Pre Race Jitters

So it happened today, I was looking forward to running a charity 5K.  It was for a good cause, breast cancer, a topic close to my hear.  I had been looking forward to the race for over a week.  I had join a running group and many of the member where going to be running in it.  It was going to be a great bonding experience.  And than the unthinkable happened I started to get anxiety.  It started last night, I could not sleep a wink and this morning I was deathly spending most of the morning in the bathroom.  Now this was not my first 5K.   In fact, I have been running them for over 4 years.  Needless to say I did not compete today.

Apparently this is not that uncommon even for experienced runners.  A runner may put more pressure on themselves to beat their personal record. 

I put together a list of how I can manage my pre-race jitters.  These little tricks may be useful for you too.

1. Be prepared- Know the course so you know exactly what to expect.  Pack a bag of essentials you may need pre and post race,  do this the night before the race.

2. Develop  pre-race rituals- Even professional athletes have pre-race rituals.  Some example  are listening to your ipod, praying, meditating, or going through a specific sequence of warm up exercises.

3. Try deep breathing-Your breathing should come from your stomach and not from your chest.     Deep breathing has a calming effect, it triggers the parasympathetic nervous system, which slows down the heart and lowers or stabilizes blood pressure.

4. Run with out expectations- setting high expectations is one of the biggest causes of pre-race jitters because you are putting a lot of pressure on yourself to meet certain goals.  Leave your expectations at home and just enjoy the run.   I need to remember this one