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.