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PRE-RACE
JITTERS
My eleven
year old son loves playing rugby union for his school and club.
Recently when we were driving to a game I asked him if he felt
nervous before playing and he told me that it doesn’t worry him.
I was the same during my early years involved in sport however
there was a period during my running career where the pressure
got the better of me. Often I became nervous and lost faith in
myself before competition.
The fear, being face to face with
your challenge
For a
majority of runners, the three or four months prior to a race is
filled with determination to achieve a goal and confidence grows
with each run. This however is often culminated, once confronted
with the event face to face, with a massive drop in self worth
and one’s negative side tends to take over.
I recently
asked a few runners to share their dealings
with pre-race anxiety:
I have
just run my first half marathon in Sydney. I have raced in
other sports at an elite level so I was totally unprepared for
the anxiety I had about that race. I would wake up at night and
worry about not making the first lap in time. Silly things that
the rational part of my brain knew weren't true, but that the
fight or flight part was taking as gospel.
Before the start I was shivery and couldn't stop yawning. Again
the rational side said this was ok, the crazy side said that I
was going to blow up and wouldn't be able to do it.
The gun went off, and suddenly I was just in my training groove
and enjoying the event. I think the unknown made things a lot
worse. Once I was actually doing it, my muscle memory took over
and I didn't need to think any more.
_________________________________
This year
will be my 12th year at the Gold Coast, my 10th Half Marathon
and two Marathons. I have also done at least one or two races
per year. I train so well for each event until the lead up to
race day when I just lose it. I get nervous about two days
before and then the morning of the event I am terrible. When I
am at the starting line waiting to start, I wonder what the hell
I am doing there and why do I do it to myself. I feel
like walking back to the car. I always finish, as I know I can,
but I know I can run better than I do on the day.
_______________________________
My first
marathon was one of excitement and shear fear.
Fear that I might not finish, fear I wouldn't make it, fear I
would injure myself or get a cold about a week before, fear that
all the training would be wasted.
I believe I had spent some of my energy before I even started
and this did cost me a little. The fact was I finished and 6
seconds faster than my goal time of 3:30 (3.29.54).
Although I said after the race I would never do another marathon
I wanted to test the theory of not worrying about anything and
with the same training and preparation the following year I did
a 3:20.
_________________________________
It was my
first major championship race and I was searching the computer
in the village for who was in my heat. I had just won two big
races before the games and defeated most of the runners I was up
against. My confidence was out the window. Yobes Ondieki (former
10000m World Record holder) was looking on and asked
inquisitively as to why I would be worried about who was in my
heat. Somewhere, whilst traveling across the Tasman, everything
changed for me.
__________________________________
Another
thing that I find sometimes happens is that I get so anxious
about an event that I go into it feeling depressed because
usually I've set myself a lofty goal and on the day that
negative little voice in my head starts saying things like "who
do you think you're kidding? As if you can run that time?". Or
I convince myself that I feel sick and almost feel relieved
because then I feel as though I have an excuse if I don't run
well. I.e. I didn't run well because I felt sick.
___________________________________
I have had terrible experiences of extreme nervousness before
some major races and even at times before a time trial run where
I wanted to do really well.
I can't eat, my gut is full of butterflies and I am hopping
around with lots of nervous energy. The night before it is hard
for me to fall asleep and I toss and turn all night. If the race
is in the morning I wake many times during the night - maybe out
of concern I won't wake up on time???
For the 10km at Canberra I think I was at my most nervous
especially as I wanted to do well. My results had indicated I
should be able to and I felt really good. Then as soon as I
touched down at the airport a few days before the race I got ill
from nerves.
The race was in the afternoon at 4pm and aside from a bowl of
porridge at 7am I couldn't eat anything all day. Then walking
around at the expo it just built it all up. I found it difficult
to follow my routine warm up and adjust to running at the
different time in the day as well.
Most runs the nerves don't effect my actual performance, just
the state I am in the hours/days before the race. However in
Canberra I think the nerves & pressure of expectations really
did result in a poor
performance.
___________________________________
Possibly
you have experienced a varying degree of one of the above
mentioned cases and arrived at the start line feeling wasted
from worry. To reduce what you can potentially achieve due to a
fall in self confidence and a high level of anxiety in the
closing days is a shame to say the least.
I
eventually employed skills to overcome what I found to be a huge
burden to carry in the closing days before a race.
Create a
gate in your mind
How I
eventually learnt to deal with pre race anxiety was to
completely shut out any thoughts about the race during the few
days prior. I imagined there was a gate in my mind which I would
shut as soon as any thoughts about the race tried to enter. I
found that even if I entertained positive thoughts about what
may happen that negative thoughts would manage to creep in also.
Rather than having the hinges of the gate fall off sifting
through the good and the bad I found it far easier to block
running out altogether.
If I
struggled to combat the thoughts I would visualise the gun
firing at the start of the race and picturing myself just
getting on with what I was reasonably good at. I experienced
numerous episodes of anxiety in the few days before a race but
never during a race. Tapping into that feeling of relief the
start of a race brings was often more than enough to prevent a
restless night’s sleep.
Remember the early morning sessions
All of your
banked thoughts will surface on race day
The race
is the execution of all of your preparation and it is during
your preparation where you lock in thoughts about what you wish
to achieve. On race day, once the
gun is fired, tap into all of the thoughts you banked during
your preparation and remember how well you prepared, the early
morning sessions and how much
you really want it.
If all
else fails just remember back to when you were eleven and did
not give a great deal of thought about what you were about to enter
into, just like my son Tim, and cling to the fact it’s only
Sport and enjoyment is what it is primarily about.
If you are
running in the Gold Coast Airport Marathon in either the 10k,
Half Marathon or Marathon in less than three weeks time you have
two solid weeks left where you can lock in thoughts about what
you wish to achieve on July 3.
Footnote: I wrote a
similar brief
article a while back on the same topic including a few words
from Rob De Castella, Steve Moneghetti and Lee Troop.
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