Home by the Sea - Genesis

We went to the coast today to stretch our legs and give our furniture a rest from being bitten by our Mad Puppy...Down at Sully, we were blown inside out by the wind and nearly washed by a few waves down on a very quiet beach. The normally busy 'Captain's Wife pub deserted and a walk out to Sully Island simply impossible. It was a lovely hour or so on the beach...

Makes you wonder when we ARE going to get those summer rays as Aberystwyth got a real battering last night.

I thought the sun always shone in Wales...

Football's Coming Home - Three Lions '98

Warren Gatland

With just 50 days to go until the Summer Olympics, we now have Euro 2012 (did you see the crazy opening ceremony?) followed closely by Wimbledon to whet our sporting appetites...

We already know in our heart of hearts that England won't win the football - especially as they can't even pick a team yet as the second choice, second rate manager is still deciding whether to choose Ferdinand (3rd choice for MUFC on most Saturdays) or not for the team. I reckon Germany will win the tournament as they are a cohesive TEAM that expect to win...with losing not being an option.

Anyway moving on, at Wimbledon, Andy Murray will crash out in the Quarter or Semi-Finals and will sound as mono-syllabic as ever in defeat.

IMO, What they need is a bit of positive coaching from someone like Sir Clive Woodward... a coach who can direct, encourage and create a team of WINNERS... isn't it time that these over paid sports stars delivered for once.?

Just take a look at Wales' Rugby Players , what a great advert for team work and belief... Warren Gatland's men are going to give Australia a right hard match tomorrow, you mark my words... I reckon England and Andy Murray need to do a few hard scrum sessions with the mighty Reds... that would harden them up a bit.

Be good spectator sport too...

Venus - Bananarama

Did you see the Transit of Venus? No, not a new Van that Ford have launched but the path of the planet Vebus crossing the sun. Transits of Venus are among the rarest of predictable astronomical phenomena. They occur in a pattern that repeats every 243 years, with pairs of transits eight years apart separated by long gaps of 121.5 years and 105.5 years.

The transit of Venus on 5 and 6 June 2012, and was the last Venus transit of the 21st century. The next transits of Venus will be December 10-11, 2117. So it's a once in a lifetime occurrence and even knowing this I couldn't be bothered to witness it.

I wonder why that is as I am genuinely interested in astronomy and was most keen on the Solar Eclipse of 1999... maybe Venus hasn't quite got the WOW factor eh?

Makes you wonder just how important knowing what is going on outside of our world is of interest to us in our everyday lives... certainly when you see a Solar Eclipse it is an incredibly powerful and emotional occurrence that makes you wonder at how lucky we are to even exist... Making sure that you make the most of it during the blink of an eye that you are here is SO important.

Hmm, maybe I should have got up and seen that Transit?

The Works - Queen

Well how was your first day back at work? Mine was superbusy and will be tomorrow with more MdS Training for 2013 Runners. Running around Cardiff today, it was like the city there was a little bit of a Jubilee Weekend hangover and the torential rain made it a very hard day to be out running but hey ho we got it done :-)

Better news is that my website www.rorycoleman.co.uk is now live following some updates with more information about training for Ultra's and Marathons with my 12 week Programmes to help you reach your running goals. Jen's new 3hrs 10mins Pb says it all...

I'm using this myself to get my marathon times back to where they used to be, so watch this space...

More tomorrow...

Jessie J - Domino

Well did you see the concert? Boy oh boy some of the old pension brigade of entertainers - namely Paul McCartney, Elton John and Cliff Richard should have been left firmly in the home or should that be FLAT...as it was just plain nasty at times. No wonder the Queen was wearing bright yellow earplugs.

Gary Barlow must have been disappointed with some of the weaker performances which is a shame as it had started far too well with Robbie Williams and Jessie J who both showing that they could actually SING unlike the horrific Will-i-am. Don't worry though Gazza as your knighthood's still safe...

Although, wheeling out Rolf Harris and 'C' list celebs including the ever talentless Lenry Henry didn't do it any favours either IMO to nail it all together. What we needed was Duran Duran and where were Coldplay? Were none of the world's best acts unavailable? We had a crummy rendition of Beautiful Day instead of the Real U2 (sorry Dan) and where were Queen?

Happily it did look like the Royals liked the Gig and Prince Charles speech was just a perfect way of summing up why so many people had gone to celebrate the occasion. Hopefully at the 70 year Platinum Jubilee, Annie Lennox and all the other no-hopers will be long gone and Cliff won't be trying to sing the Young Ones at 82?

Let's hope eh?

Dizzee Rascal - Round We Go

It was a marathon with a twist today down on the site of the old A2 in Kent, courtesy of our good ULTRArace friend, Ian J Berry... the Kent Roadrunner Marathon is actually a 17 lapped 26.2 miler around the lavish Cyclopark attraction which has been built over the carriageway...

It was a very good multi lapped and undulating course with a nasty hill halfway down the back straight but it didn't stop Slaterchops amongst many others getting a new marathon best of 3hrs 10mins... My 84th best time ever of 3hrs 57mins was mildly hindered by a bit of Dog walking and watering if I was being honest but all in all a good day out, with even some sun later in the day.

It was also good to see some of the old 100 marathon Club runners too especially Pete Morris and John Williams... shame Big Dave Carter and Paul Adams weren't there too... miss 'em...

Celebrate - Kool and the Gang

Well on this marvellous Jubilee Weekend, isn't it sad that there's an anti-royalist protest planned during the Jubilee River Pageant... no matter what you think about the Queen etc. if people want to celebrate, why can't they just get on with it without people trying to ruin their fun. 

Apparently, they will hold placards and banners saying 'citizen not subject', 'power to the people' and 'democracy not monarchy'. Guest speakers at the event include human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell and columnist Joan Smith. 

Republic's chief executive Graham Smith said: "Our message is to the wider public that there is an active and growing movement they can join rather than sitting and watching on TV. We are planning a peaceful protest and many families will be joining us". 

"We can't wait for Sunday. Our loud, bold and provocative protest will be a major step forward for the republican movement and an opportunity to kick-start a real debate about the future of the monarchy. The royals spend most of their lives shielded from criticism; this protest will give them a rare glimpse of the strength of republican sentiment in Britain today". 

Hmm...Why don't they just enjoy a long weekend like everyone else, as it's an extra day off work... That's what we're doing and not trying to spoil lots of people's fun. 

More tomorrow after the Kent Roadrunner Marathon...