Great Performance in Smart City Triathlon

Hi Everyone,

On the 30^th of March I was on the starting line of the Smart City Olympic Triathlon which was held in Kalkara. The purpose of this race was to assess us National Team members and select the athletes who will make it to the Commonwealth Games. In fact the bike course was very technical in order to be similar as much as possible to Glasgow’s Route. My training was targeted to this race. A week before this race I took part in a 50km road race held at the Mellieha By Pass. It was the last pure test before this important event

 The cycling race was very hard. The Mellieha By pass is very hilly and to repeat it eight times is tough. In the first 3 laps I tried various times to attack but the group did not let me go. Then I just calmed down a bit and stayed with the top Maltese Cyclists. There were several attacks from the main contenders. We ended up only 4 fighting for the win until at two laps to go where there was another attack which I could not respond and ended up in 4^th place. I tried hard to get back but my legs could not give me more. I was feeling the effects of the attacks I did in the beginning as legs were getting tired. Then I kept a constant pace and settled to 4^th Place till the finish with less than a minute from the winner.

I went for the Kalkara race with one target, to win, but not only to just win. I want to win with wide gap. I wanted to show everyone that this year I am on top shape. From the word go I went immediately in the lead. For the first time in my life I had a very fast start in the swim. I immediately settled in a very fast pace and tried to keep the paced till the end of the swim. The sea was a bit choppy and my sighting was not very good. In fact I ended up swimming more than 1.5km. I went out of the water in 20.30 which was the best swim split of the day

The bike was very hard. The course was hilly and technical and the strong winds made it more difficult. In certain parts of the course the winds were so strong that it was difficult to control the bike. I was gaining ground on everyone but not on the 2^nd placed athlete. I had around 1 minute lead, so I just settled in a good pace in the end and save my legs for the run. Still I managed to register the best bike of the day.

In the run I immediately settled into a fast pace. Again it was windy and I could run the usual pace but it was the last chance to increase the gap. I pushed a lot. I noticed that my advantage was increasing so I kept on pushing till the very end as my legs were fine and still fresh. I won the race in a time of 2hrs 9mins registering also the best run of the day as well. I won the race with a good margin, 5.30 from 2^nd place and 8.30 from 3^rd place athlete.

I am very happy with the performance. The way I felt throughout the whole race was fantastic and this means that I am on the right track. I had a storming swim and run. The bike was good but I suffered a lot because of the strong winds and the wheels I used were not good for such conditions which made things even harder. I am also very satisfied with my performance in the cycling race. Being there among the top Maltese cyclists is very encouraging. If I used my energy more sensibly I could have done better but it was a good training race

I would like to thank my brother coach Dermot Galea, my swimming coach Catalin Stan, my parents and my wife’s parents for their support. Thanks so much to my sponsors Garmin Malta, BBB bike Parts Malta, Jaycee Malta, Malta Challenge Marathon, and Starbene Shop of Mosta for their support, my club Birkirkara St Joseph and the Malta Triathlon Federation for their support. Last but not least, big thanks go to my wife Elizabeth for being by my side all the time leading up to such an important event for me. Here support is fundamental for me and without her I cannot produce such a great performance as I did. Here presence during races gives me so much comfort and strength that I will be able to express myself to the best of my abilities in races.

That’s all for now

Another post will be uploaded soon so stay tuned.

Yours in Sport

Keith

2nd Maltese in Malta Half Marathon

Hi Everyone

On the 23^rd February I was on the starting line of the 29th edition of the Malta Half Marathon. I did not trained specifically for this race as everything is targeted for the commonwealth games however the race happened to be in my recovery week so I was expecting a good result.  Last year I trained specifically for this race but unfortunately could not give my best as I was sick on the day although I managed a time of 1hr 15mins.  However ,I was determined to do better than last year.

