Chapter 57 : the City to Casino (C2C)

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.