Malta Champion for the 4th time

Hi Everyone

The Triathlon Calendar came to an end on Sunday 12th October with the Grand Final, The National Triathlon Championship, the most important race of the year. I trained hard for this race during the last summer. The training I had to do through was so demanding that in my life I never trained so hard before. At one point I was training close to 35 hours a week and training this amount of hours in the heat we had was very hard but I was determined to end the season with some great performances

I started the swim as usual going immediately in front and trying to open a gap. I knew it was going to be a bit more difficult as there were no relay team swimmers to push with so I had to do all by myself. I was feeling strong and was swimming really well. I decided to push as much as I could in the swim to open a good gap on my nearest rivals whom were going to give me some tough time. I completed the 1.5km swim in a good time of 21.29

We had to run a lot to go to transition area. I really sprinted to T1 and change as fast as I could as I wanted to gain more seconds. I started the bike immediately at a fast pace in order to get immediately in the pace. It was a complete different route from the usual coast road at the aharax tal mellieha. I lapped a lot on the race course during this summer as the course did not suited my characteristic so I knew what pace I had to go in order to leave some energy for the bike. I was keeping an average of 37.5km/hr which was the pace I settled to keep before. At 15km to go I was starting feeling a bit tired. I was feeling the energy I had before and my rivals started closing the gap. I kept calm and kept on with my pace till T2

As I started the run, I was not feeling that energetic as I wished. I don’t know why but I was feeling my legs tired. However I was running a respectable pace and tried to keep up with it. It was very hot and the humid conditions were killing me. I think that is why I was feeling a bit without energy. I tried to hydrate myself and concentrate on my pace. I noticed that I was gaining ground again on my nearest opponents. To try and push myself more and forgot the tiredness I had in my legs I used the backmarkers as an aim to run faster.

In the end I managed to win my 4^th National Triathlon Title. I won the race in 2.06.01 with the fastest run of the day of 37.38. It was a hard and a very tough race and the humid conditions did not helped me. I pushed so much and fought with myself in order to push more that soon after the race I was not feeling so well as my blood pressure went low. This race is so special for me as it was after the 1998 championship that I decided to start triathlon and winning the race that I love most for the 4^th time is simply amazing. It was a great season for me winning the Triathlon titile for the 4^th time, the Duathlon title for the 2^nd time, the Aquathlon title, the BSJ Series title for the 7^th time, the triathlete of the year award for the 6^th time (equalled my brother’s all time record) and represented Malta at the Commonwealth Games.

All this was only thanks to my brother/coach Dermot Galea who is a great honour for me to follow the footsteps of the best ever Maltese Triathlete, my swimming coach Catalin Stan whom under his guidance we improved my swimming a lot, my parents and my wife’s parents for the support they give me in every single race, my masseur Owen Attard, my sponsors Garmin Malta, BBB Bike Parts Malta, Starbene Sports Nutrition, Malta Challenge Marathon, Jaycee Malta, the Malta Triathlon Federation, my club Birkirkara St Joseph, my Kunsill Malti ghall- isport and the Maltese Olympic Committee for all the support they gave me throughout the whole season.

Most of all I would like to thank my number 1 supporter, my wife Elizabeth. She is the only person who knows what I have been through this summer. She was by my side during the heavy training I had to do though. At one point I was training 35hrs a week and sometimes I was training even if my body was knackered but I was so determined to win the last races of the season with some great performances that I wanted to go through that pain. I managed to do all the session I had thanks to my wife who was by my side helping me in everything. Thanks a lot my love, love you so much. Without you I am lost. You are the Adrian I always wished to have. Love you my “Adrian”.

Thanks a lot for Now

Yours in Sports

Keith

7th Heaven

Hi Everyone,

The season is coming to an end soon and we are now in the final races of the 2014 Triathlon calendar. Last Sunday I was on the starting line of the last race of the Birkirkara St Joseph Triathlon Series. My intention was to have a solid result and try to post the fastest splits in all the disciplines and trying to win the fourth race out of four races of the series.

