Ballbusting in November

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!

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!

Cheerful Dave wrote (see)

Nice report GB. I saw the guy at the drinks station, or rather I saw everyone standing around him, which didn't suggest a minor tumble. Well done, a more than decent time given the problems you had, glad to see they didn't put you off and you'll be back in march!

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!

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!

Golden Boots wrote (see)

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" .

PSC wrote (see)

Golden Boots wrote (see)

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..

race report done.. LINK

Interested in what you are saying there Cheerful Dave.... 20 milers take longer to recover from than BB did...