Lyrics:- 'I know just who I am' - Ashcroft
Song Choice:- Long before Richard Ashcroft started believing his own press, he penned 'Bitter Sweet Symphony' and the beautifully crafted 'Lucky Man'. If you get a quiet 4.53 minutes to yourself later on, or over the weekend at 'Race to the Stones', have a listen. If you are lucky enough to be at RTTS over two days and are camping overnight, look out over the landscape in front of you and enjoy the topographic serenity of freedom that trail running can bring you. I looked at it for ages last year and it was simply breath-taking. I felt really lucky.
True I'll really miss being there this year, encouraging my Dixons Carphone Runners during their first Ultra on Saturday and onto their first 100km multi-day on Sunday. It’s sad, I’ll miss the triumphant finale to all their training as right now I have to concentrate my energy into exorcising the CIDP plague that, despite more IVIGs, is still causing me mobility problems and means I'm in for an extended stay in hospital.
So why choose 'Lucky Man' for today's song? Well because I think am. I’m lucky to have ‘Raced’ to the Stones twice already and it’s just not important right now as there’s the joy of our Baby being born next week (hopefully), and me being able to support Jenny for once instead of her propping me up all the time. What with that and the amazing family and friends supporting me with a massive crowd funding total that has simply stunned me. Who’d disagree?
There’s lots going on out there and I have a grandstand seat via a great internet connection at the hospital. I’m using it to keep my mind active and I'm watching the 'Days of Sobriety' totalizers click over for some of my clients abstaining from alcohol. I have 20, 100 and 300 days 'Since-a-drink' milestones in progress and feel proud and valued to be part of their successes.
My own 8000+ days is still one of my greatest achievements to date and luckily it's one I can maintain during the battle I'm facing over the next few months for sure. The battle is over on that one.
Knowing when to fight CIDP, when to rest and when to fight again is now becoming more natural for me as I get to learn even more about my inner resolve. As you know I'll never stop battling. Today's standing up from a sitting-down position might have taken all my energy, but it's another tick in the box and I’ll repeat tomorrow, twice. But you probably knew that anyway…
Any small gain feels like a victory, so I’m battling on, with your help with our Crowd Funding.
Rory Coleman
976 marathons - 241 Ultras - 9 Guinness World Records - 13 Marathon des Sables
You should feel proud Rory, in the short time I've known you, you've amazed me with your boundless positivity to life, incredible capacity to overcome challenges and generosity that I've never experienced before. Great song choice - I was listening to it earlier on my run, feeling lucky to have you as my coach and knowing I wouldn't be at day 18 without you. The fact that you've supported me through that and got me focused on my running, all whilst lying in hospital not knowing wtf is about to happen is just ... beyond my capacity for words to describe. So thank you again and hoping the treatment starts to kick in and you gain some strength to welcome you're new addition next week! Tish
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