Ribble sponsored athlete Beau Smith recently continued his assault on the Welsh Triathlon Super Series at the Snowman Triathlon. Taking some good form into the latest round he completed the gruelling course to finish on the podium. Finishing runner up to an established commonwealth athlete is in the process is no mean feat. Well done Beau! Read his race report below.
The Snowman Classic distance Triathlon formed the 4th round of the Welsh Triathlon Super Series. And with a 1000m swim, a hilly 70km bike around Snowdonia and an off-road 9km run up and down the imposing summit of Moel Siabod, it is certainly the toughest race in the 2019 series. Having gained two fourth place finishes so far in the series I was hoping to finally step onto the podium. The hard work had started weeks in advance.
I'd done a thorough course recce so I knew what I'd be faced with and included some specific sessions in my training plan. These included some decent tempo rides on my Ribble Ultra Tri bike. Then, straight into tough hilly fell runs in the Lake District - a perfect playground for this kind of training.
The Sunday morning race started at 8:30 under overcast skies (but not yet raining) and for once the swim was going to be the straight forward bit. I got away quickly and soon there were three of us at the head of the race. I slotted into second position and followed the feet in front to save some energy. The pace felt very comfortable, and when I had a glance behind I saw the three of us were slightly ahead of the main pack. I therefore took the opportunity to move to the front and build the pace slightly. The aim was to force the gap - there's no point letting everyone sit on the feet and save their energy.
Beau heads into transition
After the turn buoy at the half way point I pushed on and saw I'd got a gap from the others. I quickly settled into a strong but maintainable rhythm all the way back to the lake shore and exited the water with a bit of a gap to the others. I was quickly out of my Arena Carbon Tri wetsuit and through transition. In doing so, further increasing my lead. It was now out onto the bike course and into a stiff headwind for the first section.
The bike course being around Snowdonia had split people on whether to race on road bikes or TT bikes. But, I felt confident descending on my TT bike and knew that I would be quicker on the with the aero set up. I was therefore happy to be racing on the TT rig. I tried to settle straight into my own rhythm and was expecting to be on the bike for around two hours - consistent output would be the most efficient. After a few km I was overtaken and knew that I'd have to push too hard in order to match his speed so I stuck to my game plan and trusted my pacing.
I later found out it was Chris Silver, a 2018 Commonwealth Games competitor for Wales, who'd already obtained a 2nd place finish in the series so was understandably strong. I focused on maintaining my intensity on the undulating terrain. Not pushing too hard on the hills and not taking it too easy on the descents, cornering fast and smooth, gaining seconds where I could. I also kept on top of hydration and nutrition, eating a piece of my Voom pocket rocket energy bars every 15 minutes to keep me topped up.
A trio of athletes including Beau quickly establishes a lead
Other than some of the 'Legend 70.3 distance' athletes I didn't see anybody else during the ride. Other than the TV camera bike that is, which kept popping up to film my progress every so often. I arrived back at T2 mentally ready for a tough run, but with a 4:15 gap to try to close to Chris. Off-road trainers on quickly and my vest pack (kindly lent to me by my friend Andy) with a drink and the compulsory safety items to have on the mountain. And I was out onto the run course - that's 10 seconds pulled back.
The run course took you over a narrow bridge beside the lake and within a minute you were working your way up through the forest. Then, onto a steep gradient which was pretty unrelenting all the way to the top. I focused on working at an intensity I could maintain, knowing that if I went only slightly too far into the red there'd be nowhere to recover for the rest of the ascent. It was a calf burner rather than a lung buster (due to the length of the race) but once into the second half of the climb the visibility reduced as I slogged up into the clouds. I was thankful to have done a recce and be confident of the route to the summit cairn.
As I neared the summit I saw Chris on his descent and took note of the location and time on my watch so I could check the gap. A couple more minutes of climbing and the grade eased to the top so I could get my legs moving a bit quicker and lengthen my stride. The summit soon appeared from the clag, along with a lonely looking marshall armed with a cowbell. It was straight into the descent, picking up speed and hoping my legs would hold up with the battering I was about to give them.
Heading out for the bike leg at a previous event on the Ribble Ultra Tri. Photo credit: Mark Christie (Northerntrier)
Having a substantial background in off-road running with the guiding work I've previously done with Love Trail Running was a massive help; I was confident I could descend really well. I passed my marker and saw the gap to Chris was now almost six minutes and realistically the race was his (to lose?) - but never say never!
I flew down the hill, skipping over the gnarly ground as quickly as my brain could compute the steps, and watching out for oncoming runners who were still making their ascent. I saw I had a significant lead over the next athletes so all my attention was ahead. When I was a good way down the mountain a marshal told me I was about 3 minutes down! "Is he cramping up and falling apart!? Don't worry just keep pushing!". The final section, possibly a mile or so, was on a wide track so not quite as technical and I was told I was less than 2minutes behind.
I built as much as I could and pushed all the way to the finish and felt I went as hard as I would in any sprint distance race. Eventually crossing the finish line in 2nd place, only 1:55 behind Chris. I was chuffed with my run, which turned out to be the fastest split of the day, and was quietly very satisfied that my specific prep had paid off. Even if on the day I wasn't quite strong enough to match Chris' phenomenal ride.
As a bonus, for making it onto the podium I got my hands on one of the lovely Welsh Triathlon bobble hats that I've twice missed out on earning! The race certainly spiced up the series this year and on the current rankings I am in third position. Although I won't be racing in the 5th round at The Gower, so other athletes may leapfrog me after that event.
Beau crosses the line as a deserved runner-up
Read about Beau's opening victory of the year here.
Find out more about the multi race winning Ribble Ultra Tri here.