Stay Cool Under Pressure: Techniques for Pre-Race Nerves

Paul Warloski (00:27)

Hello and welcome to the Athletes Compass podcast where we navigate training, fitness and health for everyday athletes. Sports psychology explores the mental aspects of athletic performance. And one key concept within this field is the relationship between performance and arousal. Arousal refers to that physiological and psychological state of being alert and responsive to stimuli.

It encompasses a range of experiences from deep sleep to intense excitement, even anxiety. The inverted U hypothesis is a widely accepted model illustrating this relationship. According to the hypothesis, there is an optimal level of arousal that leads to peak performance. If arousal levels are too low, athletes may experience underperformance due to a lack of motivation or alertness.

Conversely, if arousal levels are too high, performance can suffer from anxiety, tension, or over -excitement. The optimal arousal levels vary among individuals and can depend on factors such as the type of sport, the athlete's experience, and the specific demands of a given situation. So Marjaana, what experiences have you had, either with you or your athletes feeling too anxious

maybe too relaxed before an endurance event?

or their performance?

Marjaana Rakai (01:58)

think we can all relate to this. I think we've all had experiences where we've been very anxious and not being able to perform or a little too relaxed or nonchalant, don't care too much. And I think it depends also how important the event is for you in your mind.

used to take it a little too seriously, like my training. So I would hype myself up for every single training session. And I think that was part of the reason that I got overtrained because I was just all in every day, a little too anxious. But you can often you see like my son plays baseball and it's a very technical sport,

He is way too anxious. So if you're thinking of a pitcher or a batter, if they're too anxious, they're going to miss the ball or they're going to throw it a little to the side. because, you know, you tense up, you're not loose enough to deliver those fine motor movements. But if, if you're as an endurance athlete, get a little too anxious and you go on that other side of the performance curve.

Paul Warloski (03:25)

And you can see what people can be able to do with it.

Marjaana Rakai (03:26)

You just, you have these high hopes, but you can't deliver, right? And you've delivered in training. So you can easily see like, well, I shouldn't have been able to do this. Like why couldn't I? Sometimes it's matter of that you've hyped yourself too much, so you're too anxious and you don't realize that. So like last week we talked about breathing, having those

tools in your pocket to learn. First of all, recognize that maybe I am a little too anxious and you can recognize that by looking at your previous training and what you perform on a race day. If those don't match, maybe there is a little too much anxiety. So having tools like breathing, box breathing, bring yourself down a notch and maybe ask yourself,

Paul Warloski (04:20)

I don't feel that what is the worst thing

Marjaana Rakai (04:21)

What is the worst thing that can happen if I don't perform today?

Paul Warloski (04:26)

could happen if I didn't go to the hospital. Yeah. Yeah.

Paul (04:26)

That's awesome. Again, I reflect on my own personal experiences. I remember when I was your son's age and I was playing basketball and I was getting better and better at basketball and all of a sudden, I think I was ranked number six on the team kind of thing and the coach kind of showed that. So I was first guy off the bench and I can remember coming off the bench and the whole basketball arena

you know, just high school, it's still like the stands were full and I can just remember what a, my gosh, I was so bad. think I only, I was only given like one or two minutes out there because when I was, I would just be, I was lost. I threw the ball away. Like it was, I was an absolute gimp because I was way overstimulated and any of the skills that I had developed over the days.

I just wasn't ready for it with all of the anxiety that was all of sudden upon me with being in the middle of that court with all those eyes on me. So that's one kind of example. But I think it's a little bit different in the team sport context versus the endurance context. And Paul put us onto this really nice thread from Steve Magnus.

on Twitter. You should follow him if you don't on Twitter. it's really interesting in the endurance context because once that gun goes off, you all of a sudden can, you start doing what you're trained to do. Now never got there long enough in the basketball context, right? It was still sort of too short and the coach didn't give me enough chance to continue to make those mistakes. But as I

Paul Warloski (05:52)

Definitely.

Paul (06:17)

I wasn't sort of still able to do the things that I wanted to do. But in the endurance context, it won't be too long until you get into your own flow rate, flow state, because you're moving and you've done these things like you've trained to do, like swim, bike, run, say for example, in the triathlon context. So yeah, all of a sudden, things kind of can change there. But yeah, and a certain level of

is most certainly important. But too much, might be, you could potentially blow things from the get -go, but you will start to move into that form of optimal, you'll forget a little bit about all of that anxiousness. So maybe it's dealing with it to begin with is what to, until you can kind of get to that state where the gun has gone off. And I think, think of the triathlon context, like as soon as you're swimming, right?

probably not one or two minutes into any sort of swim that you're into it,

Marjaana Rakai (07:21)

Yeah, so my first Iron Man, it's interesting because I hadn't learned the Zen state yet. So when the gun went off, we jumped into the 15 degrees Celsius Norwegian water.

