Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau - That's the Welsh National Anthem to you and me...

We've been to ARAF today for Jenny to be photographed with one of  the Welsh Rugby players George North. He's 19, very nice and built like an outside shed btw. As were all of the other players we saw.

One was the best part of 6ft 10ins... I think Jonny and his boys will have their work cut out with these chaps... I dread to think what the Kiwis must be like.

Anyway, it was lovely to see Jenny get some recognition for her running and great that Welsh Athletics are so positive about ULTRA-running and their runners. My Welsh Granddad wiuld have been proud too...

More tomorrow...

Break the Rules - The Mighty Status Quo

Now you know I don't like loads of rules but I am predicting a bit of an Olympic nightmare for poor old Seb and his merry band of followers at the games next year... I know the sprinters use the 'one false start and you are still in' as part of their psychological approach to their races BUT if I'd trained for most of my life for less than 10 seconds on a July evening to make my mark in life, then I think I would want the best man to win.

Who won the men's 100 metres last night? Dunno, but I know who lost it Mr Bolt.

Hopefully Paula won't be in that situation and will retire before the games and will find her way onto the commentators panel and get rid of some of the useless ones we seem to be stuck with... (Early 90's pre-proper test athletes don't make good commentators... apart from Crammy who is 10/10 in my book). Don't get me wrong Paula is simply awesome and I stood next to her, the day of her world best and 9 years on it's going to be a very tall order to beat the up and coming stars of the marathon.

It will be interesting to see just how many of the OLD world records go... not many I bet! High Jump, Long Jump and Triple Jump for instance haven't been broken for 16 years... and the only ones that are going, they have stupid rules for...

Think on Seb...

Take it to the Limit - The Eagles

Gosh, what a weekend we have had. Rory entered the Smugglers Trod up in Yorkshire on the Saturday so we were up at 4am. After dropping Rory off I thought I'd fit in a parkrun in Middlesbrough which wasn't that far away. Then I drove around the moors meeting Rorz at various muddy places - it looked like a brutal event and one that I was very pleased not to have entered, not because it didn't look like fun, but because I knew I would have got lost within the first 10 yards! Rorz did really well and was disgustingly un-stiff for the rest of the day, to the point where he did half the driving on the way home because I was more tired than he was!

Next was a 3am start, made event worse because when Rory got up he read the race instructions which I had neglected and realised the start was actually 7:30 not 6am!!!

12 hours running around a one mile lap lasts forever! Still, the race went well and it was great having Rorz there for the last few hours helping with food, drink and general encouragement (he fitted in another marathon and a kip first!).... so it was the first time I have raced further than 100km, and I was pretty pleased how it went. After the first 3-4 hours I had a comfortable lead so it was more about testing myself. I had a target of between 70 and 80 miles before the race, so 75 and a bit was a real confidence boost for me. Thanks to all at Boston and District AC for putting on the event - it really was perfect preparation for the Commonwealth 24 Hours next month - now I'm wondering just how far I can go...

12 Songs - Neil Diamond

Well I didn't think that a 1 mile lapped course marathon was going to be a great idea and not surprisingly, I didn't buy into it that much... add to that cocktail , one Faffing Slaterchops (we were up at 3am) and it made a whole new horizon for a tough morning out at the Boston 12hr Race in Lincolnshire.

Don't get me wrong, the people organising it were real diamonds... but the course really didn't have a highlight, apart from when I finally got to the finish line of my marathon distance... some 27 laps of a one mile course...

ATM, there's 90 minutes to go and Jenny is just reaching the 70 mile mark and will win her second race in two days... so I'm most proud of her.

I am going to get her to blog about the race with her final mileage tomorrow... more then.

Tiger Feet - Mud

It's a good 10 years since I did the Smuggler's Trod up there in Fylingthorpe (near the Fylingdales monstrosity in the photo) and I must have marathon amnesia as this one was a real tester. Mud, Sweat and Tears, well at least for a couple of the runners as they got hurt out there on the moors.

Don't get me wrong, it's a great event and very tough but a 999 nightmare and I could quite safely say Jenny would have been calling for a taxi after a couple of miles as without local knowledge, you wouldn't have got round on top of the moors.

I went in over my knees into the peat bogs at one stage...

Let's hope 26 laps of a park in Boston goes a bit easier today eh? Better set off in a minute...