I started the race at a good pace and stayed with Athleta’s Richard Chetcuti. Together we were leading the Maltese males’ race. After 7km we were caught but other two Maltese Runners, Athleta’s Mark Herrera and Agones’ Charlie Cilia. At this point I was feeling my legs getting tired and heavy. I was a bit surprised as it was a bit too early in the race to feel my legs in that way. Luckily I was in good shape and was running strong. All that downhill we had till that point was taking its effects on my legs.

I noticed that the two Athleta runners were struggling however Charlie Cilia was still running well. After 14km Cilia increased the pace and only I managed to keep his pace. From then on, we attacked each other several times but none of us was going to give up. I tried my last attack in the last kilometre but my legs were blocked and heavy. Charlie noticed it and attacked at 500m to go and went on to win the Maltese Males’ race in 1hr 12.30

I tried to respond to his sprint but my legs could not give more. I realised that I was going to do a very fast time. I sprinted as fast as I could and finished the race 5^th overall and 2^nd Maltese in a time of 1hr 12mins 52sec, a new personal best on the distance by 2mins 30sec. I am very happy with my performance. I was not expecting such a fast time as the race was part of my training schedule. The improvement over last year, confirm the progress on view to the forthcoming triathlon races.However am a bit disappointed of losing the first Maltese placing by a mere 20seconds again. The fact that I am triathlete and not a marathon runner was the main fact that I lost the race and also I did not peaked for the race.  However I want to congratulate Charlie on his deserved victory.

I would like to thank my coach Dermot Galea, my swimming coach Stan Ioan Catalin my sponsors Garmin Malta, Starbene Shop of Mosta, BBB Bike Parts – Malta, challenge Malta Marathon and Jaycee Malta, my club Birkirkara St Joseph especially our general secretary Euchar Camilleri, the Malta Triathlon Federation for the constant support, my parents and my wife’s parents. Thanks everyone for your support. Thanks to my dear wife Elizabeth for her constant support and her patience. Hope you enjoyed your birthday my love. Soon we will celebrate our first Wedding anniversary.

That’s all for now

Yours in Sports

Keith.

Flying Start for 2014

Hi Everyone,

Finally 2014 started. I am really looking forward for this year as it’s a very important year to me. It’s the year of the Commonwealth Games which are going to be held in Glasgow at the end of July. I have been preparing for these games since November 2011. Every single session is targeted for this important event. For me going to the Commonwealth Games means like going to the Olympics. The level is the same. All the big guns of triathlon will be there battling for gold including Current Olympic Champion Alistair Brownlee and also his brother Jonny who was World Triathlon Champion in 2012. I am doing a lot of sacrifices and I want to go to Glasgow at all costs, no matter what. I want to represent Malta and perform well among the top world triathletes.

As soon as the New Year started I went for a training camp in Gozo, working hard on those hills. It was a very hard Training camp and I don’t know how I managed to finish it. It was the hardest training camp I ever done. The last day for the training was the hardest one. My legs were all in pain. Had to do a hilly long run and I still went out to do it but it was the longest and painful long run I ever did in my life. Afterwards, I went straight to bed to recover before returning back home. The day after was dead knackered. My wife as always played a vital role during the training camp. She really supported me and encouraged me in order to finish training.

The first race of 2014 was the first race of the Al Fresco Triathlon Series organised by Agones Sfc. It was a drafting duathlon consisting of 4.5km run, 18km bike and 2.5km run. I was determined to do a good race although I had very heavy and tired legs due to hard training. Still legs were strong on the day and went into the lead from the very beginning. I set a fast pace which I managed to keep it till the end. Luckily legs were strong and registered the fastest times of the day in all the three segments went on to win the race in 55minutes 18seconds, by a margin of 4 minutes from the 2^nd placed athlete.

