Top tips for dealing with pre-race nerves

I don’t know about you, but one of my favourite things to watch during the Olympics is not a certain athletic performance, it’s the athletes before they step onto the track, slide into the pool or run onto the court. The pre-performance strategies are as diverse as the countries that participate, from Usain Bolt goofing off with the crowd before stepping up to his starting blocks, to Michael Phelps’s characteristic tune out with head phones. These two athletes have consistently dominated their sports and yet their pre-race attitudes seem to be opposites, proving that there is no single ‘right’ pre-race strategy.

Being anxious before a race is perfectly normal. It is your sympathetic nervous system (SNS) kicking in and this can have a positive impact on your performance. Your reflexes are faster, your circulation is improved and your memory is better when your body has triggered its ‘fight or flight’ response. However, an SNS response can also mean diarrhea, intestinal cramping, sweating and irritability – reactions with the ability to impede athletic performance.

The bottom line is that being a little nervous can be good, but you should take action to prevent your anxiety from impacting your performance. Here are  10 tips for dealing with pre-race jitters.

1) Be prepared.

This boy scouts motto is also intrinsic to racing success. The key to minimizing race day jitters is actually found in the lead-up to the big day. Make sure that you can stand on the start line and tell yourself that you’ve done what you need to do to be ready. This means eating properly, hydrating well and sleeping lots in the final week before your race. No one sleeps like a baby the night before a race, so put yourself in a position where you can tell yourself you’ve banked hours to fall back on.

2) Think about the race before the race.

Start lines can be scary places. If you visualize what the start will be like during your training lead-up, you may find yourself less anxious when you actually get there. Imaginations are a powerful tool, though often overlooked in the world of athletics.

3) Breathe.

Seems like the easiest pre-race strategy ever, right? Take a few slow, deep breaths and you may be surprised by the affect it has on your body. To really focus, try alternate nostril breathing. This is done by blocking one nostril and inhaling deeply through the open nostril. When you have reached the height of your breath, block the open nostril and release the breath through the nostril that was previously blocked. Repeat this process several times. This breathing strategy has been shown to increase focus and reduce anxiety.

4) Focus on what is within your power, rather than outside of it.

If you have the power to change the weather on race day then woohoo for you, but the rest of us mortals won’t benefit from worrying about the weather conditions. Focus on what is within your power, including your warm-up routine, pre-race meals and hydration. Remember all the training runs that you’ve done in the rain or the cold to remind yourself that Mother Nature prepared you for this possibility.

5) Be positive with yourself.

You put in a lot of hard work to get to the start line and should be proud of yourself no matter what your final result is. Even though we may laugh at the idea of having a race mantra or talking to ourselves during a race, it has been proven that being your own cheerleader gives you a mental boost.

6) Keep to your routine as much as possible.

Though we may have outgoing and spontaneous personalities in ‘real life,’ when it comes to racing, we runners are creatures of habit. There is a reason for this – it works. If you always have a bagel with peanut butter before you run, reach for it the morning of the race, whether or not one of the elite runners at the pasta dinner swore oatmeal was the best pre-race meal. Racing takes the annoying catchphrase, ‘you do you’ to a whole other level.

7) Listen to music.

Music is a good way to soothe nerves and get yourself focused on the upcoming race. Figure out what works best for you – it may be pump up music to get your blood flowing, or it may be peaceful music that centres your mind that works best for you.

8) Don’t stand on the start line until you need to.

If you’re not already nervous, standing on the start line for 30 minutes before your race is scheduled to go off will make you so. Just like how the excitement of watching the Stanley Cup finals with a group of hockey fans can be contagious, being shoulder to shoulder with other nervous runners can lead to the spread of anxiety. Do your own thing for as long as you can before lining up – but make sure you do give yourself enough time to get to your appropriate spot. Starting late is not a good way to decrease performance anxiety.

9) Use the porta-potty (again).

Yes, we know that you just used it, but if your body wants you to visit again, listen to it. You’ll put yourself through more stress trying to ignore your body’s signals than if you just let it call the shots.

10) Remember why you’re there.

We runners race because we love to run. We love the sense of accomplishment, or the atmosphere of racing, or the chance to see new places and people – the list goes on and on. The most important thing you can do for your mental game on the start line of a race is remind yourself of your love of running and then let your feet take over from there.