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Conquering anxiety 48 hours before the race

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We all get a little nervous when the big race is coming up. Pre-race jitters are natural but feeling overwhelmed with anxiety is no fun. Luckily there are great ways to conquer these feelings and turn them into something positive. If you’re someone who does a lot of worrying in the days before your race, try these tactics.

Envision exactly how you want the race to go by taking a minute to close your eyes and turn off all distractions. Envision how strong you’ll be at the start and what you want your finish to look like. Picture parts of the race over and over again. Think about your favourite sections of the race and how supportive the crowd will be. Go over it envisioning positive scenarios of you racing and not negative ones.  

Take a self-care day by doing calming activities that you enjoy. Maybe that means doing a gentle yoga session, watching your favourite movie or reading with a mug of tea. Take this time for you and don’t stress about what you could be doing. Turn off your phone so no one can interrupt this time.

Write a list of all the best workouts you did and break out the workout log so you can see the proof of how hard you’ve worked. Remember, you get out of running exactly what you put into it. Remember those track workouts where you wanted to quit but didn’t? Remember those mornings you got out of bed to hit the road despite wanting to stay warm and cozy? You didn’t run those grueling hills for nothing either. What are you even worried about? By looking through the pages of your log or thinking back to those hard gym sessions, you’ll realize that you’ve got this race.

Go for a run without the phone or watch. When you’re stressed about anything else doesn’t going for a run help? So you’re stressed about the race. Go for a run to help conquer those feelings. Don’t bring the watch though. Now isn’t the time to be checking how fat or slow you’re going. You’ll only psyche yourself out.

Spend time with a friend who isn’t a runner because they have no understanding of runner problems. Talk to a non-runner friend about your pre-race woes and they will make you feel like you’re taking yourself too seriously because they don’t really get it. That can be a good thing. You’ll quickly laugh it off and move onto another topic of conversation. Coffee with the non-runner can be the best distraction!   

Think of your best race ever (and how nervous you felt beforehand that time too). Even if you feel like you skipped workouts or could have gone longer on a few of those long runs, chances are, you’ve probably put in a lot of preparation. Want proof? Think about last time. Remember when you had those thoughts and then ran a PB?  

Listen to calming music. It’s almost impossible not to take the worrying down a few notches when you’ve got your favourite songs playing. Keep the music mellow, take a few deep breaths and soon, you’ll soothe that nervousness that was taking over.

 

 

 

 

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