5 Simple Strategies for Overcoming Race Day Nerves

 

 

5 Simple Strategies for Overcoming Race Day Nerves

Friday, July 17, 2015 | By Carrie Cheadle

 

61There are many reasons why athletes feel nervous before an event. Whether it’s your first race or your 50th, when you roll up to the start line or you’re standing on the beach waiting for your swim start, you’re probably going to experience some race-day anxiety. It’s normal to feel nervous when you’re about to take on a new challenge or about to tackle something important to you and you’re unsure of the outcome. These are situations when you may find yourself thinking:

• What am I doing?
• I don’t belong here.
• I should have trained more.
• What if I don’t finish?
• What if I let my down my family/friends/teammates/sponsors?

The nerves you feel are a part of your fight-or-flight response. Your heart starts to beat a little faster and your palms get sweaty. It’s hard to focus, your breathing is shallow, your stomach is in knots, and you’re looking at the line for the bathroom wondering if you have time to go again before your race starts.
Usually race day anxiety comes from either not feeling prepared or putting too much pressure on yourself and when the event holds more importance to you, you will tend to increase that pressure even more. Of course there are things you can do leading up to the race to help you feel more confident and prepared going in, but here are 5 tips to quell your anxiety on race day:

1. Accept the Nerves

It’s OK to be nervous. Expect it and accept it. In fact, there are some athletes that will tell you they’re more concerned before an event when they don’t feel nervous. Anxiety can actually be a facilitative emotion if you don’t let it get the best of you. Another thing to accept is that you probably won’t sleep well the night before your race. Don’t worry about it. Worrying about it only makes you feel worse and it turns out that lack of sleep the night before a race might not feel great, but physiologically you will still be able to perform the way you would with a good night’s sleep¹.

2. Reframe the Butterflies

The extra adrenaline in your body that kicks in when you ignite your fight-or-flight response triggers a whole host of physiological responses, one of which is that feeling of butterflies in your stomach. If you perceive your physiological symptoms as “bad”, then when you feel butterflies you label yourself as being nervous. Changing your perception of those butterflies can help with your nerves. When you start to feel nervous on race day, reframe the butterflies by telling yourself that you’re not nervous, your body is just getting excited and getting you ready to race.

3. Give Yourself an Emotional Boost

Your emotions play a very big role in your behavior. Your emotional state will alter your feelings of motivation and confidence as well as govern how much effort you put out. You feel your emotions because there are different physiological changes associated with different emotions and those physiological changes can either boost or dampen your physical performance. One recent study showed that outcomes were significantly enhanced for sprinters when the athletes imagined a very happy moment in their lives immediately before their performances². Give yourself an emotional boost by thinking about your best performance, your favorite scene from a funny movie, or any happy memory from your past that makes you smile, laugh, and feel good.

4. Stop Comparing

Are you looking around at your competition and feeling like you don’t stack up? Are you worried about how you’re going perform compared to the people around you?  Comparing yourself to your teammates and competitors can fill you with anxiety.  You need to gauge your success based on YOUR goals and YOUR performance regardless of what anyone else does around you. It’s your day, it’s your goal, and it’s your race. Don’t compare race-to-race either. Even if you’re racing the same race in similar conditions - every race day is different. You need to trust yourself, trust your training, and just focus on your own race and your own journey.

5. Stay in the Moment

This is one of the most important and impactful things you can do to alleviate your anxiety and improve your performance– and one of the hardest. Keep your mind in the present moment. Stop time traveling into the past thinking about the training you think you should have done. Stop traveling into the future worrying about the outcome of the day. Stay right here in the conversation of the race and you’ll be more likely to adjust and adapt to the race day challenges that come. Breathe, stay in the moment, and enjoy the day.
Carrie Cheadle is a featured presenter for the Endurance Coaching Summit on July 28-29. ECS brings coaches and experts together to advance the business of coaching. Learn more about ECS. ​

1. Reilly, T. & Edwards, B. (2007). Altered sleep-wake cycles and physical performance in athletes. Physiology and Behavior, 90(2-3), 274-284.
2. Rathschlag, M. & Memmert, D. (2015). Self-generated emotions and their influence on sprint performance: An investigation of happiness and anxiety. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 27(2), 186-199.