Rain - Status Quo

How does it manage to R A I N every single Bank Holiday Weekend? Why oh why oh why don't we change these to better non-changeable times when the weather is better... like April or July? It always bucket downs for the 145 and for this weekend it seems.

Who ever is in charge, please take note!

Tomorrow sees me oop north on The Smugglers Trod near Robin Hoods Bay and then with Slaterchops bashing out a marathon round a track in Boston Spa... now there's a treat! But it's needed to keep me on track (ha ha) for Druids.

Apparently Boston Spa is the fattest place in the UK... it will be even fatter when we've finished. Our shopping trolley today was a heart attack of pure sugar and high energy... let's hope 52 miles keeps our arteries nice and clean eh?

More tomorrow from Fylingdale!

The Olympics - John Willliams

Well we are looking forward to 2012 and maybe it's time you did too and maybe it's time to start planning next year's ULTRA-running diary, minus the two weeks where we'll be looking in on races of a shorter length. Let's face it Usain won't be at the London ULTRA next year, limbering up!

I will of course be doing all my usual races and will be yet again trying to make sure I get round RRR50 in under 10hrs and possibly having another bash Around the Rock on Jersey... as well as a few Park Runs! Yes those 5kms are now a big part of the Coleman training schedule.

Our series is now in place with a couple more to come perhaps so makes sure you leave a couple of gaps eh?

More tomorrow...

Stars on 45 - Stars on 45

I'm so glad that the UR45 will go ahead again next year... January just wouldn't be the same without a trip down the Grand Union Canal and back eh?

It was our first ever ULTRArace so it's only fair that we keep it in the calendar and anyway so many of you have pleaded for it to go ahead, we just had to stage it again in 2012.

We will hopefully have another 45 later in the year but nowhere near a canal so keep 'em peeled as they say.

MdeS Marathon day training for me Tomoz which will go nowhere near Long Lane!

Bliss! More then...

ULTRArace.co.uk - The Home of ULTRArunning.

Location:Breaston

Photograph - Def Leppard

Wow... the photographs from yesterday's ULTRArace.Peaks have received the most views ever on any day ever on any of our websites, so thanks for looking at them. Mark Gillett is the master of the camera IMO and his MdeS pics are always simply amazing. He really captures the moment... hopefully some on our site do too...

And there were millions of moments for all of the runner's out there yesterday as for some it was their first foray into ULTRA-running.

Photo's are a great 'aid memoire'... I wish I had some from my early Grand Union Races and the South Downs Way World Trail Champs. Happy memories... still the same.

Thank heavens for a digital Nikon SLR... How did we ever manage with those old Nikkormats?

More tomorrow...

The Race - Yello

What a day! Our 8th race in the 9bar UK ULTRArace Championship proved to be a great day out for all concerned. We all seem to love it.

The new arrows and directions seemed to keep most on the right track and remarkably young Charlie Sharpe (22) managed to romp home in 5hrs and 47mins, and that was after cycling from Warrington to the start of the race, (some 60 odd miles). Good job he downed a pizza just before the race began. Hopefully he found another Pizza Hut on the way back tonight!

But then everyone was special today, especially in the heat of a late summer's day and that never-ending drag down Long Lane between CP3 and the end will be remembered for some time.

From the feedback, it looks like we'll do this one again... be rude not to eh?

More tomorrow and lastly A BIG THANK-YOU to EVERYONE who helped us today to make this race happen....

Rory and Jenny, The ULTRArace Team.

New Shoes and Panties - Ian Dury and the Blockheads

Well my last pair of Brooks Adrenaline bit the dust today and prior to more running out on the ULTRArace.Peaks course, so it was a quick pit-stop into the Derby Runner to pick up a new pair of boots!

I could have bought a pair of the Tweenie styled 'Hoka' shoes. Have you seen these babies?

Where do these shoes get dream't up?... on this occasion it's France but possibly it's in the same Asylum as the Vibram people are held in padded cells. Jenny tried 'em as they don't do size 11.5's in 2E and guess what, she said you wouldn't want to run a long way in them. If they made my size, I will simply crush them with my mileage and gait. How they would cope with the weekend's trail, I dread to think...

The weekend's race is much better placed and the trail's now marked, the weather is set fair and Jenny is rattling in the whole 40 miles tomorrow and I will do the last 26 I hope...

Life's rosy eh?

Life of Mine - Toxic Federation

We've been to Arkwright's Mill today... I was most interested of course... as the mill is  Sir Richard Arkwright's first and most important cotton mill, at which he pioneered the development of his water frame spinning machine and revolutionised the manufacture of cloth, thereby laying one of the cornerstones of the Industrial Revolution.

