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Ballbusting in November
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Enjoyed the bike, over took a lot more than was overtaken. A few hair raising moments on wet ground, playing with traffic etc - disapointed that at least part of the race wasn’t on closed roads for the money spent. A couple of the left turns were interesting, especially some guys taking them blind on the opposite side of the road, I would be surprised if there were no bad accidents? Did see one guy being loaded in to the back of an ambulance but IIRC it wasn’t near any of the turns. Got very annoyed at many of the guys racing in the middle of the road so you could never go past them, or riding next to me whilst drinking so that they werent actually overtaking - had to wonder if any of these people had ever raced before but as it was the quicker guys that seemed the worst I couldn’t work out why so many people lacked a bit of racing etiquette! Bike done in 1:18.
Felt stiff as started the 2nd run, and just got stiffer. Tried to keep a high cadence but as my calfs had nothing in them I was barely getting anywhere with each stride. Never before in any of the multisport races I have done have I lost places on the final run, but I lost about 6/7 in total on Saturday. Again I think this was mostly due to not stretching before as it left my calfs were already totally dead. Pushed hard towards the end as I wanted to make my 3:15 target… crossed the line in 3:10:54 so couldn’t have asked for more in terms of time, but felt utterly disapointed with my race as a whole. 57th / 370ish wasn’t too bad, nor was 3rd in age group, but I feel I have something to make up for in the Spring BB as I would want to do so much better.
Was great to meet so many pirates and spectate for an hour or so with them after finishing.
Was tired later in the day, but an all night drinking session with the brother meant I didn’t go to bed until about 6am on Sunday morning!
Well done every one! Dave that was a great time well done!
And better for things to go slightly awry here & learn from them than in an A Race?
BallBuster roads are never closed sadly, much as it would be nice, esp on the fast but narrow downhill to the foot of Box Hill.
If the ambulance was near the drinks station, I heard one guy stopped on his bike for a drink, didn't unclip and tipped into the road & had his wrist run over! Sounds like the car driver had pulled out far enough if it was only his wrist got squashed?
Leave the jersey thing with me... will see if I can do something about that. Sometimes it's who you know!
Surprised that you should need a gel pre race to maintain sugar levels on the first run? Were you drinking a sports drink beforehand? I find that helps top up sugars and keep you hydrated, though I've also read that it can be better not to get your body expecting regular sugar updates early on, so a gel/sports drink at the start can be counter productive? Wish I had the articles(s) to hand, but might be worth a google? But I guess whatever works is best.
Didnt see any bad cycling etiquette at the back of the race, but perhaps it was less competitive? I only saw 1 DQ, and riding on wrong side of road is a DQ IIRC?
So, 3.05 for Spring?! I think I'll support rather than race!
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=289668427732983&set=a.288617324504760.79067.139504612749366&type=3&theater
Plenty of others, inc the full frontal of the one above.
Joddly seems to catch the photograpahers' eye in every Bbuster gallery I see! Never me though...
Will definitely be going for 3:05 I think, dryer roads and a better level of biking fitness would help for that and hopefully shave a few minutes off the runs as well.
I agree - as much as I was disapointed with it I learnt more in that race than any of the others in my first proper season of racing! None of these mistakes i have made before but I think one of the main reasons behind a lot of them was that I wasn't mentally prepared or motivated for this race so didn't expend much energy thinking about it beforehand.
Yeah the ambulance was at the drinks station where I saw him being loaded into it, sounds like the guy... nasty accident that but not as bad as could have been elsewhere on the course. Some of the riding was just ridiculous I thiught - i had to stop myself drafting people just because I was looking for them to move in so that I could overtake. One guy sounded annoyed when I shouted twice that I was coming on the right whilst he was 'overtaking' someone else, but actually had been riding side by side with him for about 2 minutes and was actually taking a drink and free-wheeling. Also had to resist the temptation to undertake those that were riding in the middle of the road rather than sitting in.
