DGTri Athlete Report - Richard Vella

27th February 2011

Mellieħa – Malta

MALTA HALF MARATHON 2011

My coach, to whom I owe a heap of gratitude, has asked me to share my experience of the Malta Half Marathon.

Warming up around the medeival city of Mdina, with a RAF hercules involved in Libya evacuation operations, rumbling in the distance.

This was the prelude to my first experience in the Malta Half Marathon. The chilly weather was showing no clemency with a prevailing strong wind blowing, but the atmosphere was warm enough.
Last September I contacted Dermot and shared with him my desire to run a HM. He forwarded me a program to which I stuck religiously. I handled the first month with a generous amount of confidence and ease. Training starts revealing its true face after the first phase. It is not easy to carry out a training session in wet and windy conditions. Anyhow, amidst minor turmoil I went through the 14 week programme. That is how I found myself on the start line of the Malta HM.

Strangely enough, compared to the past fortnight, I was feeling very confident and at ease with the challenge ahead. I felt well prepared and ready.

There goes the gun! Off we go. At 2K the route offered a the first surprise. Due to the downpour the day before, a puddle blocked the way. The only way around not to wet your shoes at such an early stage, was a 10 inch wide muddy side path. Another larger, wider and deeper puddle was waiting for us at 6K. This time the way out was to climb and walk on the sidewall.

So far so good, the sun was shining now. At 10K my legs were quite comfortable, but my brains were not. All the doubtfulness and speculations that tormented me during the build-up to this event, returned to haunt me. Why am I doing this? What for? What if I don’t finish? Older ladies run faster! And all sorts of other nonsense. It took me some time to kick them off and get my focus back, but I managed to replace them with more empowering thoughts.

The final 3K were so psychologically demanding. The finish seems so close, but yet so far. On and on until the finish. Yes I made it, it’s over 2:14:36. The stopwatch is not very relevant to me.
Having twice undergone surgery for cartilage repair in my left knee, a missing ACL same knee and a strong advice from my surgeon to “forget running”, I think it’s quite fulfilling for an overweight 41 year old who took up running a couple of years ago.

Fellow runners at the Malta HM and worldwide, come in all shapes and sizes. Each and everyone of them has his own story to share. Everyone encounters his very own hurdles and obstacles, but most of them make it to the start line. This only confirms the fact that – the only obstacle between you and your goal is just your own self.

Richard Vela