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

Solid Start to 2010 racing season

This morning we had the Team Time Trial cycling race organised by Greens Cycling Club. Distance was 40km. Our team made up of Keith Galea (my brother), Daniel Gauci, Mark Vella and myself place a strong 4th place only 35sec away from the podium. I felt very good all the way and at least my form is coming back together after a couple of weeks being sick. Today I used my VALDORA PHX TIME TRIAL Bike with my new TT position.

My next race shall be the Malta Half Marathon next Sunday. This year I am racing in aid of the Malta Hospice Movemeny. Anyone who would like to sponsor my run for a good cause can do so through the following mediums:

PLEASE HELP THOSE IN NEED AND MAKE MY 21.1km WORTH MORE.

1. By sending a cheque payable to The Malta Hospice Movement to 39, Good Shepherd Avenue ,

Balzan BZN 1623 and attaching a note saying that it’s sponsorship for the marathon for

Dermot Galea.

2. By sending an SMS with Marathon – Dermot Galea to:

5061 7384 ........... €2.33
5061 8100 ............€4.66
5061 9234 .............€11.65

3. By Bank Deposit:

HSBC Bank ( Malta ) Ltd: ...........Account No. 011 089 901 051
Bank Of Valletta .......................... Account No. 102 106 450 12
APS Bank ..................................... Account No. 111 983 100 19
Lombard Bank ( Malta ) Ltd ......Account No. 014 401 041 08
Banif Bank ( Malta ) plc ............. Account No. 000 035 651 81


IBAN:
MT66 MMEB 4411 8000 0000 1108 9901 051

Malta Half Marathon - P.B.

First official race of the season, and a good result. Its been a rough approach to this race with ups and downs due to health reasons and work. I had a big target for this race to try and go down to 1.16 but unfortunately a few weeks of sickness and no running made me and my coach opt for a different approach.

I could not afford any taper for this race, so I kept training hard till the end. Some might think its a good excuse, but well, for me its a big releave doing a good time on a hard block of training. I managed a P.B. by almost a full minute which is very encouraging.

Race started fast with the top runners going in front. I started at a conservative pace as I was tired from training and the last thing I needed was to blow up my race in the first few miles. I paced it bang on, 6min / mile or just under. I stayed with my brother Keith most of the race. After the 10th Mile I knew that I was keeping a good pace and that a P.B. was within reach bearing any catastrophic problems in the last mile. I managed to up the pace trying to close the gap I had on the runners in front of me. By the end a was only a few seconds away and happy with my performance. Final Time: 1hr 18mins 36sec.

Well done to the organisers for such a well organised race. Well done to my athletes Keith, Luke, and Gordon for posting very good times in their first Half Marathon. A big well done goes to my friends Pam and Margaret who came over to Malta to do this event and went back with P.B.'s by over 7mins. .... and a big thank-you goes to my girlfriend Johanna for her support and help during this weekend!! :)

Next Race 8th March 100km Cycling Road Race...

Dermot