National Duathlon Championships - a day of mixed feelings

This morning we had the National Duathlon Championship of the Coast Road racing course. We had a very good turn out of 46 participants, a record in itself. For me it was a day of mixed feelings, on one side I had the race and on the other I was thinking about a friend we have lost last Friday - Micheal Aquilina. He was a teacher, lecturer, and friend to me. A person who will be very hard to replace. A person unique in his own way of doing things, and his dedication to sport is something rare is this country. I thought to myself that if I managed to win this race I would dedicate it to him

We started the 5km opening run at a very hard pace, too hard for me I thought after about 1km. The main contenders for the race were Keith (my brother), Mark Zammit, Brian Magri, George Vella and Fabio Spiteri, the latter unfortunately was injured on the day and had to miss the running section opting for the relay bike leg. I kept my own pace as I knew that in a duathlon its easy to cook yourself on the first run although on the other hand I couldn't afford to lose a lot of time.

At transition I was around a minute off the pace. I was confident that I could do a strong bike leg and that's what I went out for. I pushed the pace and caught Keith, Mark and Brian after a lap and a half. It wasn't easy at all but the legs were turning well. Keith was the only one to keep close but I managed to open a small gap on him before T2.

After the change over I was out running the last 3km but something was not quite right. Both my calves cramped just after going out of transition area. I had to stop briefly to stretch, but after that all was OK. I felt much better in the second run and also could push the pace.

Approaching the finish line I dedicated my win to Michael. Michael, was my PE teacher in Form 3 and after Br. Jimmy and Manuel was a big influence in my sports career, and later on was my lecturer and friend at university. Farewell Mike, will miss you and I hope to make good use of what I learned from you.