Competitor - June 2017

48 TRAINING

COACH CULPEPPER

PHOTO: ISTOCKPHOTO.COM

OVERCOME

PRE-RACE

ANXIETY

FOR GOOD

BY ALAN CULPEPPER

HAVE A PLAN

Having a race plan is an import-

ant part of keeping your emotions

at a healthy level. Framing the

experience and giving your mind

parameters to hold onto create

focus and comfort. This does not

mean it will go exactly according

to the plan—but the key is having a

plan to help center your thoughts.

The longer the distance, the more

critical a race plan becomes due

to the added time for the mind

to wander and emotions to get

involved. Shorter races require a

pacing and course strategy plan,

while longer events should also

factor in hydration and fuel man-

agement. For a marathon or longer

event, the race plan should also

include race weekend. Planning

out the days prior to the race plus

parking, packet pickup, meals,

downtime, etc. are all important to

consider and will help immensely

with pre-race anxiety.

FOCUS ON THE MUNDANE

It’s also essential to keep your mind

focused on mundane, ordinary or

even trivial tasks that are part of your

pre-race routine. Where you want to

eat the night before, an errand to the

store to pick up your favorite sports

bar or drink, ensuring your bag is

packed with the essentials you need,

and thinking through what you want

to wear on race morning are all good

examples of the small tasks that you

should focus on. Simple tasks keep

the mind distracted from the larger

objective. The few days leading into

the race are not the time to contin-

ually revisit your goals or what you

set out to accomplish. That should be

done in training ahead of time. As the

event approaches, the simpler your

thoughts should become, and basic

tasks are a healthy area to emphasize.

KEEP YOUR EMOTIONS IN CHECK

Allowing your emotions to run wild the days

or hours leading into the event will be bur-

densome and lead to anxiety. You do not need

to rely on your emotions the days or hours

leading into the event—this is the time to

shift to the points mentioned above and turn

off your emotions as best you can. As you go

through your pre-race routine you should

be conscious of keeping a calm mind and

not allowing the desired results or fears to

clutter your thoughts. Force yourself to be

relaxed—and, in many ways, numb to what

is going on around you. Calling on all that

motivation and emotions is very eff ective

and important in training, but not right up

to the event. Execution should be the mantra

until three-quarters of the way through the

event. Once you get to the fi nal quarter of

the race, then allow your emotions to kick

in, and call on all that motivation to push you

through the fi nish.

First things first: Pre-race

jitters or nervousness are

normal, and should be

expected. It means that you

are invested, have a level of

expectation, and that the

race is important to you.

Nerves help raise adrena-

line, which also help elevate

performance level.

However, there is a tipping

point where nervousness can

reach an unhealthy level and

lead to anxiety over reaching

the desired results or fear of

discomfort or failure. At that

point, the benefi ts are negated

and it instead becomes detri-

mental to performance. More

often than not, this is due to

focusing disproportionately

on the outcome rather than

on the execution. Here are a

few strategies to help keep

your emotions in check, and

keep it benefi cial.

Two-time U.S. Olympian Alan Culpepper won national

titles from the 5K to the marathon. His fi rst book, Run

Like a Champion, is available at VeloPress.com.

CM0617_T_CULP.indd 48 5/11/17 11:05 AM