Prelude to race weekend

I’ve spent so much time this week getting Habit of Health social media and this blog running that I almost didn’t have time to get anxious about my race.  Almost… now that I’ve gotten a hang of tracking a writing a blog entry every night, it’s jittery nerves time.  I am running Dead Horse 50k in Moab on Saturday morning and this is probably my last race of the year unless someone knows of a cool winter race for me to try somewhere.  This is my sixth ultra-distance race this year so I have a lot of experience but I still get nervous and anxious before each one. So here are my tips to ease your nervous energy before a race or big event:

• Stay moving – yes you want to rest before the race or a big event but you need to stay loose.  Go for a short run, hikes, or runs, and keep your body moving.  Stretch!  You don’t want your body to get tight

• Trust that you are ready – you’ve done all the work and training leading up to this big weekend.  You are ready and you got this.  Trust that you have that you built the fitness and trained hard to hit your goal! You got this!

• Get prepared – Figure out how you are getting to the start line in the morning, where parking is, what you’re going to wear, what you’re going to carry with you, your aid station, and your nutrition strategy. Essentially figure out all the variables that you can control for the morning of the race and race day strategy so you aren’t worried about it and can enjoy the process.

• Embrace the nerves – I think this one is the most important.  It’s ok to be nervous.  It’s ok to be anxious. The nerves just mean you care about the outcome. Take a couple of deep breaths and remind yourself: YOU GOT THIS!

Today I got my moving in by running 4 miles and stretching, I drank 48 ounces of water, and I still trying to figure out my sleep settings on my watch but I got my typical 5.5 hours or so.