started to think about awards and rewards...I must have a good memory as it was back 1982 when this baby hit #16 in the UK Charts.

Anyway, I'll carry on about Awards and Rewards...

Ok there are the big ones that crop up each year like the Oscars and BBC Sports Personality...and then there are the ones where folk just beg all their FaceBook friends to vote for them and yep, I'm just as guilty as the next person of that one.

So the above Awards and Rewards actually mean nothing...

However, here's a thought for you. How about having your OWN Oscars and Sports Personality awards. The ones you can achieve and strive for. 

They could be:-

* Best Director - Where you've shown the way to others

* Best Screenplay - Where you've written your future down and played it out

* Best Supporting Act - Where you've supported others beyond the call of duty

* Best Sporting Performance - A new PB perhaps

* Best Team - Where you've worked best as a Team-Player.

I could go cheerily on but this post is just mean't to plant a notion about being your 'Best' and to be proud to stand in your own spotlight for once.

Being Average isn't Awesome - What award are you going for?

Rory Coleman

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

Crazy - Seal

Lyric:- 'In a world full of people there's only some want to fly' - Seal

Song Choice:- My word back in 1990, I went 'Crazy' about this one and rushed out immediately and bought the CD Single. Apart from the wonderful 'Killer' by Adams and 'Kiss from a Rose', Seal's other offerings seem to have passed me by, maybe 'Crazy' was just too hard an act to follow.

Anyway, it’s the 'In a world full of people there's only some want to fly', line that I love in this track and it describes exactly how I feel today. After all these years’, especially in the city where I live, I still feel very different from those I see around me as I see very few people whom want to ‘Fly.

It’s a tragedy I believe, and there are far too many people just jogging along, and logging into a virtual world of non-reality…

Today, was a gloriously warm day in Cardiff. The Pier Head by the Senedd  was packed as was the Pier at Penarth. The part of the 840 miles of Wales Coastal Path after that was totally empty and if folk had only flown down their they could have seen a fantastic seal basking in the sunlight on a secluded beach near Sully.

It’s time to ‘Fly’ folks, as if you don’t well, 'you're never gonna survive'…

And that would be ‘Crazy’…

Rory Coleman

963 Marathons - 240 Ultra-Marathons - 12 Marathon des Sables - 9 Guinness World Records