Anywhere in life before you are about to take on something huge like writing an final exam, purchasing a home, interviewing for a new job or running a race, you are always thinking – did I prepare enough? Am I ready? Will I know the answers? Will I finish the race?

The night before something big, your mind is racing a mile a dozen, trying to remember everything you need to know for what you have prepared months for. Did you prepare the right way, do you know the answerers, and will you make a mistake and lose your chance…

The feelings that you might feel are what I like to call nerves, and it is very common for people to experience varying degrees of the “Pre-Race jitters” or anxiety before taking on something big. Scientifically, the responses are due to your “flight or fight response” by preparing the body for action. Your sympathetic nervous system is responsible for these nervous feelings and releases adrenalin into the bloodstream. This action by the nervous system is helping the body to achieve its peak performance as well as a survival mechanisms. Symptoms that one perhaps experiences could be diarrhea, intestinal cramping, tremors (“shakes”), sweating, palpitations, nervousness and irritability. Sometimes these symptoms may become so great that they go beyond the nuisance stage and performance suffers.

Next Sunday I am running my first marathon and yes, I would say I am nervously excited for this race. I have analyzed whether I have prepared enough, will my body survive, have I done enough LSD runs, tempos and hill climbs, will I be mentally tough if it starts to hurt. From previous competitions, the biggest thing I have learned is to be positive. It is good to be nervous, but always think positively that you have prepared and are ready to take on this challenge.

Here are some tips that I have found help me:
1) Come race days it is important to establish a routine – eat at the correct amount of time before the race, keep hydrated, prepare how much time you need to get to the race, package pickup, and warm up etc..
2) be mentally prepared, do not think it is foolish to take a moment to close your eyes and rehearse your race. Your mind is so powerful and can help calm those anxiety feelings.
3) Remember to breath and relax your muscles to take away unwanted tension.
4) Listen to your body, as it will provide you with feedback to the state of your SNS system is in, i.e. HR, breathing rate, sweat rate or tremors.
5) Lastly, nutrition, eating right and being consistent in what you normally eat will help calm your nervous feeling and make you feel good and strong before the race.

As the famous Winston Churchill once said “Success is never final. Failure is never fatal. It's courage that counts."

Stay tuned for next weeks “after race experience!”