Race Anxiety

   

    I have race anxiety and I don't know what to do about it. I love training for upcoming races. I love pushing myself, testing my limits. Everything goes well with training and I expect it to translate into having a great race. But that has not been the case. The morning of a race I start to get really nervous, butterflies in my stomach. I am a ball of nerves and the excitement starts about 30 min prior to a race. I think I work myself up so bad that when I start a race I just can't handle it. I have raced a bunch, but I have only had a few good races. It is hard being in the moment and physically and mentally breaking down. In my last half just a week ago I developed a stitch only 1/2 mile into the race. It lasted the whole race. I think that I had created so much anxiety that the stitch was my body's way of dealing with it.

    I am not sure if I am just afraid of the pain or afraid of failure. I put a lot of time and effort into my running, which I think makes me put a lot of pressure on results. I need to take a step back from being so intense about running. I started running to get into shape. After running for a weeks, I truly came to love it. I need to remember to have fun during a race, not just with training. At the end of the day does my race time really matter? Am I trying to be an Olympian? No! I just need to relax and learn how to channel my race day nerves into race day fun and excitement.

Here are some tips from Running Times that help runners deal with race anxiety:

1. Don't Dwell: Try not to think about the race too much ahead of time. Try to redirect your thoughts towards something else until race day

2. Relax: You need to feel calm on race day because high excitement rattles you. Breathe deep, relax your body and compose yourself. Warm up before the race with jogging and stretching.

3. Cut the Cord: Try not to have too many pre-race calculations. Don't think. Just run.

4.Accept or Eliminate Pressure: Lower expectations to take the pressure off. Focus on the process, not the outcome.

5. Have Fun: Racing is supposed to be fun.

6. Be Mindful: When you recognize your negative emotions, they start to weaken. When we are mindful of our positive emotions, they strengthen.

7. Think Young: With a younger mindset, realize you have nothing to loose and everything to gain.

I have a new training cycle coming up and I am hoping to implement these tips into my races.

Women's Half Marathon and Sole Sisters

So I started with Sole Sisters back in August with a mission to raise $1000.00 for Chances for Children and complete the Women's Half Marathon. My biggest concern was that I would not be able to raise the money that I committed to. Well I did raise the money plus a little more ($1103). I really appreciate all of my friends and family that helped me reach my goal. I am really glad that I decided to step out of my comfort zone and ask people for donations. The kids from Chances for Children can use all of the help that they can get.

The half marathon is this Sunday November 6th and I am very excited and nervous to run this race. I have been training for months and know I can run the miles. I feel like mentally I am in better place than my last half marathon, so I am trying to stay positive and believe in myself. I have been doing track workouts once a week and my long runs have been going great. I really hope that I can carry those experiences into the race and have a good performance. At the end of the day I know that I have done everything that I could with my training and I need to just run my own race.

If you can come out to Tempe Beach Park the Sunday to support all of the people that are running this race. We start in Scottsdale at 7:00 am and end in Tempe at Tempe Beach Park. My girls are coming out with my husband and I am so excited to have them see me accomplish my goal!

Vanessa 1 year

Brooklyn 2 years

AFC Half Marathon

Myself, Allison, Derek waiting for the bus at our hotel

So I did it! Not the best of races, but I crossed the finish line in 1:50:17. I felt so nervous from the moment I woke up until about 1/2 mile into the race. We got the bus at our hotel at 5:15 a.m. The race did not start until 7:00 a.m. so we waited at the start for a while. I was so excited to get running. I was trying to go the first two miles at 8:20 and 8:17 pace. I went out too fast and definitely paid for it later in the race. I ran the first two at 8:00 and 7:59. The next two were down hill and then the course flattened out. I started to feel the pain at mile 6 and I took my GU to try to get some energy.We had a turn around loop in the Harbor and I was just trying to keep strong mentally because physically it was not looking good. There is a mile and a half hill in the last two miles. That hill kicked my butt. I ended up walking part of it because it was so hard. I tried to stare at the ground because it seemed like there was not an end to the hill. As I entered into Balboa Park I knew I was so close. I just pushed through it and  in the end I am so happy that I finished.I am looking forward to my next one November 6.  My miles:

 

Finish time 1:50:17 total 13.24 miles

8:00,7:59,7:42,7:14,7:53,8:07,8:14,8:13,8:14,8:21,8:59,10:07,9:33,1:41

Allison and Derek before the race. They both did awesome

Myself and Allison at Point Loma

View from our room

Derek and Allison

AFC is Here!!

So the AFC Half Marathon is finally here. Sunday August 21 is the date of the San Diego race. Derek, Allison and I are leaving on Saturday and coming back after the race on Sunday. A quick trip, but I am sure it will be a blast. I feel excited and nervous. I don't know what to expect. I do know that I put in the time training and I am physically ready, I just don't know if mentally I am prepared. I just need the confidence to know that I can do it.

10K Time Trial

On Saturday I ran 6.2 miles to see how fast I could run so I would have an idea what pace to shoot for in the half marathon. I was lucky enough to have my sister in law Allison run with me. I did better than I expected but I credit Allison for keeping me going.

Team Sole Sisters/Chances for Children Charity Event

Date: August 12, 2011
Time: 6:00pm-9:00pm

Location: Bar Fitness, 4425 E. Agave Road, Suite 1200, Phoenix AZ

We will have a silent auction, raffle items, 50/50 raffle...and for the most fun of all --- A LIVE AUCTION!! All proceeds to benefit Chances for Children!! Please come support Chances for Children. Check out the website: www.chancesforchildrenaz.com

Training with Team Sole Sisters

Today was my first day to train with Team Sole Sisters. We had a track workout today and it was awesome to run with a group. We did a warm-up then running drills, one mile time trial and cool down. It was a great group of people and so much fun. I am really looking forward to training with them. We had a meeting and a run on Saturday, but I could not go because someone decided to break into our business in the middle of the night. I had to go and meet the police and wait for the glass doors to get replaced. I ended up missing the meeting and run. I was so disappointed. I ended up starting my 11 mile run 2 1/2 hours late. The weather was so brutal. My legs felt great, but I was just SO HOT! I finished my run but it was definitely one of my hardest runs.