Ordinary World - Duran Duran

Is it me or do the Duran Duran boys have different hair follicles to mine? They must as mine is getting greyer and thinner and Simon Le Bon's is getting stronger and browner! I must say that at 50+ the Duranies are looking exceptionally good and looking back over the last 30 years have made some great music... was Planet Earth really 1981...

In 30 years time will be saying the same about Rihanna... I hope not as her records just plague me wherever I go it seems... talk about talentless!

So in 2041, I will be looking closely at an 80+ year old Simon Le Bon, will he still have those flowing locks?... will I have any hair left?... who knows. I'm 49 this weekend and still thinking 'Rio' was No 1 only yesterday... not 1983!

My how time's change...

More tomorrow!

Shopping - Pet Shop Boys

Well we finally got the racking up and Jenny is busy stock-taking ready for the website launch of http://www.ultrastore.co.uk/ next month. It's made a huge difference to our office and looks very professional... a good job too as we are in full MdeS Kit season right now.

There was one casualty today when Jenny's iPhone took a spin around the washing machine and I for one will be amazed if it survives this intact especially as it went down the loo last year!

It's been a good day though and the lighter nights are helping to make me feel that Spring is on the way... a 7am run tomorrow will help get the week off with a bang. It's getting busy!

More tomorrow...

Car Wash - Rose Royce

I discovered that our cars are in fact Silver and Blue today as I washed a very dirty January off our vehicles. One of the things I noticed in Australia, was just how clean everything stayed out there and that it's so much cleaner with out half a ton of mud and winter salt.

Today was bitter in my opinion and I am really suffering with the harshness of the weather and just getting my feet and hands warm is unusually hard... an unheard of for me as I am unusually a T Shirt in winter sort of chap.

With the daylight slowly extending, maybe there's hope and light at the end of my winter tunnel and glady February beckons... and some nice spring running out there in the warmth!

I must say I am looking forward to our trip to Northern Ireland this week and will let you know more of the mission later in the week... now where's my slippers as my feet are like ice blocks and there's another cold night ahead!

Life of Mine - Toxic Federation

Makes me wonder with the celebrity culture that we now live in, whether ULTRA-running would have some good effect on those in dark places. Take the news today of actor Charlie Sheen... maybe if he experienced some of the natural highs that I and I am sure many of you have experienced ULTRA-running, then he might finally get rid of the Drugs and Alcohol nightmare that he is currently experiencing and that will probably hound him for ever.

I think it's a real shame that these people live with these pressures and no outlet to relieve their emotions but to mentally drop out with drugs...

Whether George Michael for instance will EVER come and run an ULTRArace, well we'll have to wait and see... we won't hold our breath BUT what we DO know is that maybe he'd be in a better place if he came and did a few miles with us.

More tomorrow...

Fantastic Day - Haircut 100

We saw a man of about 30 yesterday on the tube with a 'Bobby Charlton' Comb-over. It was mighty weird and a real fashion flashback to the 70's. Let's hope that they are not coming into fashion eh? It does show that what goes around comes around and no doubt the 'Kevin Webster' moustache will be next... though as a previous culprit myself, I am not too sure that I will be regrowing my whiskers.

I recently looked at my shiny Nike purple running shorts that I ran my first ever marathon in and for sure they were a massive fashion statement at the time but a real mistake in hindsight ... I am keeping them though for my 1000th Marathon, whenever that is... if I can still fit in them of course. Seems only right to finish as I started!

From now on it's keeping it simple, especially with what hair I have left and making sure that there is no evidence of any facial hair...

More tomorrow... now where's my Mach 3...

Right Here Right Now - Jesus Jones

Well it's official Jesus has a mobile. We know this as Jenny had a text today from him saying that 'She was loved' and continued 'Seek an U will find'. The fact that it said that and not 'Seek and You shall find', might mean that it's not REALLY the big man himself. Hmm.... makes you wonder though. Anyway If you you can call him on 07875 704763 and you can find out for yourself. S'pose he would be on Virgin Mobile eh?

Back to earth and we are now recovered from the weekend and ready for a day out tomorrow on the London ULTRA course. A 5am start and a few miles to Wembley and back... can't be bad.

More tomorrow...

Feedback - Janet Jackson

Well we've been blown away today with the feedback from ULTRArace 45. People are so kind and it makes our world a very nice warm place when we know we are giving folk what they want at the weekend.

Over 90 miles in the mud and dark on a canal in January has never been so much fun eh?

Back in the real world and after emptying a van of race refuse it was a ten hill rep session with M2M Runner Claire Wright... and boy it hurt! That suffocation/asthma feeling mixed with a bit of pukey queasiness never gets any better I can tell you. I was so glad it was over... and as for Claire, she is going great guns and has achieved a great level of fitness and confidence following my ULTRA running training plan.

Tomorrow... well Jenny and I start a run up to her Celtic Plate 100kms with some early morning conditioning sessions and running... hmm lovely.

More then...

Bodytalk - Imagination

Watching the runners set off this morning on ULTRArace 45 day two, I got to thinking about just how amazing the human body is. 45 miles or so is an awfully long distance for anyone to consider to run, let alone complete. Doing this twice in two days, in the mud and cold of a January weekend and it starts sounding remarkable to me.

It wasn't an easy day out for some of our competitors, battling injuries as well as plain fatigue BUT they got there... in great spirit and that's what we are all about at ULTRArace. As I write, I am waiting for the final three to complete their runs and I know that next in, Andy Stewart, will have great smile on his face and be more than happy about his weekend's racing. People are nice you see...

As for us, well we are knackered but most happy that we have had another great event... more later.

