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