 A week later I participated in the 4^th round of the MAAA Road Running League, which was a 10km held at Taqali. The race happened to be in my recovery week so I was expecting a good performance. It was very windy so I was not expecting any Personal Bests. I started the race staying with the top runners of Malta, Andrew Grech of Mellieha and Ibrahim Hussien of St Patrick’s. After 4km Andrew increased the pace and I stayed with Ibrahim. I really pushed to stay with him until 3km to go. Ibrahim increased the pace drastically and went on to catch Andrew who was 100m in front of us. Eventually he won the race. I realised that I was close to beat my personal best. I pushed hard till the end to finish the race in a personal best time of 33minutes 36seconds finishing 3^rd overall and 2^nd Maltese.

On the 9^th February I took part in the Attard A.C’S 10km. Here I was not expecting much. Again I had heavy and tired legs due to the training load. In fact this time I could not stay with Andrew who on  the day was a class of his own. I stayed in the main group but after 1km I increased the pace and kept my own pace. I opened a gap from the group but not much. I kept steady in the first half of the race as I wanted to reserve some energy for the 2^nd half which is much faster. The guys behind where reducing the gap. I really pushed harder in the 2^nd part of the race and managed to hold on to 2^nd place to finish the race in a good time of 33minutes 47 seconds

I am very pleased with my performances in all the 3 races. These were all training races so the fact that I performed in all of them means that everything is on the right track. I want to reach my first peak of the year by the end of March for the Commonwealth Games Selection Race.

I would like to thank my coach Dermot Galea, my swimming coach Stan Ioan Catalin my sponsors Garmin Malta, Starbene Shop of Mosta, BBB Bike Parts – Malta, challenge Malta Marathon and Jaycee Malta, my club Birkirkara St Joseph especially our general secretary Euchar Camilleri, the Malta Triathlon Federation for the constant support, my parents and my wife’s parents. Thanks everyone for your support. Thanks to my dear wife Elizabeth for her constant support and her patience especially during the training camp and for coming to support me in all the races. Sorry for waking you up so early.

That’s all for now

Yours in Sports

Keith.

A New Sponsor: Malta Challenge Marathon

Malta Challenge Marathon are my new sponsors. Mr Barry M. Whitmore, who is the Founder, President and Race Director of the Challenge Marathon, is very pleased to have reached an agreement  in order to help me in my quest to represent Malta in the next Commonwealth Games in July. This is the first time that Mr Whitmore will be sponsoring a Triathlete since most of his sponsored athletes are all Long Distance Runners but thanks to the results achieved in the last 2 years, I not only managed to establish myself as the best Triathlete on the Island, but also  I am among the top 3 long distance runners in Malta as well.

On Monday 27th January 2014, Barry M. Whitmore, announced the STAGE 2 of a sponsorship deal for 6 top Maltese Club distance runners in which Galea is part of. In conjunction with “The Runners Centre”, official exclusive agent for Hilly & Ron Hill Clothing & Accessories, all these runners received running kit to the value of € 120. Barry has also included FREE entry into this year’s MALTA CHALLENGE MARATHON as part of the runner’s package.

Now I join Stage 1 group of runners together with the other 4 runners and all form part of “The Runners Centre” sponsored team. This benefit is we can participate as The Runners Centre Team where ever an event allows this to happen and where the athlete can not make their own club’s team for what ever reason.

I am very pleased to have reached an agreement with Barry and am very proud to be part of this team. I would like to thank Mr M. Whitmore for showing such confidence in my abilities and I promise to represent the Malta Challenge Marathon in the best possible way.

Back to Training

Hi Everyone

After the National Triathlon Championships I immediately went into a new phase in my training plan. It was off-season time. It was a month long and I took the opportunity to relax a bit and recover from the stress and pressure I had during the 2013 season. My aim during this period was to spend some quality time with my wife, who really helped me throughout the whole year

