2008.....

What a year this was with all its ups and downs. In the last hours of 2008 I look back and calculate the balance. What went good and what didn't. What I achieved and what I missed. On the whole I feel quite lucky as I have achieved a lot especially looking back at how the year started with Pneuomonia. Results came but only after hard days of training and a lot of support from my girlfriend and my parents, not to forget as well long hours of training with my athletes.

A much more detailed note will follow but wanted to put down a few words before the calendar marks 2009.

Happy New Year to all!!

What Ironman means to us.....

INSPIRATIONAL MOMENTS IN IRONMAN

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will;
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill;
When the funds are low, and the debts are high
And you want to smile, but have to sigh;
When care is pressing you down a bit-
Rest if you must, but do not quit.

Success is failure turned inside out;
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt;
And you can never tell how close you are
It may be near when it seems so far;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit-
It's when things go wrong that you must not quit.

"Don't Quit," Author Unknown
(taken from www.ironman.com)

Training Update

Training so far has been going well. Have been putting in some solid miles of running and cycling. I am very pleased with my progress so far. 2009 looks to be a very tough year of racing for me, and I am really looking forward to it. My main target of the season is without doubt Ironman Austria. This is the ultimate race for me. Then I have the Hayle Half Ironman Distance Triathlon in the Uk in May which will be like a pre race warm up for Ironman Austria. There will be also quite a few cycling races since I am helping out in the development of a cycling section for my club, B'Kara St. Joseph.

As for Olympic Distance races there are two very important events for me next year. These are the Small Nations Triathlon Championships in May and the Sicily-Malta Tournament in September. I have never had the opportunity to race in Sicily-Malta Friendly so am looking forward to have a go at the top spot next September. Of course the Small Nations Triathlon Championships are an important target for MTA even more as they are going to be organised on home soil. Looking back at my past participations I was never so lucky at this event. My best results so far have been a second place and 2 third places. I am hoping that our team will manage to get back the gold like two years ago.

So far apart from the Sicily-Malta Friendship Tournament I haven't yet decided how the second part of my season will be. I would like to race another Half Ironman race and possibly another Ironman very late in the season but this will always depend on the finance available.... as usual.

This year it has been a very tough year for sponsorships. I have to say that I doing quite bad, and it is very disappointing after my strong results this season. But as always I am not giving up, and if that means investing more money from my own pocket to reach these targets, then it will be this way.

Keep training hard.

Dermot

Silver Award at the Malta Olympic Committee Awards Night

Hi Everyone,

Yesterday was a great day both for myself as an athlete, and also for Maltese Triathlon. I was awarded the Silver Award for my 2008 results at the Malta Olympic Committee Awards Night. I am very honoured to receive this award since it pays back for the tough season I had especially the first 3 months recovering from pnueomonia. It wasn't easy to get back in shape for Ironman UK and the other end of seasons races but things went the right way, and persistance paid off. This is of great motivation for me to keep trying harder in 2009 and to get better results, aim higher and achieve what is the ultimate target for me, be on the start line at the World Ironman Championships in Hawaii. I have sent out a two year plan starting off from next year and I am doing my best to succeed.

To top up a great night my brother Keith was awarded the Gold Award. This proves to be a big milestone for Maltese Triathlon as this is the best results achieved so far by Maltese Triathletes in these Awards.

I would like to thank my parents, my girlfriend Johanna, my sponsors, my club B'Kara St. Joseph, my UK friends Bill & Pam, and MTA for their help during the 2008 season. You need a strong team to produce a strong performance.

Dermot

Duathlon UK win on The Hinckley Times

The Hinckley Times (A local UK newspaper) issued an article (13th November) about the Market Bosworth Duathlon I won in October. As you can see from the article above there was also a photo of the start. You can see me in the Blue Ironman cap on the left. Thanks to Bill & Pam for getting me this article!

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Another important updated is my selection together with my brother Keith for the Malta Olympic Committee Awards which are going to be held on the 7th December. This is a big achievement for us to be selected amongst all the athletes in Malta, and it is also a big achievement for Triathlon in Malta to have two athletes in the run-up for an award. Next Sunday we shall know the colour of our award - Bronze, Silver or Gold.

Will keep you posted

Dermot

'Il-Gens' Newspaper Article by Paul Grech

This article appeared on 'Il-Gens', a local newspaper last Saturday. It is a very detailed article in Maltese about my last win at the Bosworth Duathlon in the UK. A big thank you goes to Paul Grech for not only doing this article but looking into doing a complete research by contacting the

organisers.

More Updates to come soon.........

Dermot

1485 Market Bosworth Water Park Duathlon

Some good news this morning. Got this link regarding the last win in the Uk at the 1485 Market Bosworth Water Park Duathlon held a couple of weeks ago. The article appeared on the British Triathlon Federation Website. Here is the link:

http://www.britishtriathlon.org/triathlonengland/news/article.php?id=9988

Dermot

Welcome to my Blog & Website

Today I am lauching my personal website. In this blog I will put all my race results, stories, training articles, thoughts, well anything that has to do with Triathlon, Coaching & Ironman. I would like to show my gratitude to Emanuel Bonnici and his brother Luke who took care to put together this site.

It has a been a good year with a couple of good results considering that I was out of action between January and March. I am now back into base training in preparation for the coming season.

Will keep you all posted!

Dermot