Nightfever - The Bee Gees

It's been a great day out of course on ULTRArace 45 today... and yet again we've been blown away by all of the runners in this amazing sport of ULTRA-running that we all enjoy so much. In a world of politics, rising petrol prices and so much negativity it's really heartening to be surrounded by so many positively minded people.

With our numbers expanding and the 9bar UK ULTRArace Championship now getting underway we feel delighted to be part of the recent ULTRA running explosion in Britain. Having the added bonus of runners from Germany and Sweden's Torkel Skogman breaking the course record by 1 minute in 6hrs and 26mins... is just fantastic.

These are great days at ULTRArace and it's another day out on ULTRArace 45 tomorrow... now where's my gloves...

More later...

The Race - Yello

Well it's been a day of buzz and preparation today as we prepared for ULTRArace 45. I always find these days exciting as the athletes gather to get their numbers and goody bags prior to the race. They all have such great stories and share the same dream of running huge distances and testing their inner limits.

Ours will be tested no doubt over the weekend with the cold weather... boy it's cold tonight!

Hopefully the sun will shine on us tomorrow and we will have great tales to tell when all the athletes have reached Tring.

More tomorrow...

Waterfall - Stone Roses

What would you do if your house started to flood? Well we found out yesterday when a hot water pipe came off from it's mounting under our bath. Being in the bath at the time, I couldn't see what all the fuss was about, yet downstairs Jenny was starring in Titanic 2 and clearly in distress.

Never has a naked man moved so fast in finding a stop cock, I can tell you.

It's just what you need when you are a couple of days away from your first big event of 2011. Although I must say that our kitchen got a great spring clean... at one o'clock this morning, yikes... what a nightmare!

Bring on the weekend... it will be great to be back in the saddle!

Tori Amos - The Sandwich Song

What's going on at Starbucks? Their sandwiches are disappearing. Let me explain...We've been out and about on the ULTRArace 45 course today marking the route and as ever the early start meant a stopover at the services and a good old Starbucks coffee...

The Coleman Dustbin as ever needed filling and I spied a very nice looking BLT, ONLY being packed as two halves on top of each other, it looked a bit narrow. On getting two of these together to build a whole round, it was obvious that about half an inch of middle sandwich was missing - I checked everywhere and even asked to a very blank face but the extra piece of sandwich was nowhere to be found.

Explanations anyone - or do Starbucks suppliers give the bigger halves to M&S... I need to know!

Oh, how was the route?... it was great and a beautiful day out. If you are coming, you'll love it!

More later...

4am Eternal - Lost Prophets

What is it with 4am? I must have a built in body alarm clock as everyday I wake up at 4am on the dot... and that's whether it's here or in Australia... it's plain weird.

I wouldn't mind too much if I was going to bed at 6pm. like Jenny (now she can sleep for Wales) as I would be getting a good ten hours or so... , but I can't and won't as I am trying to get my days back to normal... well whatever normal is in 'Roryworld'.

Hopefully the upcoming ULTRArace 45 weekend will soon put me back straight and the thought of getting up at 4am a thing of the past.

Is anyone else feeling the 4am unrest at the moment? As it's strange that this is occurring at a time where I am not over training and feel very chilled after a great holiday.

Any pointers would be well received... more later or call me at 4am... I'll be up!

Back in Black - ACDC

And Yes, we are finally back from our adventures in Australia… an extreme, wonderful and very warm place to be at New Year’s, I can tell you. I must say that before going,  I was a little sceptical of returning home with an Australian twang and being labelled a 'Whinging Pom' but neither happened, in fact the Aussies were just lovely and even at their lowest point at the Test Match they were most welcoming. Owzthat eh!

Certainly Sydney's Harbour with Bridge and Opera House are just simply iconic landmarks and probably the highlights of our time there. So much so that I took on the 1149 metres of The Harbour Bridge 38 times to do the first Sydney Harbour Bridge Marathon in a modest 4.51.01 on the muggiest day I could have picked. A remarkably hard run of half ascent, descent amidst bewildered tourists and security guards. A new marathon genre has been invented I believe...

Back home after a very worrying flight(s) with Air China now famous for it's Chicken Porridge, we are slowly getting back to normal in ULTRAworld. It's hard being wide awake at 3am and dead to the world at 3pm but hopefully normal service will soon be resumed. My word it's a long old way down under!

Anyway, it's half-eight at night and time for bed... got to be up at 3am!

Ashes to Ashes - David Bowie

Well there's only one place to be when the Ashes are in Town and that's the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). I must say that the Aussies have been quite quiet so far, especially as they have already list The Ashes but also because right now they are 230/8.

Most of the crowd seem to be from the UK!

Being sat here in a borrowed England shirt feels a most priveleged position, I can tell you. With my daily 10k already racked up, over the Harbour Bridge and around the Opera House, Blighty feels a lot more than 17,000kms away.

I did come up with the idea of a Bridge Marathon this morning and so a 42.2kms is on the cards later this week. Maybe I will do The Severn Bridge when I get back.

Anyway, back to the match at Swann has just come on to bowl...

New Years Day - U2

New Years Day in Australia at 26 degrees in the shade is a very strange concept... Especially following a breathtaking Firework display over Sydney Harbour Bridge in shirt sleeves. Our trip has already taken us to Bondi and Bront beaches and some amazing surfing even for me as a bit of a non-swimmer!

Highlights so far must be the Bridge and the iconic Sydney Opera House...

We are off up the coast for a few days later in the week and so will be in radio silence...

More later following some aftersun as I regrettably now need to wear a hat at all times and the P20 just doesn't cut the mustard here!