Training this past week, actually, went pretty well. I logged 12 miles including a race yesterday - the CIC Run/Walk for Humanity. It was a 3 mile race on Catawba Island - which is in Ohio on Lake Erie. It was a windy day, but the temperature was in the low 70's, so between the weather, the boats, the views of Lake Erie, and the beautiful houses, it turned out to be a fun run. I ended up finishing around 37:30 - which, considering I ran/walked it, I was pleased. My husband also ran...and he kicked some major butt, finishing in just over 24 minutes.Since yesterday, I have been thinking a lot about race day jitters. Or, perhaps a better term, for me, would be "race day loonies!" I am absolutely no fun to be around within an hour or so before a race (just ask my husband...). The morning of the race, I was hopeful that it would be cancelled (since we had horrific thunderstorms and tornado warnings earlier that morning), and when I realized that the race was "on", my stomach got queasy, I got crabby, and well...I had a bit of the runs. It was not pleasant. As my poor husband and I walked to the race starting area, I whined, moaned, and groaned about my stomach, the port-a-potty, the wind, the ten drops of rain that hit me, and everything else I could think of. As the starting time got closer, I predicted that I would be the last runner to finish and complained about feeling fat, and out-of-shape. I looked around and saw all these athletes, and in my head I heard the tune, "One of these things, is not like the others. One of these thing just doesn't belong." and I thought, "What in the HELL am I doing here?"
But, since I have done a few races before and experienced these same feelings, I knew that all of "that" - those feelings and grumpiness - was simply anticipation and adrenaline and after about the first 100 feet of running, "that" would go away. And, it did.
After the race, while my husband and I were cooling down, I said, "I need to figure out how to not be so crabby before a race." To which my hubbie so kindly said "Yes. You. Do!" And that made me consider that perhaps there is better way to deal with the anticipation and adrenaline. So this week, while training, I am going to think how I can make my "race day loonies", not so loony!
How do you deal with your race day jitters?
