The Forum of Benfleet Running Club

Graham · Joined: 11 May 2006 Posts: 239

Debbie G is obviously far too modest to put her time up so I will do it for her. She ran this yesterday, trying to get the sub 3:30 she's been after for ages. Talk about nailing it - she narrowly missed out on an championship time, finishing in an awesome 3:18:18. Get in girl!!!

debbie g · Joined: 11 May 2006 Posts: 298

Ah thanks Graham. Still floating on cloud nine! Thanks too to everyone who has texted me with really lovely messages. I really appreciate it and so glad to have done Benfleet proud up North! bounce

mArKw · Joined: 15 May 2006 Posts: 255 Location: Benfleet

Well done Debbie. Fantastic run. I'm really pleased for you. cheers

How was the weather? I was in the Yorkshire three peaks area on Saturday and despite the forecast of rain, it stayed dry and warm all day.
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The hills are alive........

debbie g · Joined: 11 May 2006 Posts: 298

Thanks Mark and you were lucky then! Had a reasonable day Saturday but it rained most of the race and Blackpool tower was actually obscured by cloud! However from a runners point of view the weather was perfect no real wind, cool and light drizzle. So I wasn't complaining! compress

JBD · Joined: 15 Sep 2007 Posts: 204

Excellent Debbie, well done to you, it must have been exhilarating to smash that long held ambition after getting close before !

And well deserved, you've put the training and miles in, good to see it all pay off bounce

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Beware of the Albatross

Pammie · Joined: 30 Jun 2006 Posts: 298

Debbie that is great, i'm really pleased for you
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I'll put something interesting here when i've thought of something, in the meantime heres some music.

debbie g · Joined: 11 May 2006 Posts: 298

Thanks Steve that's really appreciated. From a veteran of 9 marathons now, my key to smashing my goal was discipline in the early stages. I knew I had endurance if I took it easy for the 1st 5 miles. Goal was to stay on 8 minute pace for 5 miles which wasn't easy when people were overtaking me but I held out and didn't quicken I got my revenge when I speeded up big time at the half way stage and was passing loads of other runners especially from 15 onwards. My advice is the best races are run on negative splits. Believe me it works you just need confidence in your endurance to do it.

Mike Mason · Joined: 02 Jun 2006 Posts: 953 Location: Hockley

Debbie, fantastic - well done.

rgds

Mike
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'sometimes I am running so fast it appears that rocks and trees are standing still......' 'I may be slow, but you are ugly and I can train harder.' '90% is mental, the other half is physical'it's going to get a lot worse, before it gets worse'.

debbie g · Joined: 11 May 2006 Posts: 298

Thank you Pammie and well done on your Serpentine by the way great time after London.

Thank you Mike I put my success all down to you and your wonderful CarbBoom gels! Took them at 5, 10, 15 and 20 miles and there was no stopping me!! bounce

Mike Mason · Joined: 02 Jun 2006 Posts: 953 Location: Hockley

Right Debbie.....you need to try the SUCCEED buffers next and I have some for you in honour of your achievement and a trip to the US to pick them up cheaply. Ernie now takes along with his Sanatogen and Ginko Biloba.....to think that he will soon be 80 is a miracle.....

this is the UK site that charges £12.50 a pot....daylight robbery

http://www.wayside-kinetics.co.uk/index.php?cPath=23
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'sometimes I am running so fast it appears that rocks and trees are standing still......' 'I may be slow, but you are ugly and I can train harder.' '90% is mental, the other half is physical'it's going to get a lot worse, before it gets worse'.

Lee O · Joined: 30 Aug 2006 Posts: 320 Location: Canvey Island

Well done Deb, think of last year when you nearly gave up at Halstead because you knew you would not get your GFA, but i gave you some encouragement or was it abuse, that we DONT give up. Well good things come to those that wait.

Well Done, Feet Up.
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My mind says I am still 19 and in My Prime......Body Suggests Otherwise!!!!!!

Ernie · Joined: 26 May 2006 Posts: 184 Location: Hockley GORC

WOW !

boabmac1 · Joined: 26 Jan 2008 Posts: 47

Well done Debbie on achieving your time goal.
I think you offer some very good advice for us less experienced runners. I guess the key is holding your nerve and having the confidence to be patient. I have been looking at my watch times and I can see a route for improving my times. At the moment my 'failing' strategy is to try and bag a few minutes under 10 min mile pace and then try to hold out as my pace deteriorates. Although, I'm not sure I've ever run an 8 minute mile!

JBD · Joined: 15 Sep 2007 Posts: 204

debbie g · Joined: 11 May 2006 Posts: 298

Thank you Lee. And it wasn't so much I wasn't going to get a GFA time that made me want to stop at Halstead I was blinking cream crackered!!

Ernie thanks you are still my inspiration.

Bob thank you and what I would say is that most people run as you do try to bag some extra time in the early stages in the hope it'll give them some in hand when they start flagging later. It doesn't usually work as you use too much effort running faster than you ought to be going and as you start to get tired you get disproportionately slow so you lose pace at a greater rate than the time you had in hand. However as you say you need to be brave to believe in your power to hang on later, the real trick is to test it in training runs - do negative splits and then you get confidence to try it in races.

Steve thank you so much I was quite chuffed with my 1st 45 vet especially as I beat the 1st 35 vet!! Still waiting to see what I get, they mail the prizes out.

Thought you might be interested in my race plan Steve it was based on 5m splits 5m 40:00 5-10m 39:00 10-15 38:30 15-20 38:30 20 onwards try to hold 7:45's

I did 5m 39:30 10m 39:00 15m 37:31 20m 37:25 25m 37:12 if I say so myself a perfectly paced race especially as I ran my last 0.2m at 6:57 pace!

