Broadhaven Olympic Triathlon Race Report: Coached Athlete Tom Foster

Coached triathlete Tom Foster raced the Broadhaven olympic distance triathlon last weekend, here's what he had so say about his race! 

I last raced the Pembrokeshire Coast Triathlon in 2012, before most races I tend to have a look back at my Strava file or the results to see how I did. In 2012 I finished in 15th with a time 2.34.05, reflecting on my approach to racing then and now, it is barely comparable. Yes I am riding the same bike (OK - different wheels) wearing the same helmet, the same shoes but now my training is so much more intelligent, training with power and working with a coach (WhittleFit) has made me much more economical – I probably train similar hours, but just so much more effective.

I have the good fortune of being able to stay near the race start at Broad Haven, which makes such a difference, however less so than in previous years as the race start was not until a cushy 9am due to the tide times.

One of my major learnings from last season was dealing with cold water. Last season at the Wales Triathlon I encountered the 14 °C water temperatures of the Irish Sea, safe to say it was a miserable experience and cost me a fair chunk of time despite eventually managing to recover to a Top 10 finish. I was beset by cramps from early on in that swim, therefore I researched why that maybe and developed a strategy to overcome it. Top of the list was electrolytes (although the research has mixed results) I therefore selected to use Torq Energy for my hydration in the lead up to and during the race because of the vital salts in it. Second was to check the fit of my wetsuit and double up on swim caps, to try and minimise the effect of the cold. Obviously cold water running through a loose fitting wetsuit is neither good for insulation nor swimming efficiency, this combined with a bit of acclimatisation.  The third on most lists is stretching pre-race.

With the above in mind I was keen to get a decent swim warm up ahead of the race, which was not a problem, hats off to the organisers recognising the importance of this. With 10 mins to the start, I had my Torq Gel a quick stretch and I was ready to go. I found my training partner, Mike, on the start line. We were so busy chatting we nearly missed the klaxon sounding.

Out into the swim, which was fairly undramatic really, mainly due to the calm weather conditions (weather can play a massive factor in this race being on the exposed Pembrokeshire coast). The swim is a large rectangle heading north and following around clockwise to bring you back to the start. I managed to get into a pack that had formed behind the 3 or 4 strongest swimmers that were spread out in front. This suited me fine. I managed to get on some feet minimising my need sight and keeping my energy expenditure down. Shortly before rounding the final buoy I put on a surge to try and get ahead of some of the pack, for two reasons; one, to avoid the bottle neck into T1 and second, it allows me to kick more and drive some blood back into my legs ready for the run into transition. Swim completed in 24.27. 

T1 went off without a hitch and I was out on the bike in 40 seconds, I must have passed upwards of 10 people in transition - something to be said for keeping it simple.

The bike course is challenging, being costal it undulates a lot, meaning a lot of short sharp climbs as the road dips into small river valleys along the coast. The first main climb is out of Broad Haven itself. I managed to pass another 3 or 4 at this point. One of them being James ‘Butch’ Stephens who I caught admiring the scenery at the top of the climb! I gave him a prompt reminder he was in a race and should probably put the hammer down!  This moved me up into 5th place (not that I had much idea of positions at this time). My tactic for the bike was to go hard, keep my power up around 270-280w as running is my strength so I was confident it would take care of its self when the time came. The course heads south towards the Oil refinery at Herbrandston before returning north, this is where I managed to make the pass for 4th place. Knowing this was roughly half way I had another Torq Gel and made sure I was getting through my Torq Energy. I find that providing I have eaten well in the morning, one gel and energy drink at 6% is sufficient to sustain me during the race. Following the course north back towards Broad Haven, it was just a matter of keeping my watts up and not fading. The final section is a fast decent into Broadhaven is ideal to spin the legs out and get ready for the run.

On approaching T2 I was on the lookout for the guys ahead of me. Not that I had a chance of seeing them as they would be down on the beach out of sight. However it didn’t matter as Coach Mark was in Transition waiting to take the ‘baton’ (timing chip) for his leg of the relay. He told me I was in 4th, 3 minutes down on 3rd place. 

With the time gap in mind I knew it would be a tall order to bring it back, but I have often run well here, as the course suits my running style being half cross country and up a coastal path. Once up on the cliff side I had a quick look back on to the beach to see if I could spot 5th place. I could see a figure looking fresh making his way down the beach, this was worrying so I dug in and kept going as hard as I could. Mercifully the course flattens after 4km, it is at this point I was able to take stock, I had a glimpse of 3rd place, I did a rough calculation that I had managed to eat away approximately 2 minutes of his lead. Then out of the corner of my eye I spotted 5th place closing on me, however I was sure he was wearing a T-Shirt and shorts, utter relief in realising he was the runner from a relay team. He ran on my shoulder for a good few hundred meters and then eventually made the pass on a long straight with an incline. Again I could see 3rd place in front of me, closer this time, the gap well under a minute. I decided to try and stick with the relay runner and use his pace to keep me honest. We stayed like this until hitting the 1km to go mark, where I made the pass on the relay runner going downhill towards Broad Haven, this acceleration brought me up behind 3rd place, making the pass with 800m to go. The route finishes with a an arrow straight run up the beach, knowing I had the relay runner behind me and wanting to win 3rd out right I put in a dig as we got onto the sand, this proved enough to snap the elastic and get clear.

Finish time: 2.20.41

I was so pleased to finally finish in a podium spot that I forgot to stop my Garmin! I have come close to top 3 on two occasions now with two 4th place finishes; trust me that is enough to make anyone hungry to close it out! This represents a significant breakthrough for me; given the two guys in front don’t have a 9-5 office job to deal with, whilst balancing work with triathlon. Looking at the splits I cut my deficit when I started out on the bike on 2nd place from 4 minutes to 2 minutes by the finish, recording the 2nd fastest bike and run splits. 

Big thanks has to go to WhittleFit for his guidance and pushing me to achieve this, as well as the WhittleFit family for their exuberant cheering and encouragement on course! Thanks to Torq Nutrition for fuelling me.

Well done Tom, great racing, and a well deserved podium position! Onwards and upwards now towards The Wales Triathlon in Fishguard in August!