Paul Warloski (07:31)

you

No.

Marjaana Rakai (07:39)

300 meters in, I was hyperventilating and I was like, my, why is this so hard? I can't breathe. So I had to stop and I looked at my watch. I went out a little too hard. And then I realized, I should just like breathe a little bit. It's not a sprint. It's a full day Ironman. So.

You also get that, you sometimes you get the cold water shock. So you get that little reaction where you start hyperventilating. But yeah. So for example, like a long distance, anything longer, you can't be, it can't be so, you know, stimulated that you're hyped up all day long. Like it's not your, your arousal will come down during a day.

Paul (08:27)

They will.

Marjaana Rakai (08:28)

when we're talking about Iron Man. And I think it's important to realize that when the gun goes off and you're jumping in the water, you gotta be calm.

Paul (08:39)

You do. The other thing that Steve mentions is the fact that routines and warmups can fill that space of that nervousness too, right? So this is why it's good to have whatever your warmup is going to be, don't change it. Like just do the same sort of thing. Cause that's really the only purpose of that warmup more or less. And when we're talking these long endurance events,

Paul Warloski (08:47)

Thanks.

Paul (09:07)

It's more something that's gonna kind of control the nerves than anything. There's certain contexts, like cold Norwegian water, you probably wanna have a good warmup so you can build up some heat before you go into 15 degree water and stuff. But for the most part, for the most of our races, that warmup is a lot to do something that you're used to doing all the time. And it's helping you with your routine and to control

control the monkey mind at that point in time. But yeah, once that gun goes off in the endurance context, you're more or less, you're moving into the thing that you're used to doing, right? And the nerves will dissipate once you move from waiting into

Paul Warloski (09:56)

Have there been times, know, where, you know, think Paul, you first mentioned it about being in that zone or in that optimal state of arousal. Have there been moments where you or athletes that you coach have reached that state during a race or a long training session?

Paul (10:16)

Yeah, this is that flow state, right? And I think I get it a lot. I don't know why, but I like that's when I train I'm often in the flow state like and I love that too, right? Like it's just and I don't really know what's going on but just that that movement has always been a part of my life and it's just something I always push and gravitate towards and and and and I often get it in in my races as well, but certainly the races that have been

Paul Warloski (10:18)

Mm -hmm.

Paul (10:44)

been the best in my life, you know, I'm small pickings, but, and certainly the athletes that I've coached too, that's ultimately, yeah, there's this thing that sort of happens when you're just, executing what you've trained to do. And that's sort of what we're all, that's why we train, right? Like this is the kind of

The thing about training that I've learned along my journey, more coaching athletes, is that there really shouldn't be too many surprises on the day. know, more or less, we all, often, if things aren't going that well in your training, you're often dreaming that this miracle is going to happen on race day. But you know, that's, that's only going to happen one out of, you know, one out of a hundred times. It's more or less the reality sits within

within your training and your athletic account or whatever training platform that you use, right? Like your performance is sort of sitting there and that those predicted times are not going to be too far around that based on what your capacities are.

know, and because if you've done this routinely and regularly and consistently, then that you should be able to execute, you know, plus or

5 % of that performance that you've done in training on that race

And this is,

Back to the meditation podcast that we did, this is where, I mean, we didn't really mention it, but that's where those looking at the looker that's looking at those pain signals, whether it be heat, temperature, muscle soreness, aching, blood lactate, this is where that mindfulness actually really comes to play. And you can play around with those sensations

to recognize, know, well, how strong is that? And you can really feel that and see the looker that's looking at those. And this helps you move the throttle up or down on your pace or performance, right? Knowing, and then also drawing lines between the end goal as well. Knowledge of how long you have to go, knowledge of the course dynamics and what you have to actually...

achieve. Marjaana you're about to do world championships. We know it's very hilly in that race. You're going through and you're riding the course on full gas, etc. So you're well and truly aware of these sorts of things and you can draw lines between those two things. I'm sorry, I'm switching back to the mindfulness, but they're all kind of linked,