The weather was much better than last time although there was the chance of rain during the race. I started the 750m swim as usual setting a fast pace trying to keep up with the relay team swimmers. At one point both swimmers were going off direction and so I decided to keep on swimming on my own. Soon after they noticed their mistake and joined me. We kept on pushing a relatively fast pace to come out of the water in 10.37. It was a very good time considering that the water was very choppy

After a not so good transition I started the 20km bike segment at a very strong pace. I wanted the fast bike split today and at the same time hoping that my legs will be able to run fast after the bike. Although I had a comfortable lead at the start of the bike, I pushed hard and still managed to extend my lead. I covered the 20km in 32.53 which was the best bike split of the day which I am very pleased of as it was the first time this year I had the best bike split.

In the 5km run I tried to go faster, trying to increase my lead. I managed to do so as I noticed that my gap was increasing in the first two laps. In the last lap of three I could not go faster as my legs were feeling the previous efforts. Still managed the best run of the day in 18.42 to win the 10th race of the season in 1.03.30 which is a new personal best on the course with a non - wetsuit swim

Seeing my performance, one could say that I had an easy and perfect race but there is always room for improvement. I know I can run faster because in training I am doing fast times and I have to improve my transitions as I need to be faster. In triathlon every second counts. Still I  m pleased with my performance and that I won the Birkirkara St Joseph Triathlon Series for a record of seven times in my career

I would like to thank my coach Dermot Galea, my swimming coach Catalin Stan, my parents, my wife’s parents, my sponsors Garmin Malta, BBB Bike Parts Malta, Jaycee Malta, Challenge Malta Maraton and Starbene Shop of Mosta, my masseur Owen Attard, my club Birkirkara St Joseph, the Malta Triathlon Federation, the Maltese Sports Council and the Maltese Olympic Committee for their constant support

I would like to thank the club Birkirkara St Joseph and all its helpers for once again organizing a successful and professional series. We know that this year we had to change venue due to the work in progress at Salina. I can imagine the hassle that club and everyone involved had to go through in order to give us not only the usual standard but a better one than these last few years even if we had to race on a different route. THANKS A LOT BSJ……

That’s all for know

Thanks for following my blog. I really appreciate

Yours in Sports, 

KEITH

3 out of 3

Hi Everyone

After winning the National Aquathlon Championships, 4 days later I was on the starting line of the third race of the Birkirkara St Joseph Triathlon Series. The Race was going to be tough as the weather was very humid and it will obviously hamper the level of performance of an athlete. Conscious about this fact I was drinking lots of fluids 2 days before the race

I started the 750m Swim at a very fast pace trying to catch up with a swimmer who was part of a relay team. I was feeling strong. I was pushing but at the same time my stroke was very relaxed. I knew I was going to post a good time. I managed a personal best time of 10.50. I was very pleased as all those kilometres going up and down at the MFA Taqali pool were worth it.

Going on the bike, I did not hammer the first hill as I wanted to save my legs as I knew the run was going to be tough with the heat. I was feeling great and I was increasing my pace each lap, thus my lead was increasing s well. Unfortunately I encountered 3 incidents with cars during the bike were I had to slow down a bit. I managed to post the 2^nd fastest bike of the day of 33.17, 8 seconds away from the fastest split.

Coming from the bike, I started the run at a steady pace as I knew it was going to be a tough 5km due to the high humidity. After I settled the pace, I was running well but at one point I slowed down in the 3^rd km. I was feeling so hot however I managed to pick up the pace for the last 2km. I managed to set the fastest 5km run of the day of 18.45 to finish in a personal best time on the course (without wetsuit swim) of 1.04.17

I am very pleased with my performance especially with my swim and bike where I felt awesome. Pity it was so humid because I know I can go faster.I would like to thank my coaches Dermot Galea and Catalin Stan, my parents, my wife’s parents, my club Birkirkara St Joseph, and the Malta Triathlon Federation for their support. I would like to thank as well my sponsors, Garmin Malta, BBB Bike Parts Malta, Jaycee Malta, Starbene shop of Mosta, Malta Challenge Marathon, the Malta Olympic Committee and the Kunsill Malti ghall-isport for their fundamental help they give me.

Special Thanks goes to my No 1 Supporter, my wife Elizabeth for coming to support me once again for the race and for here support leading up to the event. I would like to say well done to my club Birkirkara St Joseph for setting up again a very high standard race and also to all participants, especially those who managed to finish their first triathlon. Welcome to the Triathlon Malta family. 

