With only a handful of competitions to go before the 2011 track season comes to an end it has been my intention to finish things on a high note. Not only to compensate for the loss of fitness in the middle but to continue training and build up into the winter.

I took part in 3 races in August. First was the Tim Wealthall mile in Nottingham which always creates alot of conversation at Notts AC around the subject of breaking the elusive 4 minute mile. With a pb of 4.01 and a road mile of 3.52 I'm sure it could be achieved on a good day. This year attracted Frank Baddick to come and challenge me on my home turf at the Harvey Hadden stadium. We decided to help each out other by sharing the lead for the first 800m then after that it was each man for himself. We were well off the pace going through 800m in 2.04. We were neck and neck till the final 100m when i felt a little tightness in my hamstring which caused me to have ease off the pace and sacrifice the victory!

Next up was the UkChallenge Final at Birmingham only 2 days later. I was going into the race with the chance of sharing £5k providing i won the race. If only i could repeat the performances that i had produced at Sports city and Watford i would of stood myself in good stead. Having the worry of injury and Thursdays nights mile race in my legs i was only capable of 6th place!

The last race of the month for me turned out to be my slowest performance of the season over 1500m despite it being a strong field assisted by a pace maker. Unfortunately the conditions were not exactly ideal for Pb's with gusting wind and rainy spells. The meeting was the Antwerp International Athletics Gala in which i had experienced before back in 2009. This time it was to be a far more fun and enjoyable trip to be part of! I took the opportunity to go along as a guest athlete with the South West of England team successfully managed by the fantastic Sonya Ellis who has a great reputation with sending squads to this meeting. I was sharing a room with Dan Studley who is a talented Junior 1500m runner with great potential. Also representing the South West was Tom Purnell who took victory in the 1500m B race who unfortunately missed out on a place in the A race due to a mistake with his original entry. In the race i was up against some familiar names from Germany and Sweden that i had already raced this season in BMC's so i knew where the competition was coming from. The plan was to kick early but with 400m to go i was slightly impeded and unable to move. Not wanting to run wide around the bend i held my possition only to find i didn't have the speed to cope with the injection of pace in the last 100m. I finished a respectable 4th. I finished the night off with the chance to compensate for not making the top 3 prize money positions having to work for my money by pace making the 5000m race through to 3k. Someone did mention the drinks were on me so i didn't want to to disappoint anyone!

After a long day of competition had by all and an even longer season for most of the South West team the plan to hit the Antwerpen nightlife was more than a good idea. With a short distance to travel from Merksem to the hotel which was located in the heart of the city we didn't give ourselves long to get ready for action. As a large group of respectable athletes we headed straight to the cathedral quarter which was about a 20 minutes walk due to various distractions and photo opportunities along the way. The 1st bar we came across was unsuccessful as we were asked to leave due to the size of our group being too large for such a small place, it was very difficult to find a big enough venue to facilitate us. With true South West Spirit from a number of individuals the determination to find somewhere to party was endless. We came across a Karaoke bar that appeared to be the hot spot with a lively atmosphere and some talented singers on stage which deterred me from attempting to make a fool of myself. After a few rounds of Maes and copious Britney Spears hits later the clock struck midnight, what appeared to be a stage then transformed into a dance off stage with only South West athletes having the Dutch courage to get up and battle it out on the dance floor. The dance off crowns had to go to Megan and Dee for tearing up the dance floor in true Rhianna like style and the pick of the boys it was a tough decision but this had to go either Alex or Tom for there Chris Brown ''eat your heart out'' breakdance moves. Unfortunately there was a curfew of 2am so the partying and fun times had to come to an end. Not too soon though as we still had to get back to the hotel in one piece. On the way back we witnessed plenty of cheeky photo opportunities with face plant falls, fireman's lifts, running down escalators... backwards, being locked in portaloo toilets, wheel less bikes, homeless old men sleeping in the street, could i forget anything? after all the looting and riots in the uk i think we set a great example for how Brits should behave abroad!

If you thought that was enough the coach trip back turned into a forefit extravaganza. Chase the maid was the card game of choice which i was lucky enough not to lose. The fore fit was to pack as many Doritos in the mouth as possible after the idea of eating a gherkin out of the bin was over looked! Evie managed 8 where Pete provailed to go one better with9. Evie had to go through with the original forefit of kissing the most senior member of the team management which must of came as a big surprise to him!

It was nice to get home after a long and eventful journey back to Nottingham but the fun times start again for me this weekend as i head to Gothenburg for the Faulksam Grand prix in Molndal.