I guess having run 6 20+ training runs at sub 8's helped too (all negative splits of course!). And in the last 2 months I practised running the last mile the fastest 7:45 or quicker in every long run. Gives you huge confidence to know you can run at that pace after 22 miles.

Steffan · Joined: 10 May 2006 Posts: 543 Location: Basildon

Good going Deb, that old pb got well and truly SMASHED!
cheers

Stevie · Joined: 10 May 2006 Posts: 413 Location: Benfleet

Well Done Debbie, that's an amazing time - Glad you smashed your target compress

debbie g · Joined: 11 May 2006 Posts: 298

Thanks Steff and Steve, really appreciated.

I have to say Steff I checked your London splits immediately after the race to see how you ran it and saw you ran negative splits too, as did my friend and neighbour Joe Elliott who made the massive jump from 3:40 last year to 3:01 this year. I said to Ian afterwards that's how I want to run my marathon.

I should also say that my new found wisdom I've been expounding here is not in truth all down to me. It's Ian's coaching that helped me get to this point he knows how I tick and what brings out the best in me. I am an exceptionally slow starter (it's old age!) so we worked out between us a very structured race plan that was suited just to me. I am a total pain to him bothering him with splits from every training run but it meant no one knew better than he what I needed to do in the race.

Ian and Benfleet RC are just the best cheers

mikemoreton · Joined: 23 Apr 2007 Posts: 543 Location: Hockley, GORC.

Debbie,

Well done on such an excellent time. I am half way to getting negative splits. Its just I start slow and get slower.

In truth, at Nicolas 5, I managed the 1st mile in 8.5 minutes then went downhill.

Anyhow, Well Done!

debbie g · Joined: 11 May 2006 Posts: 298

Thanks Mike -
And don't worry it's much harder to do the negative split thing in a short race in my view it's virtually impossible for anything under 10 miles. In a short race you just have to start flat out and hang on the entire race as best you can! That's how I do it anyway as if I didn't it'd take me the whole race to get warmed up!!

bobby · Joined: 06 Apr 2008 Posts: 47

Debs. Sorry apparebtly I put my message on th wrong thread. What I said was, absolutely awesome. Now can somebody tell me what a thread is. In my day it was a piece of cotton. Dur.

debbie g · Joined: 11 May 2006 Posts: 298

Hi Bobby and thanks a million.

And pleased to see you come kicking and screaming to the world of technology!!!

And don't worry a thread is still a piece of cotton in my sewing basket too cyclops_ani

JBD · Joined: 15 Sep 2007 Posts: 204

Interesting stuff Debs - good plan, and maybe I'll work to one in my next marathon. The thing about negative splits on long runs, and you mentioned this already, is you end up passing loads of people as they tire in the later stages.

I did a negative split in the Essex 20 and only got passed by one person from 5 miles on, so even though I was tired it gave me immense confidence as I closed in on the finish passing broken runners !

Contrast that to Bungay where I was swallowed up by up to 100 runners from 7 miles onwards - mentally and physically very challenging.

Food for thought....a thread like this is educational and inspirational....nice one flower

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Beware of the Albatross

Pammie · Joined: 30 Jun 2006 Posts: 298

Have to agree there with JBD, Debbie you have certainly given me plenty to think about for my next marathon
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I'll put something interesting here when i've thought of something, in the meantime heres some music.

tonibella · Joined: 04 Sep 2006 Posts: 50

Debbie - well done you

You've certainly given us 'new to marathon runners' something to think about

debbie g · Joined: 11 May 2006 Posts: 298

Thanks Toni and if what I have passed on here helps any one of you I will be delighted.

My last 8 marathons have all been a learning experience and I was still making mistakes. I feel I got it right this time so maybe some of you won't have to wait until their 9th marathon to achieve their perfect race!

I just want to say again thank you to everyone for their good wishes. The warmth and genuine pride and pleasure in my achievement that other club members have expressed to me has quite overwhelmed me.

Ian said a very pertinent thing last night - that he felt people had really warmed to my Blackpool experience because it made every other runner believe that they have a chance to do it too.

He's right if little me at 48 years of age can start smashing PB's all of you can do it too and always remember my 1st marathon time was 5:38 back in 2002 !!

And now with the help and advice of Jacqui and Ian I have an outside chance of a Championship place at London Marathon next year! compress

Lee O · Joined: 30 Aug 2006 Posts: 320 Location: Canvey Island

Next time Deb, dont forget some Stick Of Rock cheers

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My mind says I am still 19 and in My Prime......Body Suggests Otherwise!!!!!!

debbie g · Joined: 11 May 2006 Posts: 298

As I said last night Lee I wasn't hanging around long enough in classy Blackpool to pick up any rock !! Southend rock do??

Lee O · Joined: 30 Aug 2006 Posts: 320 Location: Canvey Island

Lol, that will be fine..
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My mind says I am still 19 and in My Prime......Body Suggests Otherwise!!!!!!

mikemoreton · Joined: 23 Apr 2007 Posts: 543 Location: Hockley, GORC.

Debbie,

Southend rock will be adequate. Pick mine up on Tuesday?

debbie g · Joined: 11 May 2006 Posts: 298

Okay Mike Southend rock for you Tuesday it is!!

mikemoreton · Joined: 23 Apr 2007 Posts: 543 Location: Hockley, GORC.

Excellent!!

Suppose Stella is out of the question?

Just asking

debbie g · Joined: 11 May 2006 Posts: 298

Could stretch to a stella and a bag of Walkers crisps....

debbie g · Joined: 11 May 2006 Posts: 298

One proviso Mike the stella must be drunk in negative splits 2nd half pint quicker than first...ok?

erasedcitizen · Joined: 21 May 2006 Posts: 46 Location: Benfleet

LEGEND!!!