Well done and Keep it up

That’s all for now

Yours in Sports

Keith 

First Ever National Aquathlon Champion

Hi Everyone

After the great experience I had in the Commonwealth Games where I achieved my dream to represent my country among the best triathletes in the world, heavy training was awaiting me. 2 races from the triathlon calendar where moved to a later date and my coach, 10 times Malta Triathlon Champion Dermot Galea took the opportunity to focus more on training and try to improve my level of performance for the last important races of the season. The main focus is to win for the fourth time the National Triathlon Championships

On the 17^th September, I was on the starting line of the first ever National Aquathlon Championships. The weather was hot and humid, however I wanted to see if I have really improved as the times I was doing recently during training were very encouraging. I started at a very fast pace trying to put a good gap on my nearest rivals. Only club teammate David Agius Lia managed to stay with me. We opened a good gap pushing ourselves to cover the 2.5km in 8.09.

When I started the swim I immediately settled myself at a fast pace to take the lead and starting building a good gap. I was swimming really good and was feeling strong. The Sea was a bit rough so I had to focus more on my underwater push in order to stay strong.  In the first lap of the swim I could not see the buoys due to the Sun and unfortunately I was going to the wrong direction and covered more distance than I should have done. Thus I still managed to set the fastest swim of the day in 16.15

When I Started the last 2.5km run, I had a comfortable advantage. My coach told me to ease back a bit as 4 days after I had the third race of the Birkirkara St Joseph Triathlon Series in order to save some energy. I covered the 2^nd 2.5km in 9.13 which was the fastest run of the day as well to finish the race in 34.40, thus becoming the first ever National Aquathlon Champion.

I am very happy with my performance as it seems that the hard training is paying off, however I have three more races and I want to see better performances than this as I know I am capable of doing better. I am very happy and honoured to be crowned National Aquathlon Champion. I would like to thanks my brother/coach Dermot Galea, my swimming coach Catalin Stan, my sponsors, Garmin Malta, BBB Bike Parts Malta, Starbene Shop of Mosta, Jaycee Malta and Malta Challenge Marathon for their support, my masseur Owen Attard, my parents, my wife’s parents, the Maltese Olympic Committee, my club Birkirkara St Joseph and the Malta Triathlon Federation

Most of all I would like to thanks my great and super wife Elizabeth for not only supporting me during the races but also for her support during my heavy training as well. With my wife by my side everything comes easier. I would like to say a big well done to all participants and to all the kids doing the mini-aquathlon, you all rocked. Also I would like to thank the Malta Triathlon Federation for organising the first ever National Aquathlon Championships. Well done and keep it up for such a professional organisation

That’s all for now

Keep you posted

Yours in Sports

Keith

7th win of the season

Hi Everyone

Training has been going quite well at the moment, During training i managed to lower most of my times and I think i am in a very good shape for the Commonwealth Games. On the 13th July I was on the starting line of the 2nd race of the BSJ Triathlon Series. It was the last race before the Games and wanted to have a good response from my body with a great performance.

I started fast trying to keep up with the swimmers of the relay teams as much as possible. I was swimming fast and strong. In fact i covered the 750m swim in a strong time of 10.50 out of the water. After a fast transition i immediately attacked the b'bugia hill trying to make the difference as I only had 10 seconds lead out of the water.

 On the bike I felt amazing. I was strong and was really pushing. We had a bit of a head wind coming up the hill. I Noticed that I was increasing my advantage and this gave me courage to give everything on the bike. In fact I managed to set the 2nd best bike split covering the hilly 20km in 34.12. Starting the running segment, I set into a very fast pace. Wanted to increase my advantage as much as I could. During htr last lap I was feeling the efforts i did on the bike, however I still kept on pushing to finish the race, in 1.04.31, setting the fastest run of the day of 18.04

I am very pleased with my performance as its the results I wanted. Such result, gives me a lot of courage and confidence for the Games. I would like to thank my coach Dermot Galea, my swimming coach Catalin Stan, my parents and my wife's parents. Thanks also to my sponsors, Garmin Malta, BBB Bike Parts Malta, Starbene Shop of Mosta, Malta Challange Marathon, Jaycee Malta, my club Birkirkara St Joseph, the Malta Traithlon Federation and the Maltese Olymipc Committee 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.

