Think You’re Not Ready? You Might Be Looking At It All Wrong

Worried you won’t be ready on race day?

You’re not alone. I hear from many runners who feel this way, and it’s understandable. An ultra is a big deal—you don’t do one every day, and you want to perform your best and have the race you’ve dreamed of. You’ve invested countless hours and miles into training, but still: What if I haven’t trained enough? Or trained right?

You can’t stop thinking about the runs you missed, the tough long runs that needed to go well but didn’t, and how you don’t feel as strong as you should. There’s no proof that your training is paying off, and with race day approaching, you’re running out of time to fix it.

The uncertainty can send you into a spiral. Should you add more miles? More vertical? More single track? Speedwork, strength training, hot yoga? Or would more rest be better to avoid overtraining? Should you change your diet? If so, how?

Every passing day, the pressure mounts. If you’re going to make a change, it has to happen now, before it’s too late.

If you make a change, like adding more miles, you feel temporary relief—you’re doing something about this worry—but soon enough, the doubt returns. Is that ‘more’ enough?

The good news is the problem isn’t with your training—it’s how you define “being ready.” You’ve unconsciously put all the responsibility on your body, as if the race is purely a physical test where there’s only one thing between you and failure. If your body fails, you fail.

But that’s not how ultras work. You’ve left out the work your mind and emotions need to do during the race.

This sport takes ALL of you. That’s what makes it so beautifully tough.

You’ve got to redefine “being ready.”

Here’s how I do it. I think of it as an equation: body + mind/emotions = performance. When I’m not as trained as I’d like or facing a tougher course or tighter cutoff, I decide it’s okay—my mind and emotions will make up any training gap.

Then I plan exactly how to do that - how to use my mind and emotions in the race to make it as easy as possible for my body to do its best. I’m the manager who controls it all, and I’m going to make every part of me—body, mind, and emotions—do it’s part to reach my goal.

My mind and emotions are unquestionably strong enough to step in where I didn’t fully prepare my body and my training might be lacking. And when I use them all to run, I’m stronger. I have three sources of strength supporting me instead of just one.

If you’re worried about being ready and spinning over last-minute training changes, the real shift to make is in your mindset.

Decide to have faith in your body’s ability rather than judging, criticizing, or blaming it for not being perfect.

Learn to direct your thoughts and use your emotions to make it easier for your body to do what you’re asking it to do.

Practice relentless optimism about what’s possible and how to use what your body can do to get there.

Cheerlead and celebrate your body along the way—“Wow, good job on that climb—I forget how strong you are!”—not just at the finish line.

By bringing your mind and emotions on board, you’ll feel calmer and more confident. You won’t have to rely solely on your body or worry about whether your training was perfect. You have more than enough ability between your mind, body, and emotions to run a fantastic race.

Now, when runners pass you, you won’t panic. You’ll know there are still miles ahead, and you’re following your own race plan. When exhaustion sets in, you won’t give up—you’ll problem-solve, knowing lows are temporary. If the math shows you’ll probably miss the cutoff, you won’t surrender. Instead, you’ll dig deep and give everything you have because you’ve prepared for this moment, and have every part of you—mind, body, and emotions—working to get you to the finish.

Balancing the responsibility more evenly among your body, mind, and emotions, frees your body to perform its best with the training it has. In turn, you run stronger, faster, and with more joy.

When you’ve readied all three parts - body, mind and emotions - to work together to get you to the finish line is when you know you’re truly ready for the race.