Welp, T-minus one week 'til race day.
"Are you nervous?"
I've been getting this question a lot lately. I suppose every one of the 450-ish OT qualifiers has as well. Heck, anyone who's ever trained for a race has probably gotten that question from someone.
"Well, are you?"
The truth is, no, I'm not nervous. I've put in the work, I'm confident in the workouts and long runs I put in this winter, and I can't wait for the starting pistol to go off. Depending on how the race goes, I feel like I could reasonably run anywhere between 2:15 and 2:25. Obviously the faster end is better, but even at the slower end I'm running a significant PR and fairly respectable time. I'm in much better shape than I've ever been in before a marathon, so if I go out and race (not pace) then I know the results will take care of themselves.
The truth is also, yes, I'm nervous. It's been nearly three years since I've run a marathon. My PR is barely fast enough to be among the top women in the field, and now I'm hoping to drop 10-ish minutes and mix it up with the best American men? I've run half marathons, I've run hard long runs and intense workouts, but the marathon is a unique kind of hurt. This is going to be the toughest race of my life, and I know it may be the most sheer amount of suffering I'm going to experience in a race. That's daunting.
The way I see it, there are two types of pre-competition nerves: outcome nerves and process nerves. (The same could be said of pre-season goals, but that's a topic for another post.)
Outcome nerves focus on the end result. Will I win the race? Will I run a PR? Will I hit my goal time? Will I stay on pace? Will I beat my main rival? This type of nerve is bad. You're thinking too far ahead, worrying about the finish but not the task at hand. They increase stress and anxiety before a race, but not in a good way; rather, in a way that sucks energy from your performance. These nerves are really excuse-makers: in the possible event that you don't meet your race goals, you are psychologically setting yourself up to handle that perceived failure. If possible, try to avoid this mindset. It's not going to help you.
Process nerves, on the other hand, focus on the task at hand. This effort is going to hurt...am I ready for it? This type of nerve is good. You've probably felt these nerves to a small degree before certain hard workouts, they're just a little more amplified before a race. These set up your expectations for suffering during a race. You know you're going to have to deal with discomfort, but how much are you prepared for? With these nerves, you're setting up a mindset for the race itself. If you expect it to be easy and then it's not, you're going to be distressed and your performance will deteriorate. If you expect to suffer and then you do, well, no big deal, that's what you prepared for. But if you expect to hurt and then you don't (maybe it's one of those days where everything clicks), enjoy it because you're in for a big day. Process nerves prime the mind for performance, which is a good thing leading into a race. Embrace these nerves.
"So are you nervous?"
No, not at all.
And yeah, most definitely.
__________________________________________________________________________
Don't forget to tune in to the US Olympic Marathon Trials this Saturday, Feb. 13th LIVE on NBC at 1 pm Eastern (10 am Pacific). Not that I'm actually going to make it in the broadcast at all, but it's still an awesome event.
And for those people in Cincinnati, come to Fleet Feet Oakley on Monday, Feb. 8th at 6:30 pm for the Tommy Kauffmann Send-Off to chat and hang out and check out my new racing kit. Channel 5 may also be there as well?
"Are you nervous?"
I've been getting this question a lot lately. I suppose every one of the 450-ish OT qualifiers has as well. Heck, anyone who's ever trained for a race has probably gotten that question from someone.
"Well, are you?"
The truth is, no, I'm not nervous. I've put in the work, I'm confident in the workouts and long runs I put in this winter, and I can't wait for the starting pistol to go off. Depending on how the race goes, I feel like I could reasonably run anywhere between 2:15 and 2:25. Obviously the faster end is better, but even at the slower end I'm running a significant PR and fairly respectable time. I'm in much better shape than I've ever been in before a marathon, so if I go out and race (not pace) then I know the results will take care of themselves.
The truth is also, yes, I'm nervous. It's been nearly three years since I've run a marathon. My PR is barely fast enough to be among the top women in the field, and now I'm hoping to drop 10-ish minutes and mix it up with the best American men? I've run half marathons, I've run hard long runs and intense workouts, but the marathon is a unique kind of hurt. This is going to be the toughest race of my life, and I know it may be the most sheer amount of suffering I'm going to experience in a race. That's daunting.
The way I see it, there are two types of pre-competition nerves: outcome nerves and process nerves. (The same could be said of pre-season goals, but that's a topic for another post.)
Outcome nerves focus on the end result. Will I win the race? Will I run a PR? Will I hit my goal time? Will I stay on pace? Will I beat my main rival? This type of nerve is bad. You're thinking too far ahead, worrying about the finish but not the task at hand. They increase stress and anxiety before a race, but not in a good way; rather, in a way that sucks energy from your performance. These nerves are really excuse-makers: in the possible event that you don't meet your race goals, you are psychologically setting yourself up to handle that perceived failure. If possible, try to avoid this mindset. It's not going to help you.
Process nerves, on the other hand, focus on the task at hand. This effort is going to hurt...am I ready for it? This type of nerve is good. You've probably felt these nerves to a small degree before certain hard workouts, they're just a little more amplified before a race. These set up your expectations for suffering during a race. You know you're going to have to deal with discomfort, but how much are you prepared for? With these nerves, you're setting up a mindset for the race itself. If you expect it to be easy and then it's not, you're going to be distressed and your performance will deteriorate. If you expect to suffer and then you do, well, no big deal, that's what you prepared for. But if you expect to hurt and then you don't (maybe it's one of those days where everything clicks), enjoy it because you're in for a big day. Process nerves prime the mind for performance, which is a good thing leading into a race. Embrace these nerves.
"So are you nervous?"
No, not at all.
And yeah, most definitely.
__________________________________________________________________________
Don't forget to tune in to the US Olympic Marathon Trials this Saturday, Feb. 13th LIVE on NBC at 1 pm Eastern (10 am Pacific). Not that I'm actually going to make it in the broadcast at all, but it's still an awesome event.
And for those people in Cincinnati, come to Fleet Feet Oakley on Monday, Feb. 8th at 6:30 pm for the Tommy Kauffmann Send-Off to chat and hang out and check out my new racing kit. Channel 5 may also be there as well?
Comments
Post a Comment