Marjaana Rakai (13:29)

a few years back, I was all into learning about why exercising feels amazing. And I was I think it's Dr. Kelly McGonigal, she wrote a

Joy of Movement, super interesting. And she was talking about the similarities of smoking weed to runners high

If you're specifically interested in learning about the runner's high and how you can get it, it takes about 15 to 20 minutes of moderate intensity. Like you can't get it runner's high walking. So you got to actually put some effort into it 15 to 20 minutes and you start feeling good. Right. And that's, that's the flow state. So if you.

do that warmup before your race, you might actually get into that state a little bit earlier during your race. And you can like flow in, in that state for a little bit. and it is totally like being mindful. And oftentimes that's why I say to my athletes, like, if you feel really like tired,

but you still want to do something, just do the 15 minutes, because it's a little mind trick, right? After 15 minutes, you start feeling better. And the chances are that they will go longer than 15 minutes, because they get into that flow state.

Paul (14:56)

the number of times, Marianna, that I've looked at your training comments and whatnot on Athletica after you've, you you kind of say, I was thinking of flagging this session, but, you know, just started 15 minutes and I decided to do the first set of repetitions and it felt okay. And then I finished it.

back to where the topic where we're talking about the inverted U curve and getting into that flow state, this can help us with the C races and the B races, can help us with the preparation and the mental preparation, going through the motions of an actual race. yeah, I think like anything, it's finding that sweet spot and that balance.

probably relates to social factors as well. You've got friends that are doing these different races. But yeah, I think the key message in there is that carefully of doing too many of these. Yeah, to find what works for you.

Paul Warloski (15:54)

What, of the advantages I find of doing longer gravel races where I'm out for two or three hours is that essentially my nerves get beaten out of me, you know, by the, by the pace and by the effort. And by a certain point, there's that metronomic,

Paul (16:06)

Totally.

Paul Warloski (16:11)

I'm just pedaling. I'm just turning the pedals over and I can't really see it, but I've got a tattoo that says breathe on it. And on the other side, I'm going to get a tattoo that says pedal, because it's kind of

That's how you get for me into that state that is where I'm kind of not aware that I'm tired. I'm not aware that I've got another 20 miles to go. I'm just pedaling. they don't come very often. I'm a little jealous, Paul, but those are amazing moments and amazing times that push you to continue to try to find

Paul (16:49)

And Paul, isn't the concept of time fascinating in those moments? Like, don't you sense that time, yeah, it's just, I don't know, it kind of, sometimes it just goes by in the blink of an eye too. It's like, where did that hour go? Like it's, how am I here? Yeah, like it's just like, whoa, that was, that's crazy. Where am I now? wow. And like, it's all of sudden you kind of come to, right? And that's usually when you've,

Paul Warloski (16:55)

It's so

Yeah, I guess that's what I mean,

Marjaana Rakai (17:14)

Thank you.

Paul (17:18)

you've been almost in that dreamland, in that flow state, but you've been executing through that whole time. those are, yeah, those are magic moments. are special. And it's one of the spooky, who knows things about life,

Paul Warloski (17:36)

Yeah. Yeah. So how do you, how do we, guess, as coaches help athletes manage those pre -race nerves or jitters, you know, their specific techniques or routines that help you find that right balance of arousal. know I, I routinely create little videos for my, especially my junior athletes who are really nervous about big races, about box breathing or about that yoga breathing.

what do you, what do you guys

Paul (18:05)

I'll start first. I'm not really racing anymore, Paul. So I'm really, from the coach standpoint, I'm often providing a bit of a letter and some things that I want the athlete to really think about and focus on. And that's the key thing for me. And then, know, it's, but what I recommend for the athletes.

that a coach to do is, is, is, you know, don't leave any stone unturned in terms of the, the real simple things. Like make sure that, you know, your, your gear bags are perfectly stocked. You know, exactly the movements that you're going to make across that. Like, let's just use the triathlon as an example, right? Like if it's going to be a triathlon, let's make sure that gear bag is perfectly packed and you know, exactly the moves.

that you're going to make from transition one to transition two. Because a lot of the stuff, you can make mistakes even in the day or two before in terms of the preparations. You've got to put some mindful thought in that. I often say to my athletes, all of a sudden, you've hit these great numbers in training, but now coming into race day, the most

muscle in your body shifts from your arms and legs into the one that's between your two ears. So you've really got to get the mind in gear at this point in time. And that's sort of the key thing there. the training is definitely less important in those last two days. Everything's in the bank. You've got all the adaptations on board. Now let's make sure that we're not going to blow it on race day.