The most annoying person in the race for me though had to be the guy in a gym-style verst/t-shirt and toe-clips and trainers on the bike who powered up every hill standing up the whole way - I would catch him again on the flats/ downhills but every time he just powered past me effortlessly on box-hill, I don't know how he did it. He was struggling on the run though which made me feel a little better
I know the theory / article you are talking about, and would agree with it on longer distance stuff... but when I am starting with a run at sub 7 minute miles I need something after a while, and did feel it towards the end of the run. The biggest thing for me though had to be the lack of stretching, it really ruined the run for me which I was really looking forward to!
Live and learn though I suppose, and will be going back for another shot in spring!
Yeah I'll be back, I'll be staying closer to you though next time (at least on the 1st run)
Have got to say I do like that picture of us posted above! Never saw that one being taken though
I could be tempted for a spring re-run. Drier roads would probably take 5 mins off my time, a bit of bike training could remove another 5 mins per lap! GB, watch out mate - us oldies aren't done yet!!
So who is going to start a new thread.... ?
Also worth 5 mins per lap!
But let me know how you plan to do it, coz I'm all ears
Not that I feel stupid enough to do it again in the Spring. I see my role more as a supporter in that one!!
Will be in the final stages of marathon prep for sping marathon - hoping for sub-4 at Brighton and given previous attempts are 4:27 and 4:07 it is not an easy ask. Although recent 10k PB suggests a possible 3:45 but I am just not built like an endurance runner.
Not sure that the ballbuster 4-weeks out is the ideal prep.
Not ruling it out but I should most likely be doing a 20-mile LSR - nor racing a duathlon.
Brighton Mara and The Outlaw are the two main races for the season. Everything else has to fit around those.
The sounds of the pirate cowbell on Saturday were great!
It's 7 weeks before the London marathon for me so ideal timing really!
GB, that's precisely what I was thinking. Good bit of strength training..
Meface - 2 x 8 mile hill runs and you are almost at your 20m LSR... you could always back the race up with a bit of a jog (say 4 miles).
As for 5 mins of each bike lap and how.... well some training would be a start for me at least! I did this one on the back of IM dist training and only did 8 miles on the bike between race and August! Not ideal prep TBH.
LOL at Gladys's "motivation" .
race report done.. LINK
Interested in what you are saying there Cheerful Dave.... 20 milers take longer to recover from than BB did...
Surprised at how long my legs suffered after BB, esp my quads.
Then again I was a lot quicker than you PSC!
Good race report, interesting bit about bike handling in the damp
yeah, but you're a youngster Gladys
A mate of mine of arsebook has just pointed out that BB times are a pretty accurate reflection on mara times. Anyone else heard that? If it's true then it has made my day....
Cheerful Dave has a 2.35 VLM time I think, and c.2.50 on BB.??
I'd be happy with my time of 3.46 as a standalone mara time!
I think most people find that BB times are more than their marathon times. The guy who finished 2nd (in 2:42) is a sub 2:30 marathoner.
I can't speak for others, but my average pace for the 16 running miles is near enough the same as my marathon pace. Most folks will take longer to cycle the three laps than it would take to run the extra 10 marathon miles, I guess.
Interesting.
Not sure how to link the two, as I've not done a 'flat' marafun. That said, apparently you can take 45 minutes off Beachy Head times to get a flat mara time.
BB 3:52
Beachy 4:49 (= 4:04). Remove times for stopping for a pee, finding the biggest hot cross bun at the feed stations and avoiding the back ends of horses, and we're almost there.
My average pace was about 9 min/mi. Equals 3:55 mara.
4:07:55 for VLM, 4:07:35 for BB for me so more anecdotal evidence.
3:20 Marathon, 3:11 BB - though if I was to go for a marathon now I'd be hoping for closer to the BB time. I think my BB pace was a bit faster than my marathon pace, but then my biking is not quite near my running so it's all relative
Will be interesting to see what spring's race brings