Race Day Visualization: What Works For Me That’ll Work For You Too
Mental Prep Work For Your Next Race
I love to race. I always have.
When I was in high school and college, we raced often, so I was always in my happy place. I’m naturally competitive, and if I could get through training unscathed, I usually set myself up for a good race.
I rarely had a dud race - and I think that’s because I was so mentally prepared for every possible race scenario.
When I was younger, I always had a dream/day vision where I would fall during a race. In this dream, I’d have to figure out how to get back into the race and do it as calmly as possible. While I’ve rarely ever fallen in a race - it did happen once, maybe twice in my life- I always played this out so that I knew the worst case scenario had been planned for.
Call me a weirdo, but that was a regular dream I had before races. Only me? Let me know in the comments.
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I was rarely caught off guard during a race, and I think that played into my favor more often than not.
As an adult, and more specifically a dad, my racing days have dwindled down to a select few each year. That’s changing now that I’m in the SJDP, which I’m very excited about. But that fire I have to out-prep my competition hasn’t faded. You’ve been warned!
Now, on to what I do to help me visualize success on race day:
I start by figuring out what my goal is for the race. What do I think I can run based on my fitness? What pace can I hold based on training and the course? Do I have a place goal in mind?
I know my goal time and pace. I use a pace calculator that I built, and it tells me what my time and pace should be for most race distances. Based on my workouts and any recent races I’ve run, I can figure out roughly what my time and pace will be. This is a huge boost in confidence going into a race knowing what I’m capable of.
Practicing on the course (previous post). This can’t always happen, obviously. But if it can, I do. This might be in training or it’s during the warmup.
Having worked at paces close to race pace. Nothing really gets you ready for races more than running at race pace.
Mentally adjusting expectations (and also keeping them under control) based on how training has gone. If training has gone well, I adjust my goals and if training has been subpar, I lower my goals.
Checking back in my training log. How has the last month gone? Did I run as much as I wanted to? Did I get in my long runs and workouts? Am I healthy?
Run through my routine - article here. Having a race-day plan helps me save energy. I don’t have to think - I just have to execute.
Good sleep helps me have a calm mind. You’ll need that on race day.
Race day is supposed to be fun. You get to show off the training you’ve done and celebrate the work you’ve put in. Taking care of your mental work will help make race day smoother with less anxiety and unknowns.
Which tip are you going to work on? Leave a comment!
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