Since it’s cross country season, we finally can start talking about racing. Since starting college athletics, I found my nerves building to...annoying levels, which stripped the fun out of racing and replaced it with intense pressure. Sometimes, nerves can be good—at a certain level—but at some point, they make you tense up and keep you from reaching your full potential in a race. This past year I worked hard to shake these nerves and loosen up on race day. So, here's what I've learned.
I've always had pretty bad pre-race nerves, even in high school. The difference was we raced so often each race seemed a little less important. In college, you get maybe 5 races a season, you've got to make each one count. This immense pressure going into a race weighed on me and took the fun out of racing. In high school I was able to use my nerves to my advantage, I was nervous, but that meant I cared, and it gave me this extra motivation. The important detail is that I also had confidence. I went into every race knowing I could win. Having confidence like that helped any nerves turn into something helpful. In college, I don't have that same confidence. It took a while, but I was able to find it elsewhere because it’s obviously not possible to go into every race expecting to win. Having these nerves without the confidence of doing well, just means I'm thinking of all the bad things that could happen, and we all know that's a steep spiral downward and not helpful to anyone.
So I wanted to start by showing this picture, becuase...I mean it is kind of funny, but there's a story behind it. It was after this where I realized my pre-race nerves were starting to hurt more then help. This picture was taken at the first race last cross country season. I had a great summer of training and I knew there were no expectations and I just needed to go out and put in a good effort. With that being said, I was so nervous because its hot, there's only 5 races a year, I had a bad workout the week before, there's more schools here then last year, I need to run better then I did last year at this meet, the list goes on forever. Long story short, I was so nervous my heart was RACING so a few minutes before the gun went off, I sat down to get it down to a normal rate. This worked, but obviously the nerves didn't go away and I was tense for the entire race. Spoiler: I didn't run very well.
So, I wanted to start by showing this picture, because...I mean it is kind of funny, but there's a story behind it. It was after this that I realized my pre-race nerves were starting to hurt more than help. This picture was taken at the first race last cross country season. I had a great summer of training, and I knew there were no expectations and I just needed to go out and put in a good effort. With that being said, I was so nervous because it’s hot, there's only 5 races a year, I had a bad workout the week before, there's more schools here than last year, I need to run better than I did last year at this meet, the list goes on forever. Long story short, I was so nervous my heart was RACING so a few minutes before the gun went off, I sat down to get it down to a normal rate. This worked, but obviously the nerves didn't go away, and I was tense for the entire race. Spoiler: I didn't run very well.
At this point, one of the biggest issues had to do with the buildup before the race. In high school, I would think about a race at least a week out, visualizing every possible scenario, stressing about all the details, and planning every second. When I got to college, I realized maybe this isn't healthy. So, I was able to "be in the now" and focus on each run separately, waiting until race day to worry about the race. In theory this is a good idea. However, it royally backfired because instead of having a week to worry and plan, I allowed hours. I would go to the start line with a week’s worth of nerves, feeling unprepared and scared. That's how we get to the point where my heart rate is so high, I need to sit down pre-race.
Obviously when this became a problem, I didn't race well, I was running worse than the year before. This made me more nervous for each race which made the race even worse. The disappointment built up and every race I left was even more disappointing than the last. Racing was less fun, and I was in a spiral that had no way out.
So how did I fix this? It's a process, and it wasn't easy but here were the 3 steps I took to claim freedom from my annoying fears and nerves.
Step 1: Focus on The Effort, Stop the Comparison
The absolute most important thing was to realize each race is different. I cannot put the pressure from how I performed last year on the current race. This was really hard to do because, as I've said before, comparison is inevitable. I found it was really important to find perspective. I needed to focus on my effort on THAT day because that's all that matters.
Here's a little internal dialogue on how I TRY to talk to myself pre- and post-race (I'm not very good at it, but it does help when I can do it)
Is it hot on race day? So what, everyone in the field is dealing with it. My legs are tired on the warmup. You probably didn't feel good last year either, you just forgot since you ended up doing well. I didn't run as well as last year. Oh well, there are a million different factors that weren't here last year: more or less competition, different weather, different training, the list goes on. I put in the effort, right? Yes, I left it all out there. Then you did it right, there is no reason for regret or remorse. Move on, you have a workout next week to focus on.
Finding perspective allows you to focus on the task at hand and leave the unhelpful thoughts behind (I know it’s easier said than done but it works with practice, I promise)
Step 2: Calm the Brain and The Nerves
The next step was to deal with the extreme nerve’s pre-race. It didn't go away after the first step, for me that was only a small step for the nerves on the start line. We needed to find a way to get my heart rate down in a way that could calm my mind, but also keep moving; I am warming up for a race after all, sitting down is kind of counterproductive.
So, what I did was create a stretching/breathing routine. Whenever I warm up, there's always a weird amount of time where I finished our normal warmup, but there's an annoying amount of time until the gun goes off. What do you do with this time? Sit and wallow in your fears? Nervously look down the course shaking your legs. Think about everything that could go wrong? No, we aren't doing any of these things. Those days are gone. I made a short stretching routine that I did some purposeful breathing to calm my nerves and give myself something to think about. The routine was short, 4-5 stretches to do with some deep breaths. Think about yoga movements, move to a different stretch with every breath and create a kind of flow stretch routine that flows with your breath. You want it to be short so you can repeat, but also stop at any moment when the race is about to start. The stretches don't really need to be "running warmups" I usually stretch my arms because that's what I like to do. Pick a few different movements and try the routine with some breathing in practice. Once you've gotten used to it, try it in a race and see if you're able to let your fears go, just a little bit.
Step 3: Visualize and Prepare
The last thing that I've done is slowly reintegrate the week-before visualization and race prep. It's not quite to the level of ~insanity~ it was in high school. I've been able to find a happy medium, a point where I actually have room in my brain for other, more important things the week before a race, but I still am able to prep and think about the race so I can feel confident and prepared on the start line. I do this by spending the time before falling asleep visualizing the race. Instead of thinking of every scenario like I did in high school, I visualize it going well. If I can "do the race" well in my head, then when I get to the actual thing, I can have the confidence to go out there and chase my goals, because I've done it before a dozen times in my head.
So, when I've done this in the past, I don't always have the best confidence. I will visualize myself doing well, but then someone will pass me, or something will go wrong. Whenever that happens, I will repeat until I'm able to gain the confidence that I can do it. Once I visualize a successful race, I'll do it a few more times. At this point I feel prepared and confident that I can start the race and run well.
So, in a nutshell, that's how I've been able to escape the race nerves. Obviously, they still come back here and there, but I've gotten it to a manageable level with some newfound confidence where I can use it to my advantage again. I know this piece only takes a few minutes to read, but these 3 steps took me my entire sophomore year to get to this point. It was not an easy feat, so if this is something you’re looking at fixing, give yourself grace and be patient. It won't happen overnight, but you can do it! I promise you don't need to have debilitating nerves forever.
Happy racing!
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So good to hear that you've found strategies that are helping, Emma! Such great advice!