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!