Hi Everyone
Recently I took part in the National Duathlon Championships organized
by the Malta Triathlon Federation on the Mtarfa by-pass. The race consisted of
8km Run, 20km Bike and a 4km Run. I knew that it was going to be a very tough
race as the course was very hilly and one had to pace himself well in order to
finish strong. I was very careful how to manage myself as being sick for so
long I knew I was not in the shape I wanted to be for these championships but
my the victory in Dingli Duathlon 2 weeks before gave me a lot of confidence.
I entered first in the first transition together with 5
other athletes. I really focused on my transition to do it as fast as I could
and in fact managed to gain a few seconds. I noticed that I opened a small gap
and I attacked the first 2km of the bike. I was using my new Road Bike – the
SCOTT FOIL and I was feeling really good on it. I was feeling strong so I kept
on persisting in my attack although a group of 6 cyclist was formed behind me.
Still I managed to increase my lead to 26 seconds before starting the last run
where I administered well my advantage and went on to win my fifth Duathlon title
(4th consecutive one) and the 4th win of the season.
I am very pleased with my performance especially with my
bike. It was my first race on my new SCOTT FOIL Road Bike and felt really good.
In fact I managed to do a personal best on the bike from 2 years ago using my
time trail bike. It was a very risky tactic going all out from the beginning of
the bike segment alone with a group of 6 cyclists working together behind me.
However my legs were in good shape and managed to hold on till the end. Doing such
an effort is very demanding on the legs and was a bit afraid that I won’t have
legs for the 2
nd run but I was very careful on how to manage the
effort on the bike and still managed to run well
I would like to thank my coaches Ivan Rozhnov and his brother
Dermot Galea, my parents and my wife’s parents,my masseur Owne Attard. my
nutritionist Johanna Galea and my sponsors
www.garminmalta.com,
BBB Cycling Malta, Jaycee Malta, Saracino Café, Scott Bikes, Starbene 24/7,
Team Barry Malta International Challenge Marathon, Lucida Laundry, mvg
PR&Marketing, my Club Birkirkara St Joseph, the Malta Triathlon Federation
and the Maltese Olympic Committee for the constant support. Most of all a big
thanks goes to my wife Elizabeth and my
daughter Elise who were very supportive these last three months. I would like
to dedicate this win to all those who helped me these last three months in
order to get back in a decent shape to race.
That’s all for now.
Yours in Sports
Keith
