We spend months training our legs and lungs, but sometimes it’s our own internal demons that need to be managed before the starting gun goes off. My most recent race reminded me that while I can handle the road, it’s the “administrative” side of racing that really tests my heart rate. Here are the five things that give me more anxiety than the race itself:
Parking Panic
What time did I get to an 8:30AM race in order to ensure I had a parking spot? If you guess 6:00AM, you would be correct. On the plus side, I was not the first! There are some races with big parking lots and nearby garages, and then there are events in residential areas with tons of “No Parking” and “Tow Zone” signs. I would rather sit in my car for a few hours than stress about having to find a spot as the clock ticks closer to the start time.
Port A Potty Party
It’s the universal law of running: the closer you get to the start line, the more your digestive system decides it has “concerns.” Standing in a 20-person deep line while the National Anthem starts playing is a level of adrenaline that no early morning coffee can match. Will I make it? Will there be toilet paper? It’s a race within a race, and one I hate running. The minute I arrive on site, I hop on that line.
The Memory Game
Did I double-knot my shoes? Did I put on anti-chafe? Did I actually pin my bib on straight, or is it going to flap in the wind like a loose sail for five miles? I could check my gear ten times and I’ll still have a mid-race panic that I forgot something vital.
The Layering Lottery
In my neck of the woods, a 55-degree starting temperature is a psychological trap. I spend the entire morning oscillating between “I need a long-sleeve” and “I’m going to spontaneously combust if I wear more than a tank top.” The anxiety of seeing someone at the start line in a parka while I’m in shorts, or vice versa, messes with my mind. You spend the first three miles wondering if you should have ditched the vest, and the last two miles resenting the fact that you’re peeling off layers and tying sweatshirts around your waist. There is no middle ground; there is only “just right” or “deeply regretting every fashion choice I’ve ever made.”
The Finish Line Frenzy
Confession time. Most people see the finish line and kick it into high gear. I see the finish line and my legs suddenly forget what they’re doing. Is it that I want to get the most value out of my race entry by being on the course longer? Or am I truly the queen of self-sabotage? Your guess is as good as mine, and I find myself fighting extra hard for those finish lines, even if I stay smiling.
At the end of the day, once that chip timer beeps at the start, most of the anxiety melts away. But until then? I’ll be the one triple-checking my laces and eyeing the bathroom line with pure desperation.
What’s your #1 race day anxiety? Are you a “parking worrier”?
Join us next week —> What does “springing forward” mean for your mindset this year?
Link Up With Tuesday Topics
Welcome back to Tuesday Topics, as Jenny, from Runners Fly joins Jenn at Runs With Pugs to co-host this link-up! Please join us every week for a new topic! Write on our weekly prompt or choose your own topic! Make sure to add your post to the link up, link back to your hosts, and comment on the other shared posts!
Great points, Jenn! Your comment that finding and using a porta potty is “a race within a race” is spot on for me. My biggest race anxiety is not finding a porta potty when I need one, especially once out on the course!
I am definitely a parking worrier. That’s one thing I hate about running new races. For last 5k in Fl. I was parked by 6:30 for an 8 am race.
I have a TON of anxiety around getting to the starting line. The trail races I run tend to be in out-of-the-way locations and I find myself driving in the pitch dark, trying to find a hidden entrance to a campground or something. All the while I’m afraid I’m in the wrong place, and I’ll never get to the race I trained so hard for… I will say, at least these places have decent parking since there’s usually a lot. I know exactly what you mean about city races. As a matter of fact, I have parking anxiety any time I go to a new place, whether it’s a race or a restaurant- anything in a new area makes me anxious.
Well, I guess all this anxiety gives us adrenaline for the race, right???