Practical Strategies For Calming Pre-Race Panic

Dropping into taper mode is a big change. As your load decreases and pre-race anxiety increases, here are some tips for calming your nerves and managing yourself leading up to a race.

Normalize 

Understand that what you’re feeling is completely normal and natural. Many of us care deeply about our running goals but also use it as a tool to manage ourselves as we navigate life. 

It can be tough to lower your volume and not get the full mental benefits of running on a day-to-day basis. This is a real struggle that most runners deal with anytime there is a sudden drop in volume and/or intensity. It’s important to understand it’s natural to have negative feelings and to feel different during this time. 

Ironically, tapering and taking extra rest can be more mentally challenging than the training leading to it. This is normal. 

Build New Habits

What to do with the extra time? Try yoga, journaling, or something else that you’ve been wanting  to try but haven’t made the time for. You may discover something that you’ll continue to incorporate into your routine.

Although tapering can feel like a negative thing, find the positives and make the best out of it. Use this extra time to your advantage and make it as productive and beneficial to your future self as possible. 

Dealing With the Nerves 

On another note, nerves and anxiety often build as the event you’re tapering for nears closer. You may begin to question if everything you’ve done was enough. Perhaps injury or something else, limited your ability to train as much as you wanted. It’s easy to question yourself. 

These thoughts are common but you don’t need to entertain every one of them. It’s easier said than done but try not to allow yourself to overthink every detail. Manifest contentment and be happy with the preparation you’ve done. 

Speaking of manifesting, incorporate tools like visualization to picture success on race-day. There’s a lot of research about the positive benefits of visualization and this can be a great way to “train” without putting any stress on your body. 

Another thing you can do if you feel yourself thinking too much about the race and your training is to reinforce your why. Think, and maybe even journal, about why you choose this particular event, your goals, and how it fits in your big picture of life. Understanding your why will be a great to have during the tough moments when you ask yourself why you are doing this. The taper phase is a great time to think about it more. 

When thinking about the event and your goals, be sure not to attach them to your identity. Regardless of how the event shakes out, it’s not a reflection of who you are as a person. While your running goals are important, it’s not that serious. 

Even if your goals mean the world to you, there is more to life than just that. There is so much positive gain that comes from the running process, the event itself is the tip of the iceberg. Practice gratitude for the ability to push yourself and explore while appreciating all of the other positive things that come with it.

The result is only part of the journey and you can still have serious goals without tying them to your identity while appreciating the hard work you have put in. 

Get Your Mind off Running 

As runners we know how easy it is to become obsessed. While it may be fun to think and talk about running 24/7, it’s important to take a break.

This is especially crucial during the taper-phase because of things mentioned earlier. With anxiety rising, the race nearing, and having more time to think than normal, you’ll go crazy if you allow yourself to think about running constantly before a big event.

In addition to building new habits that may help your running journey, take this excess of time to try new things completely unrelated to running. 

The Work is Over

You’ve trained hard and there is no fitness to be gained in the days leading up to a race. Understand the work you’ve put into the preparation and training process. This is the time to relax and reset in order to prepare your body for a stellar performance. 

Be disciplined and don’t let yourself off the leash just yet. Sure, multiple low volume easy days can feel torturous, but now is not the time to push it. Be patient, pull back, and unleash this pent-up energy during the race. 

Be grateful for your ability to run and compete. You are ready to embark on your upcoming journey. 

TJ is a coach with Team RunRun, to learn more about him or to work with him, check out his coach profile.