St. Patrick's AC Aquathlon
Hi,
on the 29th of June I was on the starting line of the first Aquathlon in Malta organised by St. Patrick's Athletics Club. I had laid eyes on this race since last October and wanted to have a good performance to follow on the good results obtained so far. I am currently ranked 16th in the Triathlete of the Year Award and I felt this was a good chance to improve my placing.
The distances for this race were a 2.5km run, a 1km swim and a final 2.5km run. The runs started out uphill and I knew this would be where I would struggle. The location was very nice; on the outskirts of Marsaxlokk going up near Torri San Lucjan.
The competition was tough and although I prepared specifically for this race I knew there would be a lot of good runners. With the help of my coach I have established a good base in running but this is a pure speed run and I knew I might be lagging a bit behind especially in the first part. I kept a good pace throughout, maintaining my current average of 4mins20sec/km and going for the swim after 11mins 20sec. At that point I was a bit behind in 36th place out of 49 athletes but I wanted to make up for it in the swim (Run 1 Details)
Things did not go exactly as planned during the swim as I was feeling my legs tired and couldn't kick well especially in the first 500m loop. They recovered well for the second loop and I could push better, exiting the water after 20mins 29sec. Not my best swim but still happy as this was a new challenge to swim after a hard run. Both my transitions were blazing fast but going up the hill I pushed a bit more than I could handle but I tried to keep focusing on the pace and manged a better run than the first one - in 10mins 58sec and placing 20th overall. (Run 2 Details).
The total time for the race was 43:34. I am sure I can do better and will work hard to get better for the National Aquathlon Championships now scheduled for the 17th of September.
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| Photos courtesy of Wally Galea |
Birkirkara St. Joseph Sprint Triathlon Series Race 2
On the 13th July I was part of the 2nd race of 4 Triathlon races organised by my club Birkirkara St. Joseph. The venue was the Birzebbugia promenade close to the freeport area covering distances of 750m swim, 20km bike and 5km run.I was intent to give a good performance.
The water and wind conditions were good so I started out fast to get away from the initial rush of athletes before settling on my own pace. During the first race of the series, the water was still cold so I chose to race with the wetsuit and since it gives an advantage I managed to get down to 13mins. I had managed to stay just of the leading group but this time I was in a big bunch going into Transition 1 after 13:54.
I tried to make up for it in the bike section but although I pushed to my limits I was slightly slower than predicted due to the wind conditions. I wanted to push so badly that I risked starting the run on tired legs but I did not care - at that moment all I could think about was getting some Personal Best in at least on discipline. I finished in 39:47.
All the hard work on the bike made it harder to push on the run and although I felt more tired than during race one, I was keeping a slightly better pace. I want to thank my coach Keith Galea for supporting me all the way in the last lap as his tips and encouragement gained me a Personal Best time by 40sec finishing the run in 21:17 and the race in 1hr 16mins 4sec.
As always, I am going to work hard to improve my times. I wish to thank my family who came to support me: my Mum, brother Duncan, uncle Charles and aunt Josephine. Last but not least I want to thank my wife Maria and daughter Elena for their constant support especially during this season.
Thanks
Anatoly
