Hi Everyone
On Sunday 15th
September, I participated in the most important race of the World Triathlon
Calendar, The Pruhealh World Triathlon Grand Final held in London, Hyde Park. I
have been training hard for this race for the past months because the level was
very high especially in my age group. I had to compete against the top
triathletes of Great Britain, Australia, and USA.
We were very lucky that we had
very good weather for the race on Sunday morning. All the other races had been
done in very bad weather conditions. The lake was 15 degrees and the race
organisation opted to shorten the swim from 1500 to 750m. I was very excited
before the race. It was a new experience for me racing against athletes from
other continents. Thanks to my wife I managed to calm down and focus on the
task ahead.
I had a very good swim. I tried
to stay with the main group. At one point I could not see the buoy as the sun
was directly in front of us. I just followed the others in front and hoping
that they were going in the right direction. I completed the swim in 10.39 (My
Garmin showed that the correct swim distance was 950m – that was a Personal
best). We had to run for T1 for
600m. My legs were frozen and I could not run comfortable and it took me a
while to put in my cycling shoes on as well. T1 took me around 3mins. It was
one of the longest transitions ever
The bike course was wonderful. We
had 2 loops and we cycled through Buckingham Palace, parliament, Trafalgar
square and also the Maltese embassy. The course was fast but we had to tackle a
lot of turns and that affected the average speed. The course was more of a
tourist sightseeing. I covered the 40km in 1.01 in an average speed of 39km/hr.
On Friday I went to cycle around London to test the bike course. It was hell as
I had to stop for every traffic lights and the amount of traffic. However it
was worth it as I knew how to tackle the course on race day
T2 was as long as T1. Another 3
minutes added on the overall time. Legs were still frozen and it was not easy
to put on my running shoes. Then I went to tackle the run. It was a 3 lap
course around the serpentine. I was really running well and felt really strong.
The course was fast so really pushed for a good time. I covered the 10km in
35.10 to finish the race in 1hr 54mins. I am really pleased with my
performance. I did my best. I finished 37th in my age group and 130
overall from over 5000 participants. The trip finished on a very high note as
on Monday before leaving, I met the greatest triathlete on all time. The 3
times World Champion Javier Gomez. I feel very lucky that I met him. We talked
a bit and gave me his signature and we had a picture together as well
I would like to thank first the
Malta Triathlon Federation for the great support they gave to the team during
the trip, my sponsors GARMIN MALTA, STARBENE SHOP of Mosta, BBB Bike parts
Malta and Jaycee Malta, My club Birkirkara St Joseph, my parents, my wife’s
parents, my coach Dermot Galea and my swimming coach Catalin Stan. Thanks again
for helping in achieving such a good result.
A big thank you goes to my No 1
supporter, my wife Elizabeth. Elizabeth was fundamental especially before the
race. I was getting over excited and she managed to calm me. Thanks my love
xxxxx
That’s all for now
Yours in Sports
Keith
No comments:
Post a Comment