you know, good solid list of all the things, and then a mental rehearsal in the two nights before, right? Going over in our mind all the different moves that we're gonna make. So you've done that race in your mind from the comfort of your bed, right? Wherever you're sleeping, you just sit and you've going through in your mind that whole entire race. And that will help you make sure that you know

You're not missing anything in your gear bag, say for example. So that's pretty important. you know, back to the science, like the studies have shown that mental rehearsal actually helps with race day performance. The research there is very, very clear. Athletes that mentally rehearse their race, they do better than those that don't. And again, back

You know, Paul's comment before about the link between the mind and the body. So there's another classic example. And yeah, like that's, I guess that would be my main advice. And then, you know, whatever routine you're going to be doing in terms of your warmup, it's pretty minor on the day relative to the big picture of everything that you've done from race preparation, but it's good just to, it's more for calming the nerves. So go through your little pre -race routine.

your light warmup, whatever it might be. Don't do too much. Don't do anything silly. Everything's in the tank and yeah, you're ready to go and be confident. Be mindful, be confident, find your breath, smile, you know, and be present and be grateful as well. Look at what you can do. Remember that everyone else, there's so many people around you, honestly.

that would look to what you're doing and they want to be in your shoes. You're the one that's so lucky to have the capacity and to be able to do what you are doing. So just be grateful

Marjaana Rakai (22:04)

Yeah, totally. that, the feeling of nervousness, it creates a little bit more extra energy. So as a coach, I, when I coach my athletes through important events, we started like a few weeks before I asked them to make a race plan so that they are prepared. They know exactly what to pack and then, you know, imagine things that can happen.

and make a game plan for those, make a game plan A, make a game plan two, whatever happens. And I think to tie this into the inverted curve is if you're super hyped up, it's so easy to react instead of respond. So when you're super hyped up, you don't necessarily make

Good decisions. So you just react. You get mad if you blow a tire instead of like, okay, take a deep breath and just fix it.

so when I coach someone who is super nervous, say, well, you're feeling nervous because you're, you feel stressed. You, you have extra stress because stress, because this event means something to you

But stress is not necessarily a bad thing because it will give you extra energy and focus on things that can happen. So embrace the stress that you feel.

Being grateful is so powerful in that moment that you can actually start a race and just be in the moment. It's quite beautiful and I usually get really emotional before the start.

Paul (23:45)

no. And I would just, just, just to hammer the point back to, you know, when you're doing the race in your mind, in your, in your bed or wherever you meditate, ask yourself just to Marianna's point, how are you going to react when, you get a flat tire? How are you going to react? Are you going to spit the dummy on the side of the road or are you going to fix that tire and continue to move forward?

When your goggles get knocked off in the swim, how are you going to react?

you get stung by that jellyfish, how are you going to react? You have the control of the reaction. It's unfortunate. It's probably not ideal, but

shit happens, right, in life. And we can only control how we react to the crap that we get hit with, because that's just life,

get back on the horse and you figure out a way to move forward with things, right? So that's, and we can all do

Paul Warloski (24:40)

You know, we, we've talked about, you know, how to be at the line and try to, you know, have done all our practice and be grateful and smile and feel all the feels. How do we manage those arousal states during an event?

six hours into an Ironman, you know, how do, how do you maintain that or how do

maintain some kind of mental acuity so that you are able to manage how you're feeling in the race. Cause in a long race like that, we're often going to be getting to that point where we're questioning our life's choices and you know, what do you do at that

Marjaana Rakai (25:22)

mantras.

I tell myself like what matters but I also have a trick that keeps me focused and that's my kids and my husband they write me a little note and I put them in the Ziploc bag and then in different spots during the race I pull one out and I read it and they're either funny or they are super sweet and it always boosts my energy.

I also think from one aid station to the next and then just reset and go. having something to look forward to has always been one of my tricks that I use and that's the sweet little notes.

