Hi Everyone
It’s been a long time since my last
post. Well, I have been very busy as usual with training. After 2 months of
just pure training building for this season, 2015 started on a very good note.
November and December were focused on base training with the aim to strengthen
my body and to get a lot of mileage in my legs as one of my main targets of
this year is the Malta Half Marathon. During these two months I participated in
2 running races which were part of my training schedule so I was not rested
well. I did the first stage of the Malta RELAY Challenge Marathon were I placed 3rd
overall and managed to cover the 11.195 in 39minutes. On the 13th
December I did the fleur de lys 5km organised by my club, Birkirkara St Joseph.
Unfortunately I was sick for a whole week before the race but still decided to
do it to support my club. In the end managed solid 4th place in
16.50.
As I said before, 2015 started
really well. On the 3rd January I took part in the third race of the
MAAA Road Running League which was held in Bugibba on a 5km loop to be repeated
twice. I started fast from the word go, trying to hang on as much as I could
with Malta’s top long distance runner Andrew Grech. After I realised that I
opened a good gap on the group behind me I settled in my own place. It was very
windy and it was hard to keep a good pace in a force 8 wind but in the end I
managed to finish the race in 2nd place in a time of 34.30
2 weeks after, I took part in the
first race of the Multisport Season which was a sprint Duathlon, organised by
Agones SFC at Half Safi. Weather was not that ideal as well as it was windy and
the roads were a bit slippery due to some showers before the start of the race.
The race was drafting so I knew it was a bit tricky. I went into the lead from
the word go trying to get some advantage. I went into T1 with a 20seconds lead.
On the bike I pushed more to increase my lead but, my team mate Steve Chetucti
and Agones’s Fabio Spiteri were working together to catch me. Since I had a
very small lead, I decided to slow down and we formed a group of three leading
the race.
Seeing that I was the fastest
runner in the group and that nobody was going to catch us, I decided to rest my
legs for the final run. Few metres before the end of the bike I attacked as
hard as I could which surprised both of my rivals and entered in T2 first.
Thanks to a fast transition, I opened a good gap and continued to push in the
last run to increase the lead and went on to win my first race of the season
A week after the Duathlon I took
part in the fourth race of the MAAA Road Running League which was held at
taqali. I used the same tactic as the previous 10km race, but my legs were
tired due to the heavy training of the previous days. I was part of a group of
five runners. Charlie Cilia of Agones made his move after 4km and I went with
him. We were pacing really well and managed to open a good gap from the group
behind us. At 1km to go Mark Herrera was fast approaching and was undecided if
resting for the sprint finish for second place or continue pushing. Since
Herrera had a very good sprint I decided to keep on pushing as I did not want
to end up 4th. I opened a small gap on Cilia and opened my sprint at
150m to go however it was not fast enough as Cilia passed me in the last 50m
and finished 3rd in 34.02
I am very pleased with my
performance in all races. Since my main focus is the Malta Half Marathon, I
could not rest for every single race so I raced with very tired legs. In the
Duathlon I am pleased that my attack worked as it gave me the win and happy
that I managed to win the race although am focusing more on running than on
multisport events. The results I achieved in both 10km are better than expected
which means that I am on the right track. At the moment I am third in the
general classification of the Road Running League. I am still in contention for
2nd place. If I came 2nd at Taqali would have been much
easier to get 2nd place but now we will see what happens in the last
race of the league in April.
I would like to thank my brother
coach Dermot Galea, my swimming coach Catalin Stan, my masseur Owen Attard, my
parents and my wife’s parents, my sponsors Garmin Malta, Jaycee Malta, BBB Bike
Parts Malta, Malta Challenge Marathon and Starbene 24/7, my club Birkirakara St
Joseph, the Malta Triathlon Federation, the Maltese Olympic committee and the
Malta Sports Council for the constant support. Most of all would like to thank
my wife Elizabeth for coming to support me in every single race even though she
was very sick. Here support is very important to me and am lucky to have her as
my wife.
That’s all for now,
Yours in Sports
Keith
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