Happy Tuesday! It’s time for another edition of Tuesday Topics. This week’s Tuesday Topic: how to overcome common racing fears Remember to link-up with Kim and Zenaida and the bottom of this post.
I have to be honest – even though I’ve done a lot of races, I sometimes still deal with racing fears. Not so much for shorter distances, but for longer distances like half marathons and definitely for marathons. I’ve done 4 marathons and I was nervous before each one. It never feels good to have a pit in your stomach right before a race, but I have used a few tricks over the years to calm my fears.
“I’m going to oversleep and miss the race”
Luckily this has never happened to me before, but it’s always a possibility, especially if a race has a super early start time. The night before a race I always set two alarms – one on my personal phone and one on my work phone. There’s no way I can oversleep with two alarms blaring in my ear!
“What if I finish last?”
And so what if you do? I had this fear a lot when I started running because I’m not a fast runner. But I started thinking of it this way – I’m out here running, doing my best and getting in exercise at the same time. There’s really no negative to that.
“I’m worried about stomach issues”
For this fear I always focus on sticking to the same pre-race meal (usually pizza or pasta) so that I can avoid stomach issues on race day. This isn’t necessarily a guarantee but it had worked for me 95% of the time.
“I’m worried about the course”
I actually like to review the race course online if it’s available. I will usually find a map of the course or sometimes I can even find a video on YouTube. This really helps me to mentally prepare for the race, especially if there are hills, etc.
Tell me: How do you overcome common racing fears?
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This is interesting, Kim! My race anxiety is exactly the other way round: the shorter the race, the more anxious I get. In a longer race, I have time to correct things (like portapotty stops), but in a short race, there is no room for error.
Good point about the course. For the race we did last weekend, we also went to see the starting area the day before. It helps to reduce nervousness!
That’s interesting how we have race anxiety for different distances! Totally understand what you mean about having more time to settle into a pace for longer races – that’s so true.
For me, the first mile of any race always feels “off” and it takes some time to find my groove.
I have never overslept in my life and yet, this is my biggest race anxiety! Even for long runs where I am meeting someone, I always worry about oversleeping. It has been so long since I’ve raced, I imagine I will be very nervous next month when I finally do!
Haha same here! I’m an early bird so I’m usually up before my alarm but I always feel like there will be one instance where I oversleep.
I do a lot of mental prep before the race; I review the course, go over my fueling, plan what I’m going to wear…even with all this prep, things can go wrong but it helps my anxiety. I also get to the race early.
The mental prep is so important! Sometimes I think that’s more effective that the physical training.
We had a power failure and I almost missed a race.
I try to always eat pizza if possible.
We do our best but things happen.
I think best thing is to sign up for many races. It helps forget about what went wrong on the last one.
I still get anxious before every race.
Pizza is the best pre-race meal, hands down!
No matter how prepared I feel, the weather usually is the wild card LOL I’ve never overslept, but it’s a constant issue and I seldom ever feel well-rested on race day. Oh well 😉 Like Catrina, I get more anxious before a short race, too, because there’s fluff time to make up for a bad start.
Ahh yes, the lovely weather – especially crazy humidity. I never sleep well before a race so I think I’m just used to it at this point, lol.
Missing the race is a huge one for me! For some reason I get more nervous for marathons but mostly just whether I’ll finish or get swept. Anytime I plan a big race, I try to look at the course months ahead of time and train for hills if I need to. It helps get my mind in the right spot so I just remind myself that the training is done and to enjoy the race!
Glad I’m not the only one that looks at the race course before the race. When I first started doing races, I never looked and one time I was super surprised by huge hills on the course. after that, I always mentally prepared for the course lol.
I don’t usually worry about the course — other than how bad the hills *really* are, LOL! And then sometimes if there’s a time limit. I worried about that for my 18 mile race!
I think my #1 tip, and not everyone agrees about this, is to train for the conditions of the race. Some don’t care, and won’t train on hills if it’s a hilly race. I like to be prepared as best I can be — just because I think it’s kinder to my body.
I worried about the time limit for one of my marathons but luckily I finished with time to spare! I agree with you about training for the condition of the race. I will admit that i don’t always do this, but when I do, it has made a HUGE difference!