Jenny and in particular Pearl didn't blink an eye! Why are us chaps more interested in this stuff than the girls?

I hope you are ALL going to be totally fascinated if you are running this weekend as the start is just a stones throw away at the start of the canal where we saw a MASSIVE Pike just lurking in the shallows of the still water. Proper big it was too.

You'd need a lot of chips to go with him, I can assure you...

More tomorrow as we are back there again and we'll see if he's still there.

Welcome to the Machine - The Pink Floyd

Carrying on in my GOM (Grumpy Old Man) state... we experienced another piece of priceless modren age stupidity today far in excess of the ridiculous new check-in system at BMI Baby at East Midlands Airport. And that's saying something I can tell you...

Guilty this time - Nat West Bank

Task - Rory to pay in a cheque
Task - Jenny to pay in a cheque and some cash

Rory's age usual practise of going to the counter with slip, teller taking cheque, stamping book and returning took less than 10 seconds - JOB DONE

Jenny's took nearly 4 minutes including a demonstration (by Customer Service Assistant) on the new paying in machine which took the cash, spat it out, creased it up, took it in again and repeatedly didn't work. Eventually to the relief of all it finally worked - WHAT A FAFF as it's mean't to speed things up...

Just HOW daft is our world going to get... it's a good job we could then go out and mark up ULTRArace.Peaks course for Sunday's race. The downhill part to Ashbourne is proper quick with even me bashing out 7.5 mph...

For the last 20 miles of the course, there's the usual Ur stickers, Road Markings, Red Arrows, Tape AND the usual footpath signs for the route and not a time saving machine in sight... Nat West take heed... no fancy machines are needed here or in your bank!

Just KISS - (Keep it Simple Stupid).

Vangelis - Chariots of Fire

We saw two contrasting sporting venues today as we viewed the 2012 Olympic Stadiums on the way to the City of London Sports ground, the new start of our London ULTRA event. IMO, the architecture of the 1924 pavillion far outshines the modern egg-boxes and pringle shapes of the 2012 Olympic Wonderland and I do wonder if anyone will be using the 21st century version 90 years time.

I saw the 2000 venues in Greece a couple of years back and they were already derelict... it makes you wonder about this 'legacy' that seems to be spoken about.

I reckon in 90 years, the City of London Sports ground will still be going strong... it's lovely and you'll love it too.

More tomorrow...

Eat It - Weird Al Yankovic



Becoming a Vegan...

 We are told so often that when we are running that 'Food is Mood' and I have eaten some strange old stuff on events as my palate has taken me to places that my feet never could. I do admit to not reaching the sprout and tuna threshold but when the chips are down in an event, I need my food... and that's high carbs and fat to keep the old Coleman V6 firing on all cylinders.

Now, enter our nutrition experts and a mad calorie counting partner and it's fascinating to find out just what and what not to consume on a daily basis. For instance my 84kgs frame needs more than 4600 kcals per day... a license to eat like a garbage disposal unit you'd imagine... and for most of us, that's exactly what we do - whether we are competing, or not. But no... we get it all wrong! We just eat a load of old processed rubbish, that's what I think. That's why lots of ULTRA-runners aren't so slim or they start off slim and as they grow older, they grow just a bit wider :-)

From a certain Miss Slater, early research says that there's too much fat and not enough protein in mine and probably in your diet too. So food for thought is 'what am I putting into my engine tonight?'... if you shop at our local Co-op, it's probably not that good for you... I stood there for ages looking for my dinner last night and it's just impossible to get ANYTHING that is marginally good food for ANYONE let alone someone in training.

Maybe I should become a Vegan? Not too sure if the ears would suit me but at least I would 'Live long and prosper'...

More tomorrow... beam me up Scotty... now where are those lentils?

Thick as a Brick - Jethro Tull



Ashbourne Tunnel

Recovery for my old body today and time for me to deliver training for another MdeS wannabe and a great athlete it proved, in Guy Codling... things are looking up for the class of 2012 perhaps. And a five mile jog out tonight for me helped keep my legs oiled and in good condition for the week ahead.

This ULTRArace.Peaks will keep both Jenny and Myself busy I'm sure and we have a couple of route making sessions to fit in later in the week. I must say I will be more than a tad jealous when the runners set off next weekend on our newest race, as the route in the peaks is just fabulous.

