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

1st in the opening race of the B’Kara SJ Tri Series

Hi Everyone

On the 8^th June I took part in the opening race of the Birkirkara St Joseph Triathlon Series series which I won for six times in my career. Being the Defending champion of this series, I wanted to start a series on a good note. However I got sick two weeks before the race. The day after I returned from Avola, I got sick. I had gastro enteritis and it took me around two weeks to get back to normal. I not only lost a lot of training but I had to miss the Glasgow Test Race of the Commonwealth Games as I was not fit to compete.

I knew that it was going to be a difficult race from the start as I was not 100% of my form. The race was held near the Freeport at B’bugia. At the beginning of the week of the race, my legs were still tired and I was not feeling the usual strength. I started the race at a very fast pace in the swim. I pushed a lot in order to open a good gap. I was feeling strong at the moment and fast. In fact I covered the 750m swim in 10mins which is a very good time and setting the fastest swim of the day.

The cycle route was very different from the usual coast road route. The 20km bike segment was an up and down hill to repeat for 4 times. I was feeling strong still but I did not started all out as we had to repeat the hill 4 times and wanted to save the legs. I started really pushing from the second lap and was increasing my advantage after every lap. I covered the 20km in 32.27.

The 5km running route was completely flat. I was looking for a fast time especially after a good swim and bike. I started well but by time my energy levels were decreasing. The 2 weeks of sickness were taking their toll. I tried to hang on and tried to increase my lead. Still managed to set the fastest run of the day and went on to win the race in 1.02.25, with 90sec advantage from 2^nd placed athlete and 2mins in front of 3^rd placed athlete.

I am pleased with my performance, especially the swim and the bike. Not so happy with the run but considering I was coming from 2 weeks of sickness, and my body was still in his recovery period I think it was a good 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 for their support.

Last but not least, big thanks goes 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

I’m IN. Selected for Glasgow Commonwealth Games

Hi Everyone,

Finally I made it. I am selected for the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games which will start on the 23^rd July. I am so happy that after 3 years of hard training I made it to represent Malta in such a high level event.  I started training for this selection since November 2011 and from then on I never looked back. The training I started doing was very different and harder than I used to do before. Thanks to the KMS 20/20 Elite Scheme I started training 3 times a day reaching a training load of 30 hours per week.

During these years I improved a lot and established myself as the top Maltese triathlete by winning  2 Triathlon titles, 2 Duathlon title, 2 Birkirkara St Joseph Triathlon Series, a Triathlete of the year award, 1 MOC Bronze Award and 1 MOC Special Merit Award. I also managed to establish myself as one of the top Maltese long Distance Runners, Cyclists and also in open water swimming.

Thanks to the training I have been, My Results abroad improved a lot. I was crowned Under 25 European Triathlon Champion in 2012, Bronze Medallist in the European Triathlon Championships in 2013 (AG 25-29 CATEGORY), 2^ND overall Sicily Duathlon Championships (1^st under 25 category), 1^st in San Vito lo capo Triathlon, 1^st in Cyprus International Triathlon, 8^th in Ecternach Luxembourg TCSSE, 22^nd in Gamrin Cernobbio Triathlon, 35^th in World Triathlon Championships (130^th overall out of 1500) and 5^th in Mediterranean Cup triathlon 1 Series in Avola

During these last three years I also managed to break numerous records. I set a new National Record of an Olympic Distance Triathlon of 1hr 57mins, I broke the Course Record of the Club’s Sprint Distance Triathlon which was set by my brother in 2006 and also broke the Course Record of the National Triathlon Championships which was set by my brother way back in 2002

Now am focused on the Commonwealth Race which will be on Thursday 24^th July. The Race venue is Strathclyde Country Park. I am really looking forward for this race as it’s a dream come true being on the same starting line of Olympic Champion Alistair Brownlee and His brother Jonny who is a bronze medallist at the 2012 Olympics. I promise that I will train much harder than before in order to produce a great performance in Glasgow.

This Target was achieved thanks to 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. Thanks a lot to the Malta Triathlon Federation who played an important role to get Malta Triathlon in these Games. A Big thanks to the Malt Olympic Committee for believing in my abilities. Last but not least a big thanks goes to my wife Elizabeth for being by my side throughout these years helping me to achieve this lifelong target.  . Here support is fundamental for me and without I am not the good athlete that I am today and without here I would not have achieved this qualification.