2013 was another successful season where I achieved a lot. I won the National Championships for the third time in my career, 1^st overall in the Birkirkara St Joseph Triathlon Series for the 6^th time in my career and setting the course record in the 3^rd race, 2^nd overall in the Birkirkara St Joseph 5km Running Series, 3^rd overall in the Birkirkara St Joseph Swimming Series, 3^rd Maltese in the Malta Half Marathon, 4^th overall in the MAAA Road Running League (1^st age group), had great performances in the World Triathlon Championships held in London and in the Garmin Cernobbio Triathlon were I raced with professional triathletes and won the Bronze Medal in the European Triathlon Championships where I also registered a New National Record on an Olympic Distance of 1hr 57minutes. In all I won 7 races this year with is very good. However If I had to choose the best moment of 2013 is none of the above. The climax of my 2013 is when Elizabeth became my wife on the 15^th March, the most important and beautiful day of my life

 With the amount of training I trained I pretended to be much faster, much more dominant. 2013 was a very difficult year. There were two particular races which I really wanted to win, the Malta Half Marathon and the National Duathlon Championships but due to sickness and injuries I could not perform as I wished. The Half Marathon was just before the wedding. I trained specifically for it but unfortunately I got sick and went on the starting line with 102 temperatures. At least I managed third although till 1km to go I was 1^st Maltese. Then the Duathlon came 8 weeks after the honeymoon. They were 8 hard weeks where had to get my top form back. I managed to do so but in race week I injured my hamstring and did not performed.  I was thinking that I was having a sort of bad luck for the whole 2013. Things were not going as planned

Then from that race everyone where questioning my abilities. Some people were talking nonsense, that I will not perform well, but how can you judge an athlete from 1 single race? These same people forgot what a great season I had in 2012. I was very angry and as my wife tells me I gave an answer not with words but with facts. The answers they got are listed above.

I started pure training in the first week of November and in December the training load increased with an average of 28 hours of training per week. At the moment I am training only on Endurance, Long sessions in every discipline. I am taking care of every single detail. I am training hard but sensible, my nutrition is in conjunction with my training as well and the results are coming. I came 3^rd in the Fleur de lys 5km organised by my club and registered a good time of 16.24 just 8seconds away from my Personal Best. It was an unexpected time at this stage of my training.

2013 finished on a high note as I won a special award at the MOC Sports Awards night on the 30^th November and made it again for the third time in my career in the semi final of the Sportsman of the Year award for the Ghazla Sportivi Nazzjonali. For 2014 I have high ambitions. I want to achieve all the targets I set. I want to repeat the 2012 season or even better. I am determined and am really focused to have a great and successful 2014.

I would like to thanks my coach Dermot Galea, my swimming coach Catalin Stan, my parents, wife's parents, my sponsors Garmin Malta, Starbene Shop of Mosta, BB Bike Parts Malta and Jaycee Malta, my club Birkirkara St Joseph especially our General SAecretart Euchar Camilleri and the Malta Triathlon Federation for the constant support. But most of all thanks to my wife Elizabeth for her great patience and support through out this difficult year. Its thanks to you that I am still the top Maltese Triathlete. 

That's All for now. Hope you had a nice christmas and wish you a prosperous and healthy New Year 2014

Yours in Sport
Keith

My Third National Title

Hi Everyone

On the 6^th October, I won my third national title in my career. It was a very difficult title to win. Although I was the favourite, for me it did not mean anything. A championship race is far different than any other local triathlon race. I was more excited than usual for this race as I was feeling that it was not going to be very easy to win. I was feeling the pressure that everyone was expecting me to win and others who did not want. I was afraid that what happened in the duathlon championships will happen again. However I think I handled the pressure well

Weather was not that good. As soon as the race started, it started to rain. I had a good swim covering the 1.5km in 22 minutes. During the swim I noticed that it was raining heavily and was a bit concerned about how am I going to push on the bike due to very slippery roads. I remembered when I raced in Sicily last year in far more difficult conditions than these on roads that I never raced on so I stayed calm

Out of water I was leading the race by 2 minutes on my nearest rivals. I started the bike steady and increased the pace in every lap. I was very careful in the turnarounds and in certain parts of the road, the rest I digged in. I was keeping an average speed of 39km/hr which is very good in those difficult conditions thus increasing my advantage to 2.30. However half way through the race I had a puncture. I cycled slowly for a whole lap till transition area. Here it was a crucial moment where I could win and lose the race.

