Finally I am in UK training like a professional athlete. It is a dream for me that now i have only one priority at the moment which is Triathlon. Till now I have been in UK for 3 weeks and training has been going really well. On 1st August I did my first triathlon. I took part in the Blithfied Olympic Triathlon which is part of the Blue Seventy Series.
I was looking for a good result as the races I did in Malta before my trip to U.K. were very encouraging. I managed to go under the 17min barrier in a 5km by placing 4th in a time of 16.36 in the 5km Birkirkara Race 1 Series. I won the 2nd race of the BSJ Triathlon Series in a Personal best time of 1hr 00mins 14sec, winning by a 20sec margin after a great battle against Mark Zammit and finally came 7th in a new Personal Best time of 29.17 in the 20km Time Trail Organised by Birkirkara St Joseph.
Since it was a qualifying race for the world championships there was a strong field competing for this race. However it did not affected me as I was concentrated only to get as much as points possible for the series. Besides the Olympic, there was a Sprint Distance race going on which started 5mins before my race. This factor affected most of the triathletes doing the Olympic Race.
Started really strong and tried to stay behind a good group. However in the first lap I had to stop frequently as I was slowed down by swimmers who were doing the Sprint race, doing breaststroke and this affected me from swimming my usual rhythm. I covered 1.5km in 22mins which is not as good as expected. Whilst doing my transition the helmet of the one next to me fell from his bike with the wind. Then whilst I was going out of transition, a marshal told me to go back and put the helmet back in its place as it was my fault. I lost plenty of time here!!!
On the bike was very strong. It was a very hard course with tight corners and many hills. I was very strong on the hills and was catching up time from the leaders and moved up a couple of positions as well. In the first lap I was very cautions but in the second one I was feeling more confident and was taking some risks as well. I covered the 40km in 1hr 3mins in an average speed of 38km/hr
In the run I tried to run as fast as possible but half of the route was off-road and this did not helped me to run to the best of my abilities. I don’t know how many times I twisted my ankle. However I covered the 10km in 36minutes 37seconds . A good time on such a hard course. I finished the race in 2hrs 4mins in 14th place and came 3rd in my age group. With this 3rd place, I managed to qualifiy for the World Championships in Budapest next September.
I am very pleased with my result. I am not so happy with the swim but had to face some challenges during the 1.5km. I am pleased with my bike and running splits. At the moment I am 4th overall in the Blue Seventy Series. I am looking forward to continue training in UK and to prepare well for my next commitment here in England which is the Bedford Olympic British Triathlon Championships on the 15th August.
That’s all for now
Keith.
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