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