Hi Everyone
May was a great month for me as I managed to win 2 other competitions abroad, one in Sicily and the other one in Cyprus. On the 13th May I had an outstanding performance in the San Vito Lo Capo Olympic Distance Triathlon in Sicily, winning the race in style.
Following my success in the Sicilian Duathlon Championships and in the European Triathlon Championships a few weeks ago, the Birkirkara St. Joseph triathlete was the top favourite to win the race. However I still had to face some stiff opposition from Marco Cumbo, who won gold in the 2008 Sicily-Malta Friendship Games, and Fabio Pruiti Cariello.
The swim was a 2.3km 2-lap course in San Vito Lo Capo’s main beach. I anchored myself in the leading pack, thus assuring myself of staying in a good group for the bike segment of the race since it was draft legal. However, after coming out of the water, I had a very fast swim-to-bike transition and went on to tackle the cycle with the rest in my wake.
The cycle circuit was a 10-lap course around the village. Realising that it was not to my advantage to cycle on my own in rather windy conditions, I waited for the ensuing group, in order to work through this segment with the rest. However, this group could not get into any rhythm, so much so that we slowed down and got caught by other trailing triathletes. At this stage I decided to stay in the group and reserve all my energies for the final run.
Following another fast transition, I surged immediately into the lead of the 11-kilometre run. By this time, temperatures were soaring. This, however, did not deter me from sustaining a fast pace throughout, which carried me to the finish line, leading the field.
I finished in two hours, 13 minutes, a massive five minutes faster than second-placed Fabio Pruiti, while Marco Cumbo finished in third place.
Few days after I flew to Cyprus to participate in the Volkswagen international Triathlon held in Limassol. This was the first time that I was going to compete in 2 olympic race in a week so I was a bit concerned about my recovery for this race since I was feeling a bit tired that usual. In fact I took training very light and focused more to recover my energies to produce another good performance.
In Limassol I had to face the stiff challenge of a couple of Cypriot national team triathletes namely Marian Cosmos Costantin and Stavros Antoniou both of the Famagusta Nautical Club. Conscious of the fact that the Cypriots are capable of a good cycling segment, I surged into the lead from the very beginning of the race.
My swim time of 19 minutes in the 1,500-metre course, was two minutes faster than that of his nearest rival.I further improved his gap with a very fast swim-to-bike transition, to face the undulating 40-kilometre bike segment of the race. Strong winds prevailed on the very technical bike course, which was set on four laps on a steep hill.
I cycled at a relentless pace to sustain as wide a gap as possible over my rivals, in preparation for the final 10-kilometre run. I managed to cycle the distance in one hour, two minutes, 25 seconds, which reduced my lead to just over one minute by the time I started the final run. However, my performance in the run was second to none. I covered the 10 kilometres in 35 minutes 50 seconds, crashing all opposition, to win the race in a personal best time of one hour, 57 minutes and 17 seconds thus registering the second fastest time on the distance by a Maltese athlete. Second place was a close affair between the two Cypriot internationals. Marian Costantin managed to edge past his compatriot in the final stages to register a time of one hour, 58 minutes 25 seconds, 34 seconds ahead of Stavros Antoniou.
I am very happy with both races. Finally all the hard work done in winter is paying off. I felt strong in both races and winning them both was something I was not expecting. Now my targets are shifted on the TCSSE Selection Race where the Association will choose the triathletes who are going to represent the country for the TCSSE in Luxemburg in the beginning of July. A week before the selection race will be participating in the first race of the Birkirkara st joseph triathlon series were I will try to defend my title won last year.
Thats all for now
Yours in sports
Keith
Hi Everyone
May was a great month for me as I managed to win 2 other competitions abroad, one in Sicily and the other one in Cyprus. On the 13th May I had an outstanding performance in the San Vito Lo Capo Olympic Distance Triathlon in Sicily, winning the race in style.
Following my success in the Sicilian Duathlon Championships and in the European Triathlon Championships a few weeks ago, the Birkirkara St. Joseph triathlete was the top favourite to win the race. However I still had to face some stiff opposition from Marco Cumbo, who won gold in the 2008 Sicily-Malta Friendship Games, and Fabio Pruiti Cariello.
The swim was a 2.3km 2-lap course in San Vito Lo Capo’s main beach. I anchored myself in the leading pack, thus assuring myself of staying in a good group for the bike segment of the race since it was draft legal. However, after coming out of the water, I had a very fast swim-to-bike transition and went on to tackle the cycle with the rest in my wake.
The cycle circuit was a 10-lap course around the village. Realising that it was not to my advantage to cycle on my own in rather windy conditions, I waited for the ensuing group, in order to work through this segment with the rest. However, this group could not get into any rhythm, so much so that we slowed down and got caught by other trailing triathletes. At this stage I decided to stay in the group and reserve all my energies for the final run.
Following another fast transition, I surged immediately into the lead of the 11-kilometre run. By this time, temperatures were soaring. This, however, did not deter me from sustaining a fast pace throughout, which carried me to the finish line, leading the field.
I finished in two hours, 13 minutes, a massive five minutes faster than second-placed Fabio Pruiti, while Marco Cumbo finished in third place.
Few days after I flew to Cyprus to participate in the Volkswagen international Triathlon held in Limassol. This was the first time that I was going to compete in 2 olympic race in a week so I was a bit concerned about my recovery for this race since I was feeling a bit tired that usual. In fact I took training very light and focused more to recover my energies to produce another good performance.
In Limassol I had to face the stiff challenge of a couple of Cypriot national team triathletes namely Marian Cosmos Costantin and Stavros Antoniou both of the Famagusta Nautical Club. Conscious of the fact that the Cypriots are capable of a good cycling segment, I surged into the lead from the very beginning of the race.
My swim time of 19 minutes in the 1,500-metre course, was two minutes faster than that of his nearest rival.I further improved his gap with a very fast swim-to-bike transition, to face the undulating 40-kilometre bike segment of the race. Strong winds prevailed on the very technical bike course, which was set on four laps on a steep hill.
I cycled at a relentless pace to sustain as wide a gap as possible over my rivals, in preparation for the final 10-kilometre run. I managed to cycle the distance in one hour, two minutes, 25 seconds, which reduced my lead to just over one minute by the time I started the final run. However, my performance in the run was second to none. I covered the 10 kilometres in 35 minutes 50 seconds, crashing all opposition, to win the race in a personal best time of one hour, 57 minutes and 17 seconds thus registering the second fastest time on the distance by a Maltese athlete. Second place was a close affair between the two Cypriot internationals. Marian Costantin managed to edge past his compatriot in the final stages to register a time of one hour, 58 minutes 25 seconds, 34 seconds ahead of Stavros Antoniou.
I am very happy with both races. Finally all the hard work done in winter is paying off. I felt strong in both races and winning them both was something I was not expecting. Now my targets are shifted on the TCSSE Selection Race where the Association will choose the triathletes who are going to represent the country for the TCSSE in Luxemburg in the beginning of July. A week before the selection race will be participating in the first race of the Birkirkara st joseph triathlon series were I will try to defend my title won last year.
Thats all for now
Yours in sports
Keith