ICE & SNOW BICYCLING

 

 

Bicycles on ice? Yes, definitely challenging yet extremely rewarding. With the right bicycle, proper care of your equipment and winter-bicycling skills you can bicycle for convenience, commuting, and for exercise or pleasure throughout the year. With the fresh air, a winter wind and amazing scenery you will arrive feeling alive, refreshed and accomplished. Icebiking, also known as Snowbiking or winter bicycling dates back to the days of the horse and carriage. Prior to the popularization of the automobile, bicycles were a major means of transportation throughout the United States. “The freedom of movement afforded by the bicycle would not easily be surrendered to autumn breezes or winter chills. Getting off the bicycle meant walking in many cases.”

Maintaining control of the bicycle on icy roads requires a different riding technique. Riding slower, using back brakes, sitting upright as you navigate and being aware of narrower streets due to plowed snow is important. Metal-studded tires improve traction, chains and hub gears shield the drive train, and drum and hub brakes operate when wheel rims are caked in ice. With unpredictable conditions, your frame must be able to handle changing road conditions. Mountain bikes with wider tires are a must in heavy snow and ice. Bixby Bicycles has a full line of Mountain Bikes available.  

The right handle-bars, fenders with mud flaps, and proper clothing are a necessity. Dressing in layers allows the skin to breath, and proper sunglasses allows the rider to see through snow-glare, the reflection of the sun on newly fallen snow and in blowing snow. Being seen is also important. Wear brightly colored clothes easily seen in cloudy, stormy and foggy weather; reflection tape is essential.

Enjoy your bicycle year round, even in every changing Oklahoma weather.  Buster Brown, our USA Certified Cycling Coach offers instruction in Icebiking, and Bixby Bicycles and Accessories specializes in mountain bikes, winter equipment and winter wear.   If you keep your crank spinning, sit upright, keep your front wheel light and your handle-bars high, riding on snow and ice can be just as rewarding as snow-boarding or skiing. Following some simple rules, being physically and mentally prepared, having the right equipment, gear and clothing will make Icebiking, or Snowbiking a fun, safe and rewarding experience.  

BUSTER BROWN, USA Certified Cycling Coach

Bixby Bicycles & Accessories

www.bixbybicycles.com



Cycling and Health - The Evidence

Cycling offers more than a mode of transportation, cash prizes, and winning jackets, shirts and trophies. We sell, coach cyclists and race bicycles for all of these reasons, however our primary purpose for being in this business is to provide the community with a healthy way of staying fit. Cycling is a fitness and wellness program that's all of the above, and more fun than you would ever imagine.  We've taken some excerpts from "Cycling and Health" that highlight the many benefits of cycling, from relieving back and knee pain, to improvements in the cardiovascular and immune system.  

BACK PAIN    Back pain is often the direct result of lack of exercise. This leads to a reduction in nourishment for the inter-vertebral discs. The result is that the function of the discs changes with the discs no longer able to fulfill their allotted task of supporting the required weight. However, there are three ways in which cycling can help overcome back problems. Firstly, through set physical exercise, the discs receive more nourishment which aids their development. Secondly, the large muscles in the back strengthen and develop through cycling. Lastly, cycling aids the stabilization of the individual vertebrae relative to one another. This is achieved by strengthening the 'small' muscles responsible for supporting the individual vertebrae.  

KNEE JOINTS    A general cause of knee pain is often attributed to the breakdown of cartilage. Excessive stress placed on the joint, for example by jogging, or being over weight, restrict or deny the supply of nourishment to the cartilage. Consequently the cartilage is weakened and starts to break down. The knee starts to hurt as it denied minerals essential to the cartilage. Since the cartilage has no blood vessels of its own, the transfer of minerals occurs through diffusion. Movement of the knee joint therefore encourages the nourishment of the cartilage. Cycling is one of the least stressful ways of exercising the knee joint and therefore is an excellent way of strengthening the cartilage.  

HEART & CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM    The heart is our only "motor" and for this reason we should take particular care of it. Stress symptoms and hardening of the arteries (arteriosclerosis) for example have a detrimental effect on the heart resulting in high blood pressure. To get through the narrowed blood-vessels the same amount of blood has to travel faster and with fully-closed arteries a heart attack may occur. Cycling can improve the blood circulation in a large number of ways. Most importantly the heart will be working more economically because the pumping performance becomes more efficient - it leads to a drop in the overall blood pressure thus reduces the risk of heart disease.  

IMMUNE SYSTEM    Infections are one of the prime causes of absenteeism from the work place. One frequent reason is an ineffective immune system leading to allergic reactions and an inability to fight common colds. Cycling improves the quality of the immune system by allowing the body to protect itself against viruses and warding off bacteria. Consequently cycling is the most advantageous method of exercise for strengthening the immune system.

Source:  "Cycling and Health" 

http://www.cyclingandhealth.com/CyclingAndHealth_e.htm