Why do it?
By talking
about it, both before and after, it makes me feel part of the community. It connects me with the other people running
in it (not the people jammed in their cars).
It connects me with all the people who ran in previous years. It feels
good to have two of the thousand moving legs.
Some who
enter will train specifically for it. Other’s
will maintain their usual lifestyle. Which
may or may not involve running, playing other sports or gym work. Thousands of people will run on the day.
Everybody will enter for a different reason. Everybody will train differently.
Everybody who finishes will win a medal.
It will be
a good guide to how fit and healthy I am. Good results will confirm my healthy
lifestyle. Bad results may trigger a change
in lifestyle. My result will be a record
of my general physical fitness, my diet, my ability to rest and relax, my
emotional health, my social health, my knowledge of running and specific
running ability. My time will tell me if I need to change or luxuriate.
What is my aim?
My aim is
to achieve a happy, healthy lifestyle. My aim is to be healthy physically, emotionally
and socially. Emotional and social health are difficult to assess and probably
not the main focus of the C2C. I can try
and do what everybody else is doing.
Continually self-assess and self-manage my own emotional and social
health. I am the one who should know if things are going badly or working out
well.
My time in
the C2C will be a guide to how physically healthy I am. Is my body or free or hosting an illness? Is
my body receiving adequate rest? Is my diet healthy? Is my diet full of the right amounts and types
of fats, carbohydrates, proteins vitamins and minerals? Is my diet free of
toxins?
To translate
a healthy lifestyle into physical fitness I will need to do some physical exercises.
My finish time in the C2C will be a guide to how physically fit I am. It will
also tell me if the physical fitness I have achieved is the physical fitness appropriate
for the C2C. Though to me my physical
health is what matters not my finishing position in the C2C.
Specific training for the C2C.
This year I
will train specifically for the C2C. I am looking forward to enjoying the training
and the C2C. I am not seeing each
training run as a chore leading up to the C2C.
I want to run for relaxation or for social reasons. Or maybe a form of
mindfulness or meditation.
To me
running is not about following a prescribed program. It does not mean looking
at a program and saying, “Today is Monday therefore I run 5 kays.” I run where and when I feel like running. I
run for as long or short as I feel like.
I take
pleasure out of a result which indicates physical health and physical fitness.
I take pleasure out being self-aware to such an extent I am able to fit my physical
exercises in with my lifestyle. I do not
take pleasure out of correctly following someone else’s plan.
For the
novice runner who hasn’t previously run the C2C what is the right distance for
your training runs? The distance will depend on where and when you can run. It
will depend on your commitments and on your general health. If you have to cook
tea; you are going out; the weather says showers are possible; you have to pick
the kids up at a certain time; you are feeling fit; your shoes are torn and
need replacement; the lady next door wants to run with you then will mean you have
time for a training run of 30 minutes.
You then need have to decide how fast you are going to run. Perhaps keep
up with the lady next door.
The next
day all the variables will have changed.
The length or speed or place for your training run will change. Go with
the changes. Celebrate the fact your life involves an infinite number of variables.
On race day
you can normally double the distance of a raining run. If you can routinely do
a training run of 5 kays then on race day you should be able to do 10 kays. Choose
a distance in the C2C that fits in with the training you have been able to do.
Training
should involve slow, steady and gradual increases. For a body to adapt it takes
time. Training will result in changes in muscles, the nervous system, blood
vessels and hormones. It takes time for
blood vessels to grow; for muscle cells to change; for hormones to become more
efficient. The initial increase should
be of distance. Increase your weekly distance until you reach what you think is
the right distance. Then increase the
speed or intensity of your running. This means train so that you can finish the
course. Then go for speed. Speed is built on a foundation of endurance.
Running is
probably the best training for a running race. But for a race like the C2C you definitely
can train by playing other sports, going to the gym, aerobics classes or
swimming. It is your life. Do what you enjoy. You can enter the C2C and run it
successfully with not one specific training run. Everyone will prepare differently and have
different expectations on race day. There is no rule to say you have prepared
wrongly. Just enter and go for it. Whatever training you have done will fit in
with your lifestyle, will relate to your health and fitness, will be enjoyable
for you, will be done at the right time and place. On race day, everybody standing next to you, has
trained differently and correctly.
Race day
Just before
the race the conventional wisdom is that you taper. The aim of a taper is to
arrive at the start line in peak condition.
The taper is a period of decreased running and should allow your body to
rest and recover from training while maintaining all the adaptations from
training. The
taper is also a time to prepare mentally. Rest and meditate about the race.
The
average person can finish the C2C using glycogen stored in the muscles. They
will not need to eat or ingest any energy. Water will be needed. How much will vary;
It will depend upon the speed at which you run; the distance you run and the weather.
My basic rule is drink at every drink station.
It is very unlikely you will drink too much. The dangers associated with inadequate water
are much worse than making unplanned toilet stops.
Enjoy
the race. If you want you can go the same way as me. See the C2C as a community
celebration connecting and strengthening Hobart. You can see your result as a guide to your own
unique lifestyle with no correct answer. Or not. If you want to go some other
way then do it. Go for it.