Paul (26:04)

Yeah. And again, Paul, this kind of comes back for me. This comes back to the two, know, the podcast we did before mindfulness and meditation. is the importance of it. This is where the mindful work actually comes to play because inevitably you pick your race, whether it's a marathon, a gravel race, an Ironman triathlon, there are these middle sections where you're pushing and there's this dull ache that,

that happens and then there's this lull, right? And it could be heat, whatever, but it's like, it's this feeling of fatigue and exhaustion and ache that almost kind of gets to too much. And you have to, back to the work that you're doing, mindfully, in bed, whatever, go there. Know that's coming. It will come. And how are you gonna react again? And this is where, if you're kind of ready for it a little

And don't beat around the bush with it. Know that this is kind of coming. And if you're expecting of it, it's like, okay, yeah, here you are. I see you. that's, yeah, yeah, that's for real. I'm with you, but it's like, how do I keep moving forward in that given time? Or do I have to pull back a little bit to continue to recover a little bit so that I can move forward? But yeah, it's being ready for it.

just being ready to meet those signals and then push against those signals to push forward to achieve your objective on the day. Not easy, so much easier said than done, but this is part of executing what you're trying to do.

Paul Warloski (27:48)

Does the environment,

crowd noise, presence, race conditions,

the fact that your goggles got knocked off, whatever it might be, the environment,

how does that influence your arousal levels and how do you adapt to ensure the peak performance?

Paul (28:05)

This is where, this is really when the arousal level can go too high. And this is a classic example where you can blow it, right? And I've blown it as well. big time. When I'm reflecting on my own races in the beginning as an inexperienced athlete, you know, this is where we often hear, I just killed it on the bike.

Paul Warloski (28:08)

Mm -hmm.

Paul (28:27)

Number of times I killed it on the bike only to walk on the run. it's, you yeah, cause all of you, you're going higher than, than is part of the plan. And we didn't have, when I was racing, we didn't have tools like Athletica to show us what you're actually capable of. But today, really like you've got all the tools. If you're an Athletica member, there's, you got all the tools on your, you

on the software to show you around where you should be. it shouldn't be kind of any guesses. But the challenge to your point, Paul, is that you gotta pull back on the throttle, not push forward on the throttle. You gotta pull back usually because you've got, in the first hour or two, let's say it's an Ironman, you've got so much in reserve, you could totally push it and get way ahead

But are you going to be lasting, are you going to be there five hours from

Marjaana Rakai (29:27)

The crowds

they push you, they give you energy. So you need to kind of regulate that in the beginning, but then use that when, when you hit that hard spot, like go and tap somebody's sign that says tap here for super power. Like it's fun. Like you're not losing any seconds there. Like have, have some fun. Like Ironman Texas was amazing. The run course.

There are so many people cheering and they're like dressed as hippies with their drums. You get to play some drums and sometimes they have like a bell that you can ring. There's so many fun things usually and use that to gain energy.

But be just mindful in the beginning of the race, like a marathon race, usually people start way too fast and the crowd presence and them cheering you on probably.

Makes it feel a lot easier. Just be mindful of that. But I can see like a lot of people, if it's rainy or if it's windy, cold, and they don't like it, they're kind of like, I'm not going to give my best shot because of this race conditions.

but my coach Paul has told me many times, like control the controllables to worry about the rest. just do what you can do. You can't change wind conditions, right?

kind of kind of play around with your own mind and focus on what you have on your blade.

Paul Warloski (30:56)

Here are my takeaways from this conversation. And I think this is a conversation we could go on for a long time about this arousal state, but there's an optimal level. Number one is that there's this optimal level of arousal that it's easy. think especially to let your nerves and your over -excitement overwhelm you. It's easy to come into this a little quieter, but it's way easier to be overwhelmed by it. Number

It's important in your training and your preparation to practice what you're going to be doing so that you can execute what you've been training and practicing to, to minimize that excess nervousness at the beginning. It's like you've, you've done all the work.

And number three, prior to the race, make a race plan, make a list of what you need. And one of the keys is to mentally rehearse the whole event.

and show up at the line and be grateful, be in the moment, smile and have a good time. And that way you will get to a point where the nerves are a signal that you're going to have a lot of fun.

That is all for this week. Thank you for listening so much and join us next week for the Athletes Compass podcast. Ask your training questions in the comments in our social media.

Thank you for taking a moment to give us a five -star review. Paul, Marjaana and I are professional endurance sport coaches with limited availability. Contact us at the links in the show notes below to set up an appointment to talk about your training. For Marjaana Rakai and Dr. Paul Laursen I'm Paul Warloski and this has been the Athletes Compass Podcast. Thanks for listening.