As race day rapidly approaches, I am starting to feel the
butterflies in my stomach, wondering if I have done all I can do to get ready
for this race. I struggled a few months
ago finding the motivation
to get out and put in the miles, and when I finally found the motivation, I was
amazed at how I had increased my pace. Now,
over the past few days, I have not been feeling very well. To be honest, I’m sick as a dog! So once again
I am unable to get out and put in the miles needed to prepare properly for the big day. I am hoping that I do not lose all of the
forward progress I have made during the past few months of training.
Focusing on these worries can really distract me as I
continue to prepare for my race. They
seem to go through my head more often as race day gets closer. I know that I have done so much, but is it
really enough? I really want to do
better at this race than I did at my last race, which is always one of my goals
when I am preparing for my next race. I
am obviously not the only one that has experienced such anxiety issues.
Almost every runner
experiences pre-race jitters or performance anxiety at some point. And it
usually doesn't go away as you become a more experienced runner. In fact, some runners put even more pressure
on themselves as their race performances improve.
There are a few things that we can do as runners to ease the
pre-race worries, the thing that I have found to work best for me is to write a
pre-race checklist. I write down little
things that are on my mind that I feel are distracting me and my
performance. This is an easy way to
relieve a lot of stress, and just let it go. If you write it down, you won’t have to think
about it anymore.
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| Caption provided by: I <3 to run |
Works Cited:
101 Kicks in the Butt
Published 03/22/2007
How to stay calm and deal with performance anxiety
By Christine Luff, About.com
Guide
Updated February 02, 2011
I like how you used the "excerpt" for your long quote. That's a great technique to "set apart" a quote from the rest of the text. Make sure to introduce that quote so reader can see who said it.
ReplyDeleteAlso, consider reformatting that works cited to MLA. It's a bit hard to read, and part of that is the differing font sizes and colors on the black background.
Finally--I know it's easy to say, but RELAX! You're really going to do well, and as my association swim coach would always tell me: "whenever you're sick right before an event, I know you're going to do well." The nerves always worked in my favor. It will for you, too! And if it's not nerves, what are you sick with?