The following weekends treble will keep my numbers going up to get me to the magical 700 by Druids, I hope.

Good training will get me there, I'm sure...

Strong - Robbie Williams

The weights and the upped mileage must be working as I had a great marathon day out today and felt very strong for the whole 26.2 miles. It was quite a contrast to last weekend's Round the Rock Ultra and all those darned steps... thank heavens there were only four flights to contend with today! I made sure I jogged down them this time to save the dreaded DOMS... well that's my theory anyway and hopefully it's worked.

So for now, I'm going to continue with the weights programme until further notice. The idea is to drop some more miles in tomorrow and keep the weekley mileage up to somewhere near decent as back in my GWR days of 1998/9 my levels of endurance were always boosted by the hours and hours of LSD that I did. If it all goes to plan the Robin Hood and Mablethorpe Marathons should be made a whole lot easier.

More tomorrow...

Brothers in Arms - Dire Straits

The second day consecutive day of heavy arms weights and power hour on the treadmill have left me disarmed and legless before tomorrows marathon with MdeS wannabe Felix Allen. I think I am in for a good day out with him and it will be even better if I give him all the gear to carry as this will slow him down and give me a chance to keep up with him.

It will also give me a chance to take in the Derbyshire scenery in a very autumnal looking stage atm. It's like late September here in the East Midlands and getting dark just after nine... a bit depressing if you are warm weather, bright sunshine people like the Salter/Colemans. Although the blackberries are brilliant this year!

It's been the end of a funny old week really following the Jersey ULTRA and I am looking forward to getting back into normal mileage and marathon mode next week.

More tomorrow eh?

Longest Hour - Everybody Else

Thank God for the treadmill I say! It was the ONLY way I was going to get 60 minutes of running in today as my intentions were good but my commitment was severely lacking. I must say that it was also the only machine that didn't have that annoying beep beep today that seemed to haunt my every move. What is it with our need for being warned by any machine you can think of?

I mean, do we need a beep beep, when your dishwasher has finished it's cycle or your washing machine for that matter? Our German washing machine has been fitted with a complete Nazi of a beep beep and can be heard in all of Breaston and beyond especially by our canine friends. I want to take a big stick to our friend Mr Bosch... and yes I know, 'Grumpy old man' but its driving me bonkers.

The problem I am experiencing is that most people ignore said beep beeps and nowadays they are getting even louder and more annoying... where will it all end in our crazy high-viz rule ridden world?

It's all driving me beep beep mad!

Slow - Kylie Minogue

It's hard to know what to do when you are not at 100%, even if you have been running for years... Although what I do know is that if I were one of my clients I would be saying 'Do nothing and let your body recover'.

It's an obvious note to self really, yet an extremely hard one to follow.

The blow I took to my hip where I tripped and landed at the weekends 'Round the Rock ULTRA' is proving to be a very deep bruise indeed and is taking it's time to go away. More to the bone than the main part of my glute really. How annoying.

I did manage a couple of miles out on the bike but maybe tomorrow I will be able to get the trainers back on and return to my training schedule. We'll see eh?

Talk about frustrating...

Cold - The Pines

Well at 1817hrs on the day after the day after an ULTRA, my legs are just coming back to normal, well sort of... it's just at that stage where it finally feels like the leg-bones connected to the hip-bone. Maybe another day will finally sort it out!

I did try a product called Mint-Ease last night with most amusing if not worrying side effects. It's a white cream in a tube and you rub it on your troubled area (quads in my case) and relax. At first it heats up and then goes unbelievably cold... for ages! Then if you are not careful and rub it very high on your legs so you get some on your bits, you will find yourself as I did in the Bath warming all the effected bits up.

Next time, I will be more careful, it's a bit like not scratching your face when you are chopping chillies.

More tomorrow...

King of Pain - The Police

I can't remember a time when my legs hurt SO much after a little old ULTRAmarathon. But by Jove they are K I L L I N G   M E tonight. Talk about Doms I have more like Double Doms! Add to that a whopping bruised hip from my sack of spuds fall at 30 miles or so and I'm not too good today...

You get the picture!

Let's hope tomorrow sees an improvement as I want to stop my penguin like gait before people start talking. It just shows you that it doesn't matter who you are OR what you've done you are never free of getting an ULTRA bash lash...

It doesn't matter though as I am still in a state of great happiness about the event and am very optimistic about my Autumn season.

More tomorrow... now where's that walking stick?

