Boost your pre-race mental game - YOU ARE READY!

When was the last time that you had that one workout when everything clicked and you wish race day was tomorrow? Don't you love it when that happens!

But then comes race week - Ahhh!!!

Where did that race-ready, everything clicked, workout go? All of a sudden, it's race week and now you have a mix of emotions - many of which make you feel so unprepared. 

It’s human nature to doubt yourself to feel like you should have done more. In our always-connected world, it’s very hard to keep things in perspective, especially when it appears as if everyone else is so much more ready than you are. 

Regardless of how your training did or didn’t go, it’s important that you adjust your mindset so that you go into your race confident and believing in yourself. 

Before every race, you need to believe yourself when you say “I am ready.”

For many now successful athletes, they started something before they felt ready. If something is important to you, you will never really feel ready. A side effect of doing something challenging is feeling excited and also very worried and unprepared.

As it relates to race day, you need to feel like you prepared "enough." To perform at your best, regardless of how ready you really are to compete, your mental game is extremely important so that you can feel ready "enough."

Here are some ways to boost your mental preparation before your next race. 

1. You control your own thoughts – Feelings come from thoughts. All conflicting and negative thoughts start internally in the mind. The next time your mind starts racing and you notice self-doubt or fear, let go of all those negative thoughts. Instead, choose positive, quality thoughts that will help you excel on race day. And never let another athlete or person get inside your head. 

2. Feelings are not actions – A niggle, low energy, heavy legs or nerves is a feeling. Just because you feel nervous, you feel a bit off or you feel a bit of a niggle in your shoulder, this doesn't meant that you will have a bad race.  If you find yourself doubting your abilities because of how you feel, you are putting blame or excuses on a scenario that is inside your head.  Never let your thoughts be confused with actions. You can still feel tired and perform amazingly well. 

3. You are ready – When something is important to you, you will find the time and you will put in the work to get what you want. It takes a lot of hard work to be prepared for an event but the truth is that nobody ever feels 100% ready for something that is meaningful. Reflect on your previous training, which helped you stretch your comfort zone and gain the necessary skills to feel prepared at this point in your journey. Even though race day may be tough, struggling does not mean that you are not prepared. Trust that you have done the work and remember that every great success requires some kind of struggle in the journey.

4. Try your best - Your greatest fear should not be fear of failure. Not trying is failing. Great things will come to those who work hard and give it a go - no matter what. Always race with your current level of fitness and remember that you are a developing athlete, getting to where you want to be, one day at a time. Remember, a person who makes no mistakes is the person who is not willing to fail in order to win. It’s better to have a season of small mistakes to learn from, than a season of playing it safe, with regrets of never really trying.

5. Be thankful – Don’t worry about anyone else. Everyone person fights his/her own battle or has to overcome some type of obstacle before a race. What incredible battles have you overcome lately or this season? What are you thankful for?

The next time you find yourself with self-defeating thoughts, stop and get those thoughts out of your head. To enhance your performance, start with your mental game. Talk to yourself in a way that will boost your confidence. Quiet those negative thoughts in your head so that you can make room for the positive thoughts - You are strong, You can succeed. You are brave. You are dedicated. You are resilient. You are ready. You can do it! 

Reduce the pre-race stress

Racing is fun but it is also very stressful.
Stress can be a response to things out of your control whereas nerves can mean you care about your result.

I hate to be the party pooper but every athlete is going to have challenges before and/or on race day - whether it's the weather, terrain or something outside your control or feeling really, really uncomfortable because you are giving a hard effort.

While it is important to focus only on things within your control and to not waste energy on things out of your control, trying to control everything can increase anxiety when things don't work out like you had hoped for.

My suggestion......stop worrying about what's completely out of your control and put positive energy into trusting yourself, your fitness and your ability to overcome anything that comes your way before and on race day.

Race day is an opportunity to show off your consistent training efforts - not besting or matching what paces or watts that you held in training so that you can achieve a specific time-goal outcome.

Don't assume you are going to have a bad day because it's windy, hot/cold or rainy. Race day rewards a great effort and a smart execution.
Don't waste away months of training on worries, doubt or fear.With the conditions you are given on race day, be sure to race your nearest competition with your current level of fitness. 

Racing is all about being proactive. It requires extreme focus to troubleshoot every situation and to not get ahead of yourself (don't think about how you are going to feel on the run when you are swimming). You must execute in the best possible way, on your race course, with the weather you are given on your race day.

The only time you will know what you are capable of achieving on race day is when you cross the finish line, knowing that you gave your absolute best effort and overcame everything that you experienced on race day. 

To race to your full ability and to achieve the best possible outcome, you must understand that racing is a process - it's dynamic and it's very task driven. This is why we encourage athletes to race a few times at lower priority races before racing in a key race so you can go through all the motions and emotions of racing.

When you race, your entire race is built on steps, with each mile affecting the next mile. While there are many things within your control, holding x-watts or x-pace to give you x-final result is not true racing. 

While it may seem as if having metric guidelines (ex. hold x-watts or x-pace) or a time goal to chase will give you comfort so you race to your potential and/or you don't blow yourself up, putting all your energy into the end result will likely cause you to lose focus on the elements that you can control - your fueling/hydrating, the course, your economy, how you manage your efforts (based on the terrain and weather), your mindset and what your body is telling you at each moment during the race.

To help you relax your mind before a race, focus on simply being present during your race. Give your best effort. Be grateful for what your body can do and what it allows you to do. Be proud of your discipline, which allowed you to gain fitness for your race day.

Don't stress about the outcome.

The best race day outcome is determined by how you manage what you can control and how you overcome what you can't control.... from start to finish.

Enjoy the challenges that you will experience on race day and don't stress out before you start your amazing day with your awesome body.