Running News Daily

Tips for handling your nerves in your first race back

As we move into April and May, many spring road races are back for the first time in years, and most runners will take their first start line since before the pandemic. It’s normal to be nervous before a race, but this spring, runners are even more nervous than usual, since it has been a very long time since most of us raced.  Here are some tips on how to handle those bigger-than-usual nerves at your spring races this year.

The reason you are nervous is that your sympathetic nervous system (SNS) is kicking in, which is one of two components of the body’s central nervous system. Your SNS releases two hormones in response to high-stress situations–epinephrine and norepinephrine (also known as adrenaline and noradrenaline), which result in that feeling of having butterflies in your stomach, and they can help your body perform better during sport.

According to research, these nerves help your reflexes become faster and improve your circulation. However, there are some bad sides to an SNS response, which can result in diarrhea, cramping or irritable sweating, which can hinder your athletic performance.

Being a little nervous can be a good thing, but there are a few ways you can minimize some of the pre-race jitters.

1) Be prepared

The key to minimizing nerves and success on race day is in the months and weeks leading up to the race. You want to be able to stand at the start line and tell yourself that you’ve done your best to prepare yourself to be ready. This doesn’t only mean training, it means proper rest and eating/hydrating well in the weeks before the race. Remember that it’s extremely rare to have a good night’s sleep the night before a big race, but as long as you’re reasonably well-rested leading up to that night, don’t worry about losing sleep the night before the race.

2) Remind yourself that you’re ready

The most important thing you can do for your mental game before taking the start line is to remind yourself of all the work you have put in. Look through your training history the night before or the morning of–revisit workouts from your training block to remind you that you’ve put in the work and that you’re ready to go. Knowing that you’re ready might not free you of all nerves, but it should reassure you that you’ve completed all the hard work necessary to do well on the big day.

3) Focus on yourself

It’s easy to compare yourself to your friends or training partners, or all other runners there at the race. Do yourself a favor and don’t pay attention to them until the race begins. You can’t control how well they run, so why worry about them before the race starts? Not worrying about others and doing your own thing will make your race experience more worthwhile.

4) Wait to take the start line

If you’re not already nervous, standing on the start line for 30 minutes before your race is scheduled to start is bound to make you anxious. Although you want to be on time, try to extend your warmup as close to the start as possible. How early you arrive at the start line depends on the size of the race, but generally, you’ll want to arrive five to 15 minutes before the start, to give yourself enough time to get a good spot.

Make sure you give yourself plenty of time to warm up and stretch before, as being rushed doesn’t help with anxiety.

5) Listen to music

Listening to music is another way to calm nerves and get yourself in the zone before a big race. Create a playlist of your favorite pump-up or running songs to get your blood flowing. Many athletes will use music as motivation to boost their adrenaline before the competition.

If you usually get nervous and haven’t listened to music on your runs before, try it out and figure out what works best.

5a) Have fun

Win or lose, make the most of your experience and have fun. There’s no need to take things too seriously or put too much pressure on yourself.