Yo Adrian I did it

Hi Everyone,

At last, finally my dream come true. I am the new Malta Triathlon Champion. I have been dreaming and training hard for this title for 12 years. It was 1998, and I clearly remember my brother crossing the line and becoming National Champion for the first time in his career at the young age of 16 years old. It was then when I decided to take up the sport and I promised to myself that one day I will be crowned Malta Champion. Winning this title was not easy. I was close to win it for the last 3 years; being always the favourite but in the end I always missed the top spot of the podium. I was thinking that I would never achieve my dream since I never performed when I am contending a championship

I trained hard for the last 3 months in the UK and achieved great results. Everything was looking great for this race but the pressure I had was a lot. I was afraid not to perform like the previous championships. People were expecting me to win comfortably and this did not helped me. However for the first time, I kept focused and controlled my feelings and emotions. I knew that it was going to be a difficult race both physically and mentally. In fact when I came out of the water I had 2 minutes disadvantage from my closest rival, Mark Zammit. However I stayed calm and everything was going according to plan. Olympic Distance is a long race and I was ready to give everything I had in my body till the end.



Mark started fast, too fast for me. He knew that he had to push a lot in the swim and then trying to handle his advantage. I knew that Mark Sykes, who eventually won the overall race, has my same swimming pace so we stayed together. We paced the 1500m really well. At that point I was feeling good. After a good transition, I went to hammer the bike. However I was not feeling good. I was feeling a bit flat and I could not ride my usual pace. I was afraid. The demons of my previous championships defeats were coming through my mind. Sykes was really riding well. Surprisingly I was gaining ground on Mark reducing my disadvantage to 1.30 after the first lap. I was gaining ground also on brian magri who was a title contender as well.



Then I gained only 10seconds in the next 3 laps. I vomited as well on the bike. Things were not going well at that point. Then something happened. With 2 laps to go on the bike, I said to myself that if I wanted to win, then I had to do something. Then something strange happened. I felt a rush of energy in my legs, as if finally they got into the rhythm. I started to push like mad and I realized that i was gaining ground. I pushed and pushed and at the end of the bike my disadvantage was reduced to 10seconds. I gained more than a minute in the last 2 laps. I was still there. I did a miracle!!!!



Out from the transition to start the run, Mark opened a 50m gap but I quickly overtook him. I pushed up the first hill to get rid of him. I managed to open a good gap and from there I never looked back. On the run it was hot. I was feeling it a lot. I was still not used to the heat and I really suffered. I drank a lot and put a lot of water on my body to cool down and reduce my body temperature. I was not running as I should. My legs were flat again but I was keeping a good pace. I had a good advantage on Brian, so my job was to keep cool, drink and keep up the pace. I noticed that I was gaining ground on Sykes so I focused on him. However my body did not feel like to change speed. However I was still getting him. In the last km I was close but I did not want to win my first championship with a sprint finish. So I slowed down and enjoyed the last 200m. I was not interested in the overall win, I just wanted the title.

The last 200m were great. I visualized it million times. All those people supporting me and clapping when I was approaching the finishing line was amazing. I crossed the line and I was so happy that I shouted “I AM THE CHAMPION”. What a great feeling. Finally I did it. The first thing I did was to hug my parents. They knew how much I wanted this title. I cried like a baby afterwards. I could not believe that finally I did it. It was the most beautiful day of my life.



The support I had during the race was amazing. I never heard Marilyn shouting like that, my parents were great as usual and even athletes during the race supported me. I never knew that there were so many people who really wanted me to win. I am so happy and winning in front of my loved ones was amazing. I am very satisfied and being on the top spot of the podium as the national champion is a great feeling.

I would like to thank my parents, my brother Dermot, my coach Mr Dan Salcedo and my swimming coach Mr Catalin Stan, the club secretary Mr Euchar Camilleri, and the MTA President Mr Manuel Azzopardi who clearly remember my first steps in the sport,and all those who always believed in my talent and abilities.



As Rocky says “ It is not how hard you hit, it’s how hard you can get hit and keep moving forwards, how much you can take and keep moving forwards” That’s how WINNING IS DONE!!!!

Now a well deserved rest!!!!! And thanks for following my blog.

“Yo Adrian, I did it”

Yours in sport,
Keith
Malta Triathlon Champion 2010

2nd age group win in UK

Hi Everyone,

Last Sunday I took part in the Roade Sprint Triathlon. This race was the last race of this year training camp in UK. I used this race also as a preparation for the national Championships next Sunday. I felt great and managed a fantastic 5th place overall and another age group win in a time of 55.34, which is a new PB by 2mins

Before this race I had 2 other races. On September 12, I took part in the 3rd race of the blue seventy series, The derby sprint triathlon which consisted of a 400m swim pool, 20km bike around the towns of derby and etwall and an off road 5km hilly run. I started with a very good swim, covering the 400m in 5.35. However I did a mistake as I went out too fast in the first 100m and really suffered in the last bit of the swim.

The bike was a very tough undulating course with many twists and turns which really slowed me down against the other athletes who knew the course much better than me. At one point Ii had to stop for a few seconds because I was blocked by 2 cars. However I managed to cover the 20km in 30.37. I started the run at a fast pace but since the course was off road with steep hills, I could not go for a very fast run split. However I pushed hard on the hills as I really like them. I covered the 5km in 18.20 with a finishing time of 57.30 placing 16th overall and 3rd in my age group. Thanks to this result, at the moment I am 3rd overall in the blue seventy series classification.



On the 22nd of September, I took part in the Hinckley 5km race, organised by the Hinckley running club. The race consisted of 2 undulating laps around the town centre so could not go for a personal best. I went out a bit too fast in the first kilometre so slowed down a bit. I tried to stay among the top 10 and keeping a fast pace. I did the first 2.5k in 8.22, so i realized that a PB was difficult, so I pushed to go under the 17mins.3 runners came past me and managed to stay with them till the finish. The finish was set at the top of a very steep hill so in the last 300m I launched an attack and manage to emerge out from the group finishing in a brilliant 8th place in a time of 17.02.

After the race, I realised that I was racing among very fast runners as the winning time was 14.58 and 2nd and 3rd did around 15.40. These are really fast times on such a hilly course especially the finishing hill which killed my legs completely.



Back to roade tri, the weather was very cold and it was very windy. I had a great swim covering the 414m pool swim in 5.30 (around 5.15/5.20 for 400m). Out of the pool, it was really cold and this affected me a bit on the bike as I could not warm up and this hampered a bit my performance. The bike consisted of another 2 undulating laps around the town of roade. It was very windy and cold and i could not get into my rhythm. However I registered a good time in such tough conditions of 31.17 registering the 4th best bike split of the day.

Then went out for the 2 lap 4.5km run and finally it was completely flat so I could go for a fast time. I was happy with this and so i really pushed till the end. Was feeling strong and my pace was getting faster and faster. I managed to cover the distance in 16.00 (around 17.40 for 5km). I pushed till the end which earned me the 2nd age group win of the year here in UK.

After such a good performance i am really looking forward for next Sunday’s race. An important race which brings the 2010 season to an end. I hope everything goes well and that my 2010 season ends with a great happy ending.

Will keep you updated.

Keith