At the weekend I did the Swansea Bay 10K, loved it, and set a cracking time. Conditions on the day were difficult and my preparations were less than ideal to say the least, but I ran my fastest 10K this year and I was less than a minute away from my PB set in 2004. In running a sub-60 I've met the main goal I set myself this year.

With Swansea being 280 miles away from Leeds, I opted to make a long weekend of it and I arrived there on Friday evening. We got started reasonably early and I quickly lost count of just how much I had to drink. I didn't get to bed until after it had got light, and I was up again by midday. Not quite my idea of an Olympian-style run-up to a big race. I had 24 hours to recover for the race and it at the time I really didn't feel anywhere near enough.

Race day was hot, very hot. Not a cloud in the sky, and strong September sunshine. Where there was a breeze, it was really quite nice. But once we'd got started it was apparent that the course was too sheltered from the shore to benefit from the breeze, and that there wasn't really any shelter from the sun. I was aiming for a 6:00/km pace to attempt a sub-60 result, and things started really well. Due to the weather and the excesses of Friday night, I'd taken extra care to be fully hydrated for the race. It seemed to work - the first five kilometres felt reasonably comfortable and I was banking plenty of time to give me a bit of a cushion in case things got trickier later on. My first five 1K splits were 5:35, 5:40, 5:43, 5:50, 5:43 which left me a minute and a half to play with. More amazingly though, this potentially set me up to come in just ahead of my 57:46 PB - a dream result.

At 5K, very aware of the conditions, I took on water. I drank half a bottle, and poured the other half all over me. I knew it would mean sore nips, but the heat was feeling so oppressive at this stage and I knew it needed doing. I started to suffer around the 5K mark, and so the refreshment was welcome. Despite taking on the water, I started to find the going real tough. Knowing I'd done so well up to that point, and that I had nearly 90 seconds in the bank, I was able to really dig in and push myself as hard as I could. I had to work really, really hard just to maintain a slower pace than the first 5K. My back five splits were 5:51, 5:54, 5:51, 6:12, 5:53.

The last 2K was just agony. A lot of people were really struggling this point, and how I didn't stop and walk I don't really know. I still don't really remember crossing the line, and I was a real mess waiting for my goody bag. I missed some Fetchies cheering me home near the finish (sorry folks!) - I was just pushing, giving it everything to make the most of the opportunity to set a good time. 58:32 is such a good reward. In comparison, two weeks earlier I'd done the Great Yorkshire Run in 62:08.

It's a lovely race and I'll definitely enter it again next year. Maybe next time I'll go easy on the drink beforehand, and perhaps then I'll not suffer so much. I think if it had been cooler and cloudy I might have got a bit closer to my PB, although it's hard to know whether I'd have beaten it.

Things are coming along amazing well considering my summer running lull, and that I've still not really got back to the level of training I was doing before the summer. I've lost all of the weight I put on over the summer. It's doubly pleasing to note that it isn't just running that has helped me do that, but I've made a lot of progress in the eating department too. I'm now only 4 pounds off a really major milestone, and recent events are only going to spur me on further. If I keep at it, I could have a really good go at my PB at the Abbey Dash in November.