I would like to say a big well done to the organizes who as usual, gave us triathletes a race of a very high standard. Also I would like to say well done to all participants especially those who did some personal bests. Next thursday on the starting line of the most important race of my life. The Commonwealth Games. I did a lot of sacrifices to arrive at this stage in the best shape of my life. I never trained so hard, 30 hrs of training per week. Now I am feeling ready. Its time to get the result I want and that I worked for the last three years. I am determined, I am ready and I am confident that I will achieve the best ever result of a Maltese Triathlete in these Games but most of all I will make MALTA PROUD. LET'S GO FOR IT!!!! Glasgow here I come

Thats all for Now

Yours in Sports

Keith

First in St Patrick's Aquathlon

Hi Everyone

The preparations for the Commonwealth Games are going really well. Following my great performance in the European Triathlon Championships, a week later I was on the starting line of an Aquathlon Race organised by St Patrick’s AC at Marsaxlokk bay. Due to the fact that I want to reach my peak for the games, I had to keep on going with my hard training schedule and could not rest for the race. In Fact on race day, I had really tired legs and I just prayed to have at least the strength to be able to win

The Aquathlon consisted of a 2.5km Run, 1km Swim and another 2.5km Run. I took the lead immediately. I pushed a lot in order to try to build up a lead although it was a short run. I managed to do so by opening a gap of 15 seconds from the main group registering a time of 8.37. In the Swim I pushed a lot and managed to open a good lead. Halfway to the swim I was feeling the training load of the week. My legs were tired and my arms were stiff due do long sets with the paddles. I opened a gap of more than a minute and registered the best swimming split of the day of 15.30.

After a fast transition, I pushed a lot in order to increase my advantage. I covered the second run in 8.59 which was the best run as well to finish the race in 34.07, 1min 30sec advantage from 2^nd place athlete and nearly 2mins from 3^rd. I am very pleased with my performance. I was not expecting any fast times due to the fact that I did not rest enough for the race. All I wanted was to win with a good advantage and I am happy that I managed to do so. I am also satisfied to have won the race as one of my sponsors, Malta Challenge Marathon, was the main sponsor of the race.

Now my next race will be the second race of the BSJ Triathlon Series which will be the last test before the Commonwealth Games. 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, the Malta Triathlon Federation and the Maltese Olympic Committee 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

Strong performance at the European Triathlon Championships

Hi Everyone

On the 22^nd June I was on the starting line of the European Triathlon Championships which were held in Kitzbuhel Austria. This year the level was really high with many professional athletes taking part especially in my age group. I knew it was going to be a tough race especially on the bike as it was very technical and hilly. My aim was to do a strong performance and getting as much higher as possible in the final placings.

The swim was set in lake Schwarzee. It’s a huge lake. In fact we had only 1 lap on 1.5km. I had a really good swim covering the 1.5km in 18.45, coming out of the water in 8^th place. I felt really good  in the swim and managed to stay with the main group. We had a long way to T1 and then we had to tackle the 40km hilly and technical bike course. The bike route was a bit dangerous as well. The roads were very narrow and difficult to skip other athletes. I had to be careful especially in the corners because with one mistake one can end up out of the course and badly injured.

I felt strong on the bike especially on the hills. Although it was dangerous, the bike course was simply amazing riding among those huge trees. I rode well covering such a difficult course in 1hr 12. I was a bit unsure on the run as after such a difficult bike, I was hoping that my legs were still fresh. The 9.5km run was a 2 lap route around the lake. It was an undulating route so it was not a course for a fast time. However my legs were in shape. I ran really well covering the 9.5km run in 34.40 which comes around 36.40 as 10km

I finished the race in 2hrs 12mins in a strong 7^th place in my category and 15^th overall from all Europe. It is a very good result which gives me great confidence for the Commonwealth Games. Now only a month left for the big day. I am back to my normal training schedule were I will be doing some race specific training in order to be in best shape of my life for such an important event.

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, the Malta Triathlon Federation and the Maltese Olympic Committee 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

Yours in Sport

Keith