Round Round - Sugarbabes

It was more like up and down at 'The Round the Rock ULTRA' on the Island of Jersey this weekend. If you were ever looking for a good Ultra weekend away, then this might be the one for you. There's over 1000 metres of ascent and the organisers had worked very hard in trying to make this first edition go as well as possible for the 100 or so runners.

The course - well it's a great circuit of a beautiful island... the billions of wooden sleepers with metal staples hammered in to stop you slipping used as steps up and down the cliff paths are something I would like to forget BUT coming away being able to run at the end of this race is a good reflection of my present level of fitness.

I must say that I got a case of the emotions at the end of the race as I had worked so hard to get that under that sub 10 barrier I had set myself. Jenny would have been well under 8 with more consistent route marking as it was a bit tricky in places. She still managed to beat me by 90 mins having run over 2 miles more! Makes you sick eh?

Anyway, I am very happy with my run and will now have a couple of days off before getting back running mid-week.

More tomorrow after I have found my missing Quads... those bl%dy steps were killers!

Living on an Island

Well you find us on the island of Jersey tonight in preparation for tomorrow's first Round the Rock Ultra. It's funny that no one really knows how far it is... But 46-48 miles is about right we believe.

Getting lost is the biggest issue of the race. Let's hope the organisers route marking is still there tomorrow eh?

We are starting at 6am and a sub 10 for Jenny and sub 12 for me are the targets... We'll see eh...

ULTRArace.co.uk - The Home of ULTRArunning.

Location:Jersey

Feet Up - Bob Merrill

It's been one of those rest days today that you have to have leading up to any ULTRArace. Yesterday's 10 miler signalled the last of this week's efforts prior to the 48 mile 'Round the Rock ULTRA' around the Channel Island of Jersey.

I have to be relaxed about refuelling the 'Old Coleman Body' as really I wanted to run again today but my knowledge and experience tells me that three days of exercise abstinence will make all the difference to my weekends expected time.

It does say that you have 12 hours to get round the island so hopefully I will be inside the time limit although if my memory serves me right its a bit bumpy around the northern coast... hmmm we'll see eh?

Biggest challenge is to get all our gear into hand luggage including Gels, Powders and Suncream... oh the joys of BMI Baby! After East Midlands Airport, the rest will be easy!

A New World Record - ELO

Well I must say that I enjoyed a good run out with the Long Eaton Running Club last night. I am using these runs as a tempo session and really got up on my toes around their course (that passed rather tantalisingly close to home) and reminded myself of the good old days at Stratford-upon-Avon Athletics Club!

On my return, I excitedly opened an email from Guinness World Records to say that our proposal for a GWR has been approved. Now all we have to do is make it happen. More details next year as it's TOP SECRET right now.

Running another 10 miler today was a whole lot easier knowing that there is a clear goal now in sight for all the hard work that's going in over the next few months. Smashing up my arms for the second day in a row also felt the right thing to do...

There's now two days of rest until our 45 miler around the coastline of Jersey... What a good tester of fitness that will be... I am really looking forward to it too!

ULTRArace.co.uk - The Home of ULTRArunning

Step on - The Mondays

And yes the running crusade continues on day 2 of my year if fitness... Following a Park Run, Marathon and a heavy leg bashing my butt cheeks are now in a state of repair and good enough for a run out tonight with Long Eaton Running Club.

There is a little trepidation on my part and no doubt Jenny will bash on with the faster club runners. Let's hope a 5.6 miler leaves me some energy for the 45 miler in Jersey at the weekend.

More later... Post Run...

ULTRArace.co.uk - The Home of ULTRArunning.

Location:Breaston

Lucky Number - Lene Lovich

What has the world come to when you have to have a number to collect your child from a holiday play camp... well that's exactly what happened today. In our Hi-vis, high-intensity blame culture, cover our arses world a simple, I have come to collect my daughter Pearl Coleman and 'Hello Daddy' is obviously not enough!

I did chuckle... and wondered how we used to manage, back in the old days? Maybe in the past the wrong child has been picked up on purpose, although I am more than happy to get my own daughter.

It's far too complicated and a reflection of our modern day world... The simple analogy is that if a 6 years and 5 months little girl can work out the simple recognition of her own parentage, why do we need a six figure reference number allocated to our own child.

I don't think I would have liked being a number and let's hope Pearl doesn't like it too... I now know how Patrick Mcgoohan felt! And I'm not a number either...

More tomorrow...