Round and Around - The Pink Floyd

Song Choice:- Taken from Pink Floyd's 1987 album 'A Momentary Lapse of Reason' this 1.33 minute track usually preceded 'Sorrow' at their live shows and it's a wonderfully haunting piece of 'Floyd Magical Music' IMO. It's well worth listening to it on their 'Delicate Sound of Thunder' album - but you'll need to play it very loudly with a good sub to get the full effect - make sure the neighbours are out or like mine are deaf!

You see it's the 'Sorrow' in the music itself that I find interesting. Googling, the noun 'Sorrow' means 'a feeling of deep distress caused by loss, disappointment, or other misfortune suffered by oneself or others'. To me it just means 'Failure'... and I'd love to know what I find so abhorrent about 'Failing' as it's been one of my limiting 'Life-Factors' I believe.

Is it a result of growing up in an male only school-environment in the very Non-PC 70's - where one slip could cause a school life-time of distress and ridicule? I'd love to know. My non-tolerance of folk giving up is legendary and my 'non-failure focus at any cost' has enabled me to be incredibly driven and achieve but hasn't helped me make friends in certain circles it would appear.

Then again, well into my sixth decade, I'm not sure whether it's something I should worry about or change especially after last year's 'Life-is-too-short' realisation. I do feel 'Sorrow' though, but I believe that's more about looking at life in the rear-view mirror a bit especially as I'm getting older at some of the things I didn't do along the way to today. 

Wow, there are some things I wish I should have done and now never will..

Maybe I'll be more forward focussed following the three day 'Bank-Holiday Cease-Fire'. It is a time though where thoughts go 'Round and Around' again and a couple of marathons will get me fired up and feeling super-positive again.

How's your Bank Holiday shaping up?

Rory Coleman - 990 Marathons - 244 Ultras - 14 Marathon des Sables

9 Guinness World Records - 8,545 Days' Alcohol Free - 394 Days' post GBS

& 1 Inspirational Running Memoir - Get your copy here.

Location:- Cardiff, Wales

Robbery, Assault and Battery - Genesis

Lyrics:- 'I'll be back some day, just the combination will have changed' - Banks

Song Choice:- Side Two of 'A Track of the Tail' already and next is the lively 'Robbery, Assault and Battery' which was mostly written by Banks. It was an attempt to capture some of the story telling magic from previous Gabriel tracks, like 'Harold the Barrel' and 'Battle of Epping Forest'. It works too, and Collins is in great form as the 'Artful Dodger' style character singing the lyrics. It was one of my real favourites and also features on the double live, 'Seconds Out' which I can remember buying on it's release date on 'Double Cassette'... Wow those were the days eh? £6.99 too...

The lyrics feel most apt today as I return to the desert in less than three weeks knowing that my combination has definitely changed - maybe not physically for the better but possibly more positively in my mental state. I've learned a lot in 12 months.

Hindsight of course is a wonderful thing and I'm sure if we returned to any time in our lives we'd do things differently and change the plot. I certainly would avoid racing my pushbike into the front of an Austin Maxi outside the Royal Shakespeare Theatre taking the corner into Waterside banked over like Barry Sheene - that hurt I can tell you. (12th October, 1980 btw)... The lump on my head is a daily reminder.

Let's face it, what's done is done and are just poor reflections of ourselves - folk that have over-promised and under-delivered. Sadly very few will ever get to really ever get to see their real 'Me' and get the chance to reflect in their own glory. Stepping on those pavement cracks takes courage, and playing safe is never the best way of playing the cards on the table I've found. It's worth having a go as it's never too late.

It's just a shame not a Robbery, Assault or Battery if you don't try. It's just a crime that comes without sentence or fine you just have to use the combination you already know? Or do you need help unlocking the chains?

Rory Coleman - 986 Marathons - 241 Ultras - 13 Marathon des Sables

9 Guinness World Records - 8,474 Days' Alcohol Free

& 1 Inspirational Running Memoir - Get your copy here.

Location:- Caerdydd, Cymru

Mad Man Moon - Genesis

The Good Old Days...

Lyrics:- 'If this desert's all there'll ever be, then tell me what becomes of me' - Banks

Song Choice:- As our 'A Trick of the Tail' journey continues, we hit my least favourite track on the record, Mad Man Moon. Or at least it was until today... Written by keyboard genius Tony Banks, it's always sounded such a let down following on from Squonk. Back in the day, as the last track on side one of the album, it was far too easy to flip the LP it and play a much more upbeat Side Two.

Anyway, I listened to it again with a fresh heart and it's actually a brilliant song. In super hi-quality sound without the vinyl wow and flutter and scratches of a 70's hi-fi - The piano and Collins vocals sound so pure. Amazing the things you missed back then eh?

The album was released before the long hot summer of 1976 yet, I remember the snowflakes falling in June 1975, that ruined Cricket matches all over the UK being played followed by a searing hot summer similar to that of '76.

Back then you didn't have to go on a 'Sahara Desert Adventure' to experience unbearable heat, a drought that could kill and pray for thunderclouds and rain - as the rivers really dry up that year.

It was an amazing phenomenon to live through and those long hot summers certainly brought their own adventures.

Adventures long gone and forty years on, I'm still wandering around in the sand, still searching beyond the final crest - for the that Mad Man Moon.

Maybe another long hot summer would do us good.

Rory Coleman - 986 Marathons - 241 Ultras - 13 Marathon des Sables

9 Guinness World Records - 8,473 Days' Alcohol Free

& 1 Inspirational Running Memoir - Get your copy here.

