BUNDLE OF NERVES AHEAD OF YOUR EVENT? LEADING COACH, LESLEY PATERSON, AND SPORT PSYCHOLOGIST, DR JOSEPHINE PERRY, SHARE THEIR TIPS TO HELP YOU FEEL CONFIDENT AND STRONG COME RACE DAY

WORDS: KATIE CAMPBELL SPYRKA

© SETH-MACEY / UNSPLASH

It’s the run-up to race day and you’ve gone through a flurry of emotions without even hitting the start line. Fear, nerves, excitement, worry, not to mention questioning why you signed up in the first place. But don’t worry, even elites get nervous – and the good news is, it’s totally natural. “Every athlete gets stomach butterflies before a race. I’d worry if they didn’t,” says sport psychologist Dr Josephine Perry of performanceinmind.co.uk, who works with elite and amateur athletes.

“The trick is to get those butterflies flying in formation, so we just have a few excited nerves, rather than having them fight and us feeling nauseous and anxious! We do that by preparing really well, having put a training plan in place that we’ve followed, using a pre-race routine and reminding ourselves of all the hard work we have put in to our build up.”

Try these athlete-approved tips for start-line success and put those race-day jitters to bed. Get ready to connect to your inner GI Jane…

CREATE A BUBBLE

Shutting out the noise and bustle of race day is a tactic many athletes use (think about swimmer Michael Phelps in his hoodie and headphones).

“Wearing a hoodie or listening to music is all about controlling your eyes and your ears,” explains Lesley Paterson, coach at braveheartcoach.com and a three-time triathlon world champion. “Our limbic system (the part of the brain that controls urges and fears) receives information 10 times stronger and more impactful than the rest of the rational brain. This is the part of the brain that causes the negative inner chatter, the nerves and the fight or flight feelings that we have before racing – which is why we want to control it!”