I changed the wheel thanks to Jack Schiavone of ‘The Cyclist’ who gave me a wheel and continued the race. My advantage was reduced to 1.15. It took me time to push again comfortable on the bike as I lost the rhythm I had before. At the end of the bike I managed to increase a bit my advantage to 1.45 and started the run fast in order to win with a good margin. I was feeling comfortable and strong and so I pushed and pushed till I could not push no more and went on to win my third National Title in 2hrs 3 minutes. I covered the 10km in 36.43 which was the best run of the day and that to it I won the title by more than 3 minutes

As soon as I finished I shouted a lot. A shout that means VICTORY. I know some people don’t like it but they don’t know how many emotions I go through before this race and how much pain I had to go through to win it. It is very difficult to win a national title once but to win it again and again is much more difficult because you have more pressure to handle. My season was not over yet

A week after I took part in the Garmin 10km organised by Mellieha AC. I was not fully recovered for this race but since it was a race sponsored by my main sponsor I wanted to participate and do well. I started the race very fast trying to keep up with Malta’s leading long distance runner, Andrew Grech. I only kept with him for 2km as my legs could sustain his fast pace so I had to slow down and settle in a good pace. I was running well until at 3km to go I slowed down. I was feeling tired and they guys behind were fast approaching. Still I found some energy to push the last 1km to finish the race in a good 2^nd place in 34.51

I would like to thank the Malta Triathlon Federation, 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 throughout this season

A big thank you goes to my No 1 supporter, my wife Elizabeth. Elizabeth was fundamental for me during this season. It was a very difficult season. I had a lot of difficulties to face and things were not going the way I wanted. Everything seemed much more difficult however thanks to my wife I am still on top

Thanks my love xxxxx

That’s all for now

Yours in Sports

Keith

See you next year!!!!

6th Time Winner of BSJ Triathlon Series

Hi Everyone

On the 22nd September I took part in the last race of the Birkirkara St Joseph Triathlon Series. I was looking for a strong performance and a good time. Unfortunately it was a bit windy and it was a bit difficult to establish another course record and try to go under the 59mins barrier. However I wanted to test myself again. This was the last triathlon before the National Championships and I wanted to see the effects of all the hard training done. 

Today I was determined to do a good swim. I have been swimming a lot lately, covering over 20km a week of swimming, going up and down in both National and MFA Taqali pool. I started the swim at a very fast pace and went into the lead immediately. I was feeling strong and although the sea was very choppy, I was feeling comfortable. Today I was determined to be the first triathlete out of the water. I managed to do so and surprisingly I swam the 750m in 11.02 which is the fastest swim from all the four races.

It was a windy day and I had to forget fast times on the bike. I was a bit frustrated as I was feeling strong and could have done a great time if weather permitted. I had a strong bike covering the 20km in exactly 30mins. I did not push a lot on the bike though as I wanted to save my legs for the run. Since it was windy I opted to use lighter gears than usual especially headwind, however still maintained a good lead over my nearest rivals.

I suffered a bit in the first kilometre of the 5km run as I felt my legs a bit heavy. However my legs were feeling better after, so it was a good choice to step back a bit on the bike. In fact I managed to establish the fastest run of the day and also the fastest run of the whole series in 17.38 covering all the triathlon in 59.43 thus winning the series for the 6th Time in my career in style as managed to beat my nearest opponent by 1mins 40sec and 3rd athlete by 3mins.

I am very pleased with this performance. I used this race as part of my preparations for the National Triathlon Championships on the 6th October and with the results achieved lately, all seems on the right track to have a good performance next Sunday.

I would like to thank first the Malta Triathlon Federation for the great support they give me, 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 for her constant support she gives me. Thanks my lovexxx

That’s all for now. 

Yours in Sport 

Keith