How to Beat Pre-Race Anxiety

When you sign up for an ultramarathon, you’re excited.

You imagine running it bold, strong, and powerful.

But as the race approaches, the excitement is replaced by anxiety.

You read race reports and watch race videos to calm your nerves but they only add to your worries. 

People trying to help overwhelm you with a million and one tips, tricks, do’s and don’ts you can’t possibly remember.

And sometimes, unhelpful people offer their doubts and criticism of your plans, decisions, and ability.

It can feel challenging to stay positive about a big, intimidating goal. You wonder how you lost the joy and excitement, and secretly wish it was over.

The heaviness of pre-race anxiety feels inescapable but there IS a solution.

What’s creating the anxiety is all the unknown between you and the finish line.

“How am I going to do it?”

“Will it be too hard?”

“How will I keep going when that voice in my head tells me I can’t?”

“What if something goes wrong?”

“Will I drop when it gets hard?”

“What if I don’t finish?”

The amount of anxiety created by all this unknown depends on two variables.

First, the amount of uncertainty you’re willing to tolerate about the race.

Think of this as your thermostat set point. You’re comfortable at a certain setting and maybe a few degrees above, but no more than that.

Second, the amount of unknown you’re facing in a specific race. 

A race like Lean Horse 100, an out-and-back course on a relatively flat rail trail with a 32-hour cutoff, has less unknown than Western States 100, a point-to-point course with 17,949’ of ascent, more in descent, rougher footing, and a tighter 30-hour cutoff.

The lower your tolerance for uncertainty and the higher the amount of unknown, the higher your anxiety.

So to lower your anxiety, all you have to do is raise your tolerance for uncertainty, reduce the race unknowns, or both.

I do both for my clients.

I raise their tolerance for anxiety by teaching them how to control the negative voice in their heads that says uncertainty means they will fail.

And I reduce the unknown by helping clients plan their race, and teaching them to handle lows and the ‘hard’ of it in a new way, problem solve fast, know they won’t drop, and take the fear out of DNFing if it happens.

By doing both, there’s less to be anxious about and you’re more confident facing the uncertainty that’s left.

Even in the weeks leading up to a race like the Barkley Fall Classic where you don’t know the course until the day before the race, you can learn to control the negative voice that spins up the anxiety, and expertly plan a race so you can make a winning plan the day before.

Raising your tolerance for uncertainty and reducing the unknowns puts you in control of race anxiety. They’re far more effective than adding a bunch of last-minute mileage.

Doing one will help. Doing both frees you to face the race with excitement all over again

They’re the two most effective things you can do to get and stay positive ahead of the race.