The Journey was long and tough. I had to go through many challenges but I never lost faith. I never gave up and never stop believing in my abilities. As Rocky Balboa says “It isn’t how hard you hit, it’s how hard you can get hit and keep moving forwards, it’s how much you can take and keep moving forwards, that’s how winning is done”

That’s all for now

Yours in Sport

Keith

5th overall in first edition of Triathlon1 Series

Hi Everyone

On the 18^th May I was on the starting line of the first edition of the Triathlon1 Series organized by the Mediterranean Triathlon Federation in conjunction with the European Triathlon Union. The first Race of this series was organized in the Small town of Avola in Sicily. I was very looking forward to this race as I really like racing in Sicily

Unfortunately the weather was not that ideal for us athletes. Weather was awful. It rained all morning which made the technical bike course very slippery and dangerous. This fact was a major drawback as I did not know the course so well compared to the other athletes who raced in Avola in the previous editions. I was very frustrated and nervous before the race as I knew I could not give everything on the bike due to the slippery roads. It was a very high profile race as this race attracted a lot of professional athletes who race regularly for the Italian Triathlon Team. I knew that it was going to be a difficult and a very fast race. I started well in the swim covering the 1.2km swim in 15minutes, coming out from the water in 7^th place just a few seconds behind the main group

On the bike I did my best to try and get in the group but the roads were too slippery. We had 4 laps round the town of Avola with some sharp corners. I managed to enter in the main group in the last lap and attacked  immediately to come in T2 in front of the group.The pace they set in the beginning of the running segment was amazing. So fast. They opened a 20m gap. I really pushed hard to get into the group. I managed to finish the race in 5^th Place just 30seconds behind 2^nd place. I was very surprised with my running time as I covered the 5km segment in a good time of 16.55 which is my fastest run ever in a sprint triathlon.

I am very pleased with my result. If it was not raining I could have done much better and could have fought for the whole race for a podium race. The times in both swimming and running are personal bests which means that all the hours of training are paying off. This is the best result I achieved in an Elite men's race with a strong professional field. I hope in the future will have other opportunities to race with such athletes to continue to improve my level

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, and my club Birkirkara St Joseph  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

Mission Accomplished - AT LAST

Hi Everyone

I have been waiting for a whole year for this re-match at the National Duathlon Championships. At last year’s Duathlon championship I did not had a good race due to an injury in my hamstring. I was very disappointed but this year I knew it was going to be a different story. After winning by a good margin at the Mellieha AC’s Sprint Duathlon, I was very confident that I will be in good shape for this year’s championships compared to last year. I had no injuries. I was ready to fight till the end to win back the Duathlon Crown. I waited for too long for this race. I really wanted this win 

The National Duathlon Championships were held at Haz Zebbug by pass for the second year running. The Race consisted of 8.5km run- 39km bike and 4.25km run. I went immediately into the lead setting a very fast pace. Spiteri tried to react but after 1km only he started to lose ground. Keeping in mind that Spiteri has a strong bike, I kept on pushing to open a good gap before starting the bike.

I covered the first running leg in 29.35, 20seconds in front of Brain Magri and 30seconds from Spiteri. I was expecting a much more comfortable lead so I knew that I had to give everything I had in the bike if I wanted the title. In the bike segment Spiteri moved up to second place and tried to reduce his gap. I was suffering a lot of cramps in my calves after half of the bike. I was afraid. The demons of last year were coming to my mind as last year I suffered a lot from cramps that I could nt cycle not even running. At one point Spiteri was closing a bit the gap but in the last 2 laps I managed to increase a bit the lead to come into T2 with a 45seconds lead.

I could not run fast as I wished in the second run because all the cramps I had but I kept pushing and pushing till I could not push no more. After 2km my legs were back to normal and I could push to my normal race pace. However, by then it was game over for Spiteri as I went on to win my second Duathlon Title of my career in a time of 1.45.40 which is a new course record by 2mins. Fabio Spiteri came in a minute later.

I am really happy with this championship win and claim back the title to the club where it belongs. The race was a tough one and a close one, more so as duathlons are not my forte but I wanted to win the title at all costs. I waited for a whole year for this championship and am delighted to have won the title with a new course record. I want to dedicate this title win to the most important person of my life, my wife Elizabeth because she is the only one who knows  what I had to endure after last year’s result and its thanks to her that I am much stronger than ever because her faith in me never wained.

I would like to thank my coach Dermot Galea for his constant support and his advises and faith that I can be someone in the sport, my swimming coach Catalin Stan for spending hours with me at the pool, my sponsors Garmin Malta, BBB Bike Parts Malta, Malta Challenge Marathon, Jaycee Malta and Starbene Shop of Mosta, my parents, my wife’s parents and my Club Birkirkara St Joseph for their constant support. Thanks to all.

That’s all for know

Yours in Sports

Keith