Thoughts on Racing - Race Week Mental Preparation

Inspired by newsletter from TriSwimCoach.com
 

The premise of the article is that by the time your race rolls around, there is really nothing you'll be doing in that last run up to the race that will positively impact your fitness and make you miraculously faster than you are right now.  There will be lots of things you can do that can have a negative affect on your race (overtraining, under-resting, over-indulging - not that any of us would!). So, that last week, is time to take a psychological approach to training.  Here are the 4 mental tasks/processes Coach Chris at TriSwimCoach suggests: 

1.    Reflect: 

You've done the work and if you've documented it, taking the time now to review your training logs can go a long way to reassuring yourself that you've done the work and you've come a long way.  During your review, you'll likely note or recall a few workouts where you pushed yourself really hard, conditions were really tough, technical elements conspired against you but you did it and came out the other side stronger.  Reflect on those particular workouts that really tested you and you met the challenge.  In other words, you got this (those are my words - sort of). 

2.    Let go:

    OK, maybe your training didn't go as planned due to injury, illness or other things that take a priority.   and maybe you feel now that you want to do one more workout to feel ready.  Rather than make up for it now with a workout that can only hinder your performance, just let it go and work on your new mindset for race day.  Maybe you modify your goals based on what is realistic for the training you did put in.  And definitely focus on those aspects of your training that did go well; every step forward you took in training is still working for you now.  

3.    Control the Controllables:

Tons of stuff happens race day that is beyond your control, weather, of course being the one that probably immediately comes to mind for most of us.  Since there is nothing you can do to change those things (weather, how another person is racing, last minute wetsuit rules, course changes), you just have to roll with it. Control your reaction and start to visualize how your race will roll out under the current conditions.  Just do your thing one stroke or step at a time.

4.    Prepare everything and be prepared for everything (within your control)

"The best defense is a good offense."  Think about things that can go wrong (flats, lost nutrition, disallowing wetsuits) and make a place in advance for how you can deal with it.  Visualize the whole race weekend, step by step. Make checklists if that helps for you, check things off as you go so you are confident you've got it covered. 

Per TriSwimCoach and so many other experienced athletes, these four psychological training tips won't make you any fitter on race day nut they CAN make the difference between a great race and a poor one.