Doubt Yourself Before a Race? Read This

It’s simple for unfavorable thoughts to enter your head in the days before your target race. You’re not alone if you have self-doubt before a race; most runners have gone through this at some point. After all, a struggle is waged mentally during training and competition. Even yet, it’s simple to allow these ideas overwhelm you and undo all the effort you’ve put in to get to the starting line. The good news is that you can apply a few techniques to defeat self-doubt and prevail in the mental conflict, so you can give your best effort on race day.

Use pictures

One common technique that many runners employ is mentally taking themselves through their race. Spend a few minutes each night before bed (or at another appropriate time) in the days before the event visualizing yourself running and completing it. Imagine beginning with confidence and ease. Consider climbing the steep hill. Consider the inevitable points in the race when things will become challenging, and see yourself overcoming them. You can start the race with confidence if you mentally practice it a few times before you step up to the starting line. That way, when the starting gun fires, you’ll already have “ran the race.”

Keep yourself occupied

Typically, you taper in the final week or two before your goal race. While this decrease in miles can be beneficial after weeks or months of training, the additional hours in your week mean plenty of time to reflect and allow self-doubt to seep in. Make sure you schedule activities to keep you busy during the tapering process, so you aren’t sitting around wondering if you’ve done enough to be prepared for your race.

Rely on your education

It’s simple to begin reflecting on your training in the days before your intended race and questioning if it was sufficient, whether you could have done more, and whether you are actually prepared. The hay is in the barn, as they say, and there’s nothing you can do to improve your performance on race day other than to unwind and have faith in the effort you’ve already put in.

For every runner, self-doubt throughout training is a challenge.

Having self-doubt at some time is inevitable, regardless of whether you are an elite or beginning runner. When the objective is far away or you are experiencing a plateau, working every day begins to feel unattainable.

It’s good to strive for a challenging objective. Yes, it’s thrilling and inspiring. But what about those times when we experience a slowdown in our progress, a poor run, or find it difficult to continue our training? These difficulties give rise to self-doubt about our running skills.

In my marathon training, I’ve reached the point when anything I do or anything that occurs could have a significant impact on how I do on race day. Numerous other things can go wrong, including sickness, injury, skipping a stretch or a run. While jogging, it’s simple for me to let the weight of the “what ifs” consume my thoughts and cause me to doubt myself.

It’s hard to overcome self-doubt when running.

Everybody is capable of realizing their dreams, in my opinion. What happens in our lives is something we can influence. Running or not, it’s immensely exciting to set your sights on a challenging objective. Why then do so many people give up before finishing what they start?

They admitted their own doubts.

Each of us has a variety of abilities, talents, pastimes, and interests that make us special. We’ve encountered rejection and found our interests, and we’ve been given the gift of being able to modify our circumstances along the way. And even when things seem hopeless and there is no way out, we always have the ability to shift our perspective.

So how do we get past these doubts about ourselves while running?

When you begin to doubt yourself, take a step back and consider the big picture. Remind yourself of your progress thus far and imagine how it will feel to achieve your ultimate goal. Spend some time comparing where you are now to where you were when you first started.

Not every run will feel like a celebration on the sidewalk. Just like in real life, there will be highs and lows while training. After a hard day at work, it might be difficult to find the motivation to go for another mile or get outside. You’ll have some self-doubt, experience some purposelessness, and feel like giving up. The battle is worthwhile only during those other times, when we feel on top of the world.