The Caveman Song - Mike Oldfield

Just how far is the digital age going to take us I ask, as I am getting worried to where it's all going to end... Take my hifi when I was just 19, well you couldn't have, unless you had a low loader. it was massive... 40 WATTS RMS of Pioneer Hifi separates pounding into a pair of Wharfedale Teesdale SP2 Speakers, which were so big you could have used them as matching wardrobes... my word did it pound out my Pink Floyd at near pain threshold sound levels with minimal distortion. Yes there was the odd Dolby hiss and Wow and Flutter but hey, it was good enough.

Walkman's had only just been invented and the mobile phone was a good 10 years in the future and internet -  well just a dream away... life was simple in the 'Analogue Age'.

Now take my surprise today as in Comet, (that same store I got my £400 hifi from back then) when I plugged my iPhone, (including Video and Stills Camera, Internet, Email and Skype) into a Docking port on a compact Hifi the size of a Cornflakes packet, shaped like a zeppelin and nearly blew the doors off the shop... talk about quality, pure magic with a bit of MP3 Floyd going amidst the white goods was just amazing I can tell you BUT...

Where will it end... what's next and will I like it, or need it... rather than engineer things smaller maybe we should be looking at eradicating Leprosy, Cancer or the Common Cold... it does make me wonder. I would go back to my old hifi if we could... anyway there's a thought.

I am off to look at Ebay and get a pair of Teesdale SP2's... need something to hang my clothes in and watch out neighbours!

New Song - Metallica

It just shows you that it doesn't matter how many times you do something, there is always a new aspect or view that you can find and appreciate. This happened today as I rounded the Bennerley Viaduct near Ilkeston and found a footpath that in over 90 times, that I had never seen before.

It was an amazing revelation and my MdeS partner for the day, Richard Galbraith, looked on as I groped the bricks and looked up at the wrought iron girders.

This revelation added to a wonderful day out on a very, very cold day in Derbyshire... with one of the fittest MdeS guys that I have been lucky to run with.

Watch this space...

Rooftops - Lost Prophets

Ahhhh... at last I can rest this month as I have just put the January Newsletter to bed and I will be sending it to out to our loyal readers later on tonight.

I must admit to getting excited at writing the second page where I did my own feature on focus and motivation...

Having never really suffered with either, it was quite hard to contemplate how others might feel about running... since starting in 1994 I have never regretted EVER putting on my trainers and hitting the trail, it has brought me some amazing experiences and engaged me with a wide spectrum of incredible people. I must say meeting the people has always been my favourite part of running and this alone is worth every second you devote to what we love doing most.

So, if like me you like what we do... don't be a 'Lost Prophet' and shout it from the 'Rooftops'... most apt and keep an eye on your email later on eh?

Very Necessary - Salt N Peppa

'Salting in Progress' it said on the overhead gantry signs on the M4 and M5 today. I can only think it's an anagram of 'Angering Strip Loss', as that is what it actually was...the outside lanes were ice and snow and we didn't see a Gritter from Cardiff to Derby tonight.

There was more salt on Jenny's Crisps than the road! And there were plenty of people driving with potato size brains as some of the manoeuvres we saw were just plain stupidity.

I suppose we got what we deserved joining all those folk doing 'Essential journeys only' in a multitude of different 4x4s.

Note to self, move the car off the mountain side BEFORE there is 14 inches of snow to negotiate on a near vertical drive... it was a lot of fun though and Jenny's face on the descent was just a picture especially on the very slippery bits.

More tomorrow Gang.

Move any Mountain - The Shamen

There's a huge mountain to move at Hotel Salter as 14 inches of good honest Welsh snow has blocked us in. We tried a little in vain to shift it but to be honest it's been just too much to get rid of as even with a couple of parallel tyre tracks dug in place, we didn't chance taking the car down the hill. If we had the front valance wouldn't have stood a chance anyway I believe...

Maybe some thawing tomorrow will help but at the moment we are living, working and running from our new Welsh headquarters, in a real 'Winter Wonderland'.

On a training note, I did manage to get out for a good hours run and took on Caerphilly Hill once again and even ventured into local Llanishen to witness just how many folk were stripping Salisbury's of any food they could get their hands on, as the snow and ice looks like its taken hold now for a few days to come.

Tomorrow's run might get me as far as The Cardiff ULTRA trail and you never know and we might get the car down the drive... but not to Derby!!!

Watch this space and more then...

Snow Patrol - In My Arms

We needed a Snow Patrol today as 14 inches of Snow hit Cardiff and guess where we were... Yes Cardiff of course! In an amazing scene the snow just kept falling by the bucket load! The very Christmassy Scene descended very early this morning and just kept falling. We ventured out this afternoon and enjoyed running up Caerphilly Hill out of the city, running off road and uphill on some tracks, literally knee deep on the trail.

The opportunity of running in these conditions was just too good to miss out on... it was just an amazing experience.

Tomorrow, well I am hoping to get out on the Cardiff ULTRA course and get some miles in but we'll see eh?

More then... ho. ho, ho...

Warren Zevon - Werewolves of London

One of the drawbacks of getting older it seems is that you get hairier, except the on the one place that you need it... your head and nowadays I spend more time getting my body mowed than going to the hairdressers. I am not in the same league as my good friend Chris Seeney (the hairiest man alive) but I am slightly worried about my future levels of torso stubble.

Does anyone else have that problem?

I can remember being 18 and having just the three hairs on my chest and even having pet names for them... it does seem quite strange that thirty years on Tom, Dick and Harry have been able to reproduce so many offsprings.

If there is a way I can trade them in for a Ken Barlow or Trevor Eve style thatch that would be a Godsend for my remaining thinning silver locks, in the meantime I will just have to bale my chest trimmings and make a suitable wig...

Now there's a thought.