Ballbuster 7 Nov

[Paul H]

Well some of us who entered managed to get to the start for this yesterday.

I decided beforehand to run my own race and worked out a pacing strategy for a 2:48 finish and wrote the times I needed to achieve at various points on the laps on my arms and my bike (47 1st run 1:11 bike 48 2nd run).

I went 30s faster on the first run but I was feeling good and wanted to hang onto Andy Collins from SLH who I new was a big threat in the vets race. As soon as I got on the bike, I wend straight past Andy and he was unable to stay with me and I did not see him again. Unfortunately Andy punctured on the 2nd lap but he said he fixed it pretty quickly and less than the time I beat him by but it would have been nice to have beaten him fair and square though. He did use a lightweight timetrial tyre which was a big risk to use them on this course.

I let Matt Chapman go on the 1st run but overtook him after one lap on the bike. On the descent on the 2nd lap, I got stuck behind a horse box lorry and Matt caught up with me again but I managed to drop him on the zig zags up Box Hill.

I came off the bike 2 minutes up on schedule but a 48 2nd run was always going to be tough. I felt pretty horrible at first but managed to speed up after a few minutes and managed to maintain a nice hard pace to the end of the race and thought a sub 50 2nd run was pretty respectable. The bit I enjoyed the most was running up the zig zags on the last lap and overtaking competitors on their bikes. Some guy who was riding next to me up the hill shouted to me "bloody hell your doing 13kmh" although I accept he maybe using the same speedo Marek and Stu use.

I crossed the line in a time of 2:48:03, 9th overall (8th not including the relay team) and won the vets prize. 2:48 would normaly put you higher than than that, but this was the 20th anniversary race and all previous winners were invited to come back and compete.

Matt suffered on the last run and ran out of energy but still managed to come in 16th place. I think he went too hard on the first run as well.

Effort wise, I always felt in control and just had one of those days where I new I was going to go well and never felt I was going to blow up. I got up at 4:30am and had a massive breakfast to make sure the fuel tank was full and digested before the race as its not so easy run and eat as it is cycling. I reckon I could go faster as well and a 2:45 is not out of the question with another years running and a better bike leg with no obstructions.

Ben and Mark also competed and both did respectable times as well.

http://www.humanrace.co.uk/result-detai ... 6-361.html

Cheers

[Dominic]

Excellent result Paul, looks like duathlons could be your thing

Shame about the horsebox though I thought for the price of entry they may have had closed roads for it, obviously not

[carl f]

Very well done to you paul thats very respectable especially as you were racing against some of the elite guys in the top 10
Exellent result winning the vets
Is it the toughest du you have raced yet?
Cheers
Carl

[Andrew G]

Great result Paul, and only 3 seconds out with your schedule .

[Antloony]

Good stuff Paul, shame about the horse box. Good results all round.

[Paul H]

The horsebox didnt affect the overall as I was too far off the bloke in front of me. Its just annoying and was probably deliberate or at least inconsiderate.

I dont think you can close a road for 5 hours and I won £65 which covers the cost of entering.

Cheers

[George]

Great result well done Paul you sure deserved this after all your training, did Stu give you some ballbuster tips

[kieran]

Well done, great run times Paul, 46.5 and 50 minutes for a hilly 8 mile run, before and after the bike bit.

[Sylv]

Once again Paul, most impressive.
Believe me I was gutted to miss it. I doubt I'd be doing the March one.
I've got more to ask, but I'll do that next I see you. Just one thing for now - did you go for the gels?

[kieran]

Just calculated , approx 16 miles in 1 hour 36.5 min means you could do a sub 3 hour marathon.

[Andrew G]

[quote="Sylv"]Just one thing for now - did you go for the gels?

[Paul H]

The sis gels you recommended worked a treat so thanks sylv.

The 2 guys I did the 1st run with have done 2:36 & 2:44 marathons. I wont break 3hrs as the only marathon I intend to do will be at an ironman (along with my first 100mile + bike ride).

[Sylv]

2010 winner Wayne Smith's report:

http://www.triblogs.com/blog/tigga

These numbers talk to me!

Fastest 1km in the first run: 3min4sec
Fastest ascend of the hill: 6min08secs

[Paul H]

Fastest 1km in the first run: 3min4sec probably not too hard on the steep downhill

Slowest 1km first run: 4min05sec up the zig zags is pretty good

Hes done 5:15 up box on the bike while training

[Sylv]

Is anyone doing the next Ballbuster on 5 March? Tempted ..