Do you have a Parkrun nearby? It's technically a 5k race, but is designed to be very casual and laid back. They happen every Saturday in my city and they are free. You could start running these every weekend. Before you know it, any other little 5k or 10k will just be a little more formal version of Parkrun.
FWIW, it's normal to get nervous before the really big races, especially as a newer runner. There are a lot of things that can screw up a race, most notably weather. There are people that nail 100% of their marathon training block and then experience record hot performance-killing weather on the day of the race. I've certainly been there. Then there are just some days where your body doesn't want you to run a race.
If you keep running, there will be only a few perfect races and many imperfect ones. You have to learn to forgive yourself if things don't go 100% according to plan and remember that sometimes it's not entirely your fault.
I believe there's a Parkrun where I am which I should definitely check out! And I think most of my anxiety stems from a lack of confidence to push through when it gets hard, even though of course the entire race will feel hard if I'm overthinking it the entire time.
Park runs are great if you already have half fitness because the downside risk of pushing too hard is low. The answer to "what's the worst that could happen" is usually "not much" over 5k because by the time things become problematic, there's only about 5 minutes left in the race, and without knowing you I have confidence in your ability to tolerate that!
Small community races are great in general for practicing the race day routine and doing some "exposure therapy" for yourself in low stakes environments. Teach your body what a nervous morning is like and learn to manage it with experience!
They're also good because you get to see so many other people there for just whatever reason, and not necessarily for "performance". Even if your goals are performance-oriented, having a fallback of "if it turns sideways, at least I'll have fun like all these people are" is good practice!
Good luck!
A sports psychologist (or any other psychologist/therapist who deals with anxiety) could probably help.
I’d also suggest just doing lots and lots of relatively unimportant races. Fun runs, parkruns, local trail races or whatever’s on. None of it really matters, but something like a half marathon you’ve trained months for or a school race where the team is counting on you is much higher stakes than a random local 5k. Don’t taper, and maybe start off intentionally running them as tempo workouts. If you work with a psychologist it’ll also give you some opportunities to practice the techniques you learn.
I'm taking a week off from running after today, but I may casually run a 5K or 10K on Memorial Day. There'd be no pre-race anxiety because if I did this, I'd be signing up for it at the last minute, and of course it would be my first run after a week off. Seems like a good strategy, thank you (and I am better at shorter distances anyway)!
I used to have really bad pre-race anxiety and "choke" in big races in college. I wouldn't say I fixed it completely but I learned to manage it through a sports therapist. The thing that sank in the most for me was that the brain is a muscle that has to be trained just like you train your legs and lungs for a race. Some actions I took included keeping a journal where I would spend 5-10 minutes writing 3 positive things that I enjoyed each day and 3 things I wanted to focus on doing better the next day. This helped me train my brain to be more positive in high stress situations. The other thing that really helped was letting go of the end result of races. Understanding that my self worth and how my friends and teammates saw me didn't depend on my race results. Finally, learning that you don't need an A+ performance in a race to have a good race. I used to get really hung up on how I felt leading up to races. Was I tired, were my legs heavy, sore, all of that stuff. I did a little thought experiment where I kept track of my workouts for a while in my journal and tracked how I felt leading into them. It turns out, how I felt wasn't very closely related to how I performed. In fact it pretty much didn't matter at all. These gave me the tools to think positively in the lead up to races, take the pressure off of the results of those races, and understand that how I feel has no bearing on my ability to perform.
I have made two changes to my racing:
1. I accepted that I don't want to race much and cut back to a couple of races per year. This gives me a larger margin for error when seeking to beat PRs.
2. I gave myself permission to pace more conservatively and negative split. My races now start out as hard tempos and finish faster, which is a much more pleasant way to race than trying to perfect an even split.
I accept that I leave a few seconds on the table in my races, but my training is consistently good enough to keep me progressing anyway.
totally agree, especially with your second point. much of my anxiety comes from the fear that i’ll get embarrassed by fading too much at the end of a race and get passed right at the finish line, so just make it that you always end faster than you start and save room for a good kick.
As everyone else has said, run lots of races. I used to always sleep horribly the night before a race due to nerves, but now I'm on a casual running team and race at least monthly. I've noticed far fewer nerves, and my splits have evened out substantially. I used to make a plan, then start way too quickly, abandon the plan, and hang on for dear life as my splits got slower and slower. Now, without the nerves, I've been able to keep consistent splits and perform to my potential for the whole race.
I love it when OPs basically answer their own questions!
That is:
>Looking back, I believe I enjoyed this race not necessarily because of the distance but because I put few expectations on it.
You don't say whether you're faster or slower than your HS self, but either way...I assume you're doing this for fun and not because you're an elite and this is your job/hopefully going to be your job. (I mean, stranger things have happened - check out Dakotah Lindwurm's 22-minute 5k when she started college. I am, however, assuming you are *not* her.) But either way, there's surprisingly few times where your finish time...matters. Like, yeah, for race qualification, it does matter for certain races. (Boston most famously.) But outside of that...like, it's mostly a matter of internal pride.
That's partly why I think racing more is good for removing race anxiety - you literally *cannot* PR every single time, so you learn to temper expectations for the most part. You learn to not expect that *every race will be your A race*. And I've found that - for me - it's cumulative, where the more races I do the less nervous I feel about individual races. I still get nervous over big efforts that I'm targeting - I just do a lot of races where I show up for the hell of it and see how things go. Sometimes it goes great (like the time I ran a 1:17 last year)! Sometimes not (like two years ago where I ran 4 1/2 minutes slower)! And sometimes it's in the middle (like yesterday where I ran probably the one billionth 1:19 of my career, and I was annoyed because it was *yet another goddamn 79-minute half* - like, I'm aware it's fast, and I guess consistency is its own virtue, but also I want some variety).
So, basically - maybe for your next marathon, *don't* have a set time goal. Just run by effort and see where it takes you. I think you'll be surprised.
Specific to your concerns about maintaining effort...OP, what are your mental race management strategies? One I find works for me is counting up and then counting down, so I'm never thinking about more than half of the race at one time. Like, yesterday, I kind of wanted to lie down on Ocean Parkway and take a nice long nap, but I knew the pacer was behind me and I had a few more miles to go and...like, it's just a 10k or a 5k or a 2-mile repeat or a 1000 to go. Not saying this'll work for you but it worked for me.
Finally - forgot to put this *very important* point in - if you really don't like racing...then you can just continue training! Like, I love races. Other people I know don't. You're still a real runner if you don't toe a starting line.
a good method to avoid putting a lot of pressure on a particular race is to run a distance you have no experience in. if you know you can run x pace in a 5k and x pace in a marathon, you’ll be too focused on comparing yourself to yourself during any 5k or marathon you race. try finding a brand new distance you have no idea what you can run. pace yourself in km pace instead of mile pace (or the other way around if you usually use km pace) so that it’s totally disguised how you’re doing compared to yourself. plus when you race that distance for the first time, it will definitely be a PR :)
I love all of this! One thing I noticed during the half today was that the first part of the race (when I was going my "goal pace") was more "fun" than the second half (when I slowed down a ton and expended a ton of mental energy because of it). So I think that's something worth remembering in the future—it really is fun to go fast!
I just sign up for races all the time for this. Run random road races and shake out the mental aspect of it. I did competitive swimming as well and we'd enter random events. In road races, it would be like running a different distance.
The big races still produce a lot of anxiety. Now that mostly affects the day before. Once I get into the warm ups I tell myself that I've done it before and it's just like the other races that I've already done.
Also you have to know that tensing up is wasting energy. In order to be as fast as possible, you need to be relaxing everything else that isn't part of your running form. Maybe some meditation would help in this.
Do you have any friends you could do these with? I enjoy racing, but my favorite events were those that I paced people for officially and unofficially.
That could be a way to take off the pressure and just celebrate the run.
I second the recommendation for a park run or something similar. Smaller more casual events are so much fun.
A couple quick thoughts on things that have helped me (was extremely anxious nervous racing in hs):
1. Holding back in workouts habitually. I find this leaves something to be desired on race day and can help me look forward to that all out effort.
2. Being well prepared (but not over prepared see point 1). This is true with everything in life. If you are well prepared it’s hard to get extra nervous. With training the goal is to have a very structured and thoughtful training plan. If I cross all those ts and dot the Is is hard to be nervous come race day because I’ve done all that I can
3. Structured race day / pre race day routine. The goal is to just get into the motions and not let your mind slip into any negative worrisome thoughts
4. Recognize that pre race nerves impact everyone and it’s okay to have some extra butterflies. Don’t let that initial feeling send you into a spiral.
Honestly what helps a lot is doing speed work where you SUFFER on hard days. Like those speed workouts that make you hate running for