Slowing Down....

With 6 weeks to go to Ironman France I had to put down the brakes with regards to training. My lung, the same lung that was effected by pneomonia started giving me trouble. Unfortunately due to this I had to miss the middle distance triathlon here in Malta. After a few days of rest I am feeling better and am trying to resume my training routine with caution. Hopefully all will be well and will manage to put in the last long sessions needed before taper.

Dermot

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.

Tour of Malta

Last weekend I completed my 4th Tour of Malta. As usual it was a great experience. When you are training for triathlon its always interesting to compete in an individual sport to test yourself on that particular discipline with the athletes of that sport. This year the competition was quite tough. We had cyclists coming from Sicily, Italy, Spain, Uk and Holland. All very strong teams. I was the only cyclist representing my club B'kara St. Joseph, so as regards team work I was left on my own, although along the way I did find some help and put in my share of work as well.

The Tour started with a 33km Time trail. I was looking for a solid time. I finished the first day with 7th overall and a very good 3rd Maltese with only a 7sec gap from first place. My average was 41.6km/hr which for the windy conditions it was such a great performance and boost for me. If I recall well, this is the best average I have kept on this course, even when compared to the 2 year spell I did as a cyclist. Certainly with regards to cycling I am at a good stage in my preparation.

The second day of the tour was an 86km road race, 10 laps round the San Martin course. I was hoping to hold on to my 3rd Maltese placing but the opening laps were too hard for me. I am lacking a lot when it comes to change of pace and attacks. This of course is due to the fact that I don't include any of this sort of specific training in my programme, so I suffered a lot. I managed though to hold on the a group of around 8 cyclists, 5 of whom were Maltese. We shared the load together and finished around 9 mins off the pace from the leaders. At the end of the day I was lying in 4th position in the Maltese ranking.

The third and last day was a 65km road race in Gozo. I decided to travel on Friday night so that I have a good night sleep before the stage. My plan was to do a good warm up and do a good race to move up the ranking. Unfortunately once again the opening laps proved to be fatal. I couldn't get the hang of it. Once I was left on my own, I started pushing like mad and gaining positions. Seriously I never felt so strong on the bike and it was rather frustrating that once I was left at the back I was cycling much faster then the group in front of me, but the gap was so big that I could never close it. In the end I closed the stage in around 20th position and 7th Maltese.

In the general classification I finished 4th Maltese and 21st overall. I am very happy with my performance and am looking forward to a good performance this weekend at the Malta Duathlon Championships.

A special thank-you goes to my parents who helped me a lot in the first two days on the tour, my girl friend Johanna for her help in the third and last day, and her constant support and to our club secretary Euchar who did 3 days in the sun taking everyone's splits + shouting along everything i passed by!!

Dermot

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

...and its a bronze award

Last Sunday at the MOC Awards Night I was awarded the Bronze Award for my performance during the 2009 season. It has been a long season with a some good races. I am very happy with this award after my silver award last year. Triathlon Malta did very well with 2 other bronze awards to Keith and Michelle Wood, and a gold award to Danica Spiteri. Certainly for Maltese triathlon it was a great year, not only for the results achieve but also to the increasing number of athletes turning up for the local races.

Since this award is awarded for performances achieved abroad I have say a special thank you to my friends Bill & Pam, and Venom Tri Club for their support to race in the UK.

Next Event: B'kara St. Joseph 5km road race. (Sunday 13th December)
B'kara St. Joseph Triathlon Section Meeting (Wednesday 16th December)

Dermot

MOC Awards

I have been informed that for the second year in a row I was nominated for the MOC Awards night to be held on Sunday 6th December 2009. It is a great way how to end the 2009 season. Last year I was awarded the Silver Award. My nomination came thanks to my 3rd Place in the Marizion Half Ironman Distance race in the UK (West UK championship), my 4th place in the Small Nations Championships and my 2nd Place in the Sicily - Malta Friendship Games. I'm pleased with this nomination and even more happy with the fact that also my brother Keith, Michelle and Danica have been choosen as well. This is a great result for Malta Triathlon!

Build Up

This is the time of the year when every athlete starts his build up for the next season, and its no different for me. I have been building it up gradually, very gradually since the beginning of November. My target this year is Ironman France which is in the end of June. A long way from now, but the training I am doing at the moment will help me build my engine for the big push which will start at the beginning of April.

To keep motivated in the build up its a good idea to have minor targets which will help you gauge your form and do the required adjustments to your schedule depending on the result and feeling. At the moment I am doing some road / cross country races with rather no so good results but the feeling is good so I know that for this time of year I'm on the right track. My first major target is a half marathon at the end of February, so as you can see the first part of the season is dedicated to my running. I was told that if I don't do 1hr 15mins it wasn't worth the effort..... we shall see.

After that I have the National Duathlon Championships which will be a good test for my transition run. I would be a good idea if we had to change the distances of these championships to more official ones like 10km run / 40km bike / 5km run. After that the build up for Ironman France will start with the possibility of taking part in the Malta / Sicily Tournament depending on selection criteria.

I am still unsure whether to do a Half Ironman distance some weeks before the Ironman. In previous years I have done one 4 - 6 weeks before the big day with very good results but looking back I believe I have lost some of my freshness to the result that I have lost my edge in the longer race. Being that the course in Nice is no joke (21km mountain on the bike course is one of the obstacles) I am starting to think that I should keep the racing in the last few weeks as limited as possible to arrive on the start line as fresh as possible.

Will keep you updated on my training progress. Until then train safe.

Dermot