Location: Pembroke Road, Cardiff,United Kingdom

Ease the Pressure - The Beloved

Lyrics:- 'If you talk to me, then I will tell you something, like how it ought to be' - Marsh & Marsh

Song Choice:- This is a great song from way back in 1996 and it's one that I use a lot in my training and racing. Great lyrics, great driving beat and a great way of passing 4:35 minutes of any long run if you ask me.

'Pressure'...

Just uttering the word seems to increase any 'Pressure' that you might feeling, right now, and it's close friend 'Stress' both have a lot to answer for in my opinion, especially in our modern day live's where there's little time for considered thought and even less time for thoughtful actions.

Pressure and Stress are emotions I don't believe I suffer from too much, but it's 'Pressure' that I'm really interested in exploring for today's blog, especially when it's 'Peer Pressure' and in my case is something that's been affecting my world from someone else's thoughts that have been 'projected' onto them.

I won't go into detail but being whom I am I suppose and having some strong opinion on things based on extensive research and experience, I do get the odd bit of trolling from a minority amongst the masses. I've just got used to it over the years and if you stand out from the crowd, folk are bound to take a few pot-shots aren't they?

Anyway, I had a lovely email from one of the '2016 MdS Runners' saying that they 'wish that they would have spoken up more against the bullies' last year. 

'How lovely...

It was actually, and I'm sure we've all been guilty at one time or another of 'going with the flow' or 'siding with the bigger children in the playground', rather than standing out and risking the focus of the ridicule being shone in our direction instead. 

Let's face it - who wants to be associated with the guy that's getting all the flack?

Well I don't mind one bit, as I know my own thoughts and can make my own decisions without 'Peer Pressure' affecting my opinion.

Ask yourself - Who's driving you today? - I'm firmly behind my own steering wheel, are YOU?

Rory Coleman - 984 Marathons - 241 Ultras - 13 Marathon des Sables

9 Guinness World Records - 8,463 Days' Alcohol Free

& 1 Inspirational Running Memoir - Get your copy here.

Location: Cardiff, Wales

Exit - U2

Lyric:- 'He went deeper into black, deeper into white' - Hewson

Song Choice:- Yikes, I had messages of sympathy following yesterday's blog and I didn't set out to write a tale of woe or sound like I'm teetering on 'The Edge' if you forgive the pun, it was just about me saying that I now have a clear vision of exactly where I am and about exactly where I'm going with the body and mind I now have.

It all sounds and sounded a bit grim, and it gets a bit grimmer if you look into Bono's raison d'être for writing the song in the first place. Apparently it's about being inside the mind of a serial killer! Something I certainly can't connect with but in the murder trial of Rebecca Schaeffer, Robert John Bardo used 'Exit' as part of his defence, claiming the song had influenced his actions. Nice...

See, I told you it was grim!

Anyway, I'm going to take this song onto a personal level that I can resonate with and the notion to me about the track is about a guy who gets an idea stuck in his head - and in this sense that's me to a tee. I totally get it, and I love the 'He went deeper into black, deeper into white' line... as my world has been SO 100% Jet Black and 100% Snow White for 23 years. In fact, the ends of my Spectrum were and have been so far apart - there was literally no colour shape or form in between. 

Discovering how far I could make these poles apart, only made the whole process more rewarding.

The challenge now comes with how much colour I'm going to let back into my post GBS world... and that's the big hurdle I now have to face - no sympathy required.

And I'll of course keep you posted...

Rory Coleman - 982 Marathons - 241 Ultras - 13 Marathon des Sables 

9 Guinness World Records - 8,443 Days' Alcohol Free.

& 1 Inspirational Running Memoir - Get your copy here.

Location: Caerdydd, Cymru - God's Country

Forever - The Charlatans

On being a 'Champion'

Lyric:- 'Oh I wonder what you people do with your lives' - Blunt, Brookes, Burgess, Collins & Rogers

Song Choice:- A lesser know Charlatans single but one of their finest IMO and highlights my thoughts today quite nicely about 'Running' and it's 'Forever" qualities. Got to #12 this one btw and has some super-subsonic bass which is well worth a listen.

Anyway, my Friday thoughts are about YOU becoming your own 'Champion' in whatever event you are contemplating taking part in this year. For me running in the same Flora London Marathon Race as Paula in 2003 and sharing her Post-Race Press Conference was a real honour. Being tapped on the shoulder and being wished 'Good Luck' by Mohamad Ahansal at the start of this year's Marathon des Sables was another real-life moment. How many races would that happen in?

You see, you can't run out onto Old Trafford for a kick-about with Wayne or drive your family runabout around Monaco trying to keep up with Lewis. Even if you could, hurry up as Wayne and Lewis won't be doing it themselves much longer as retirement beckons.

We, on the other hand, have a lifetime left in our running exploits and can therefore spread them out and achieve more personal goals for a whole lot longer. I can't think of a 55-year old striker playing in the Premier League right now. Plenty talking for hours about it on TV, dropping in their own achievements and their aitches along the way and wishing they were young once more and could play again.

So, the word this Friday, is that we are lucky as we can run 'Forever' and live out our dreams rather than watch others live out theirs.

Rory Coleman - 980 Marathons - 241 Ultras - 13 Marathon des Sables

9 Guinness World Records - 8,415 Days' Alcohol Free

& 1 Inspirational Running Memoir - Get your copy here

Location: Cardiff, Wales