Being nervous before your triathlon event is perfectly normal, but that doesn’t make the feelings of anxiousness any easier to dispel. Here’s our guide to banishing the pre-race jitters.
Whether you’re taking on your first sprint triathlon or ticking off another bucket-list Ironman, feelings of nervousness before an event are extremely common. The bigger your emotional investment in the outcome of the race and the more pressure you place on yourself, the more powerful the nerves are likely to be.
For some athletes the nerves begin weeks before the race, for others, it’s the last couple of days leading up to an event – and virtually everyone feels them on the morning of the big day itself.
Weeks before your triathlon
Starting to feel the nerves kicking in a few weeks before your big event is perfectly normal and is often brought on by a feeling of unpreparedness. This is especially true if you’re tackling a new race distance for the first time and you haven’t completed those distances in training – there’s a genuine sense of the unknown and whether you’ll even make it to the finish line.
As the intensity of these nerves and the fear of the unknown ramp up, this makes it all too easy to abandon your training plan in favour of last-minute panic training. But this feeling of taking back control through overtraining during your taper won’t increase fitness or help you to race better.
Instead of succumbing to the niggling voice asking you to deviate from your plan, take time to look back over your training log to reinforce just how much work you’ve done towards your event, how prepared you actually are and reflect on some of those tough sessions that you overcame. This is a great way to help settle the mind and reinforce the confidence that comes from regular, consistent training towards your event.
Days before your triathlon
In the last few days, a combination of the looming race date and the change of routine from training to a much lower volume taper can mean that the nerves really take hold. This is where pre-race mental training really comes into its own – focusing on controlling what you have power over and letting go of the things you don’t.
From a practical point of view, this is the ideal time to go through your race kit list, ticking everything off as you pack it, safe in the knowledge that you have all the gear, equipment and nutrition you’ll need on the day. Likewise, give your bike a once-over – checking the tyres are free of debris, gears are working correctly and all bolts are tight and secure.
Sometimes telling yourself everything will be fine isn’t as convincing as talking through your worries with someone else
Once you’ve exhausted all the physical elements of your race prep – the things directly under your control – it’s time to think about how you’ll handle any hiccups during the event. For example, although getting a puncture is outside your control, how you’ll deal with it is all down to you. Having a plan for as many of these aspects as possible will help reduce panic both before and during the race.
Another way to calm nerves during race week is to seek reassurance from family, friends or other athletes competing. Sometimes telling yourself everything will be fine isn’t as convincing as talking through your worries with someone else who can either emotionally support you, reinforce that what you’re feeling is totally normal or tell you that you’ve done all the hard work in training and this is just the icing on the cake.
The night before
Unless you have absolutely nothing invested emotionally in your triathlon, the night before is often a high point for panic. You’re in it now and the race is only hours away. On top of that, the excitement and anxiety mixed with an early start probably means sleep will be limited.
Accepting this from the off – and even planning for it by getting extra sleep during race week – is key. Remember that few of your competitors are likely to be sleeping soundly either. It’s all just part of the race experience and nothing to worry about. At the very worst, focus on the fact that lying still with your eyes closed still counts as resting.
visualising the whole race can really calm night-before nerves
With the race now so close, practising race visualisation can really help to calm anxiety. Run through the race from start to finish in your mind, reinforcing positivity and your own strength, which bits of the course suit you and how you’ll power through to the finish line.
It might sound a little intangible but visualising the whole race like this can really calm night-before nerves and transform your mind from a state of anxiety to one of race readiness.
If you’re still nervous before bed, try spending some time relaxing in a different way by focusing on something else entirely – watching something non-tri related or reading a book can help direct your mind away from its anxious state.
If you still feel particularly nervous and can’t switch your mind off when it’s time to sleep, accepting that this is the case and distracting it completely is another valid option. Audiobooks and podcasts are great ways to engage the mind while allowing the body and eyes to rest.
Race morning
As race morning dawns, nerves are likely to hit their peak. This can even make everyday tasks like eating breakfast difficult, which in itself is enough to seriously affect your race. Trying to recognise the specifics of what’s making you feel anxious can allow you to better accept each element.
Perhaps the chaos of the open-water swim is a big cause of anxiety – once you’ve recognised this, focus on the feeling for just a moment, accept that it’s there, reinforce to yourself that everything will be alright and imagine the anxious thought passing you by so that you’re distanced from it.
Deep breathing is another way to help relax the body and thus let the brain know that there is no danger to get worked up about. Breath in deeply through the nose, filling your lungs completely for a count of five, then exhale through your mouth, pulling your belly button in, for another count of five to push all the air out.
Another way of conquering race-morning nerves is to reflect on previous races you’ve already done. For the vast majority of athletes, any anxiety disappears the moment the gun goes off – if that’s been the case for you in the past, focus on this fact and that all these tricky feelings will soon be gone.
When it comes to the minutes leading up to the race, you’ll need to find what suits you – the hubbub and camaraderie of chatting with a group of fellow competitors or finding a quiet spot to think through your race plans. Knowing which is best for distraction or preparation comes with a little bit of race experience. Then, before you know it, you’ll be bobbing in the water waiting for the race to start and to put all that physical preparation and mental visualisation into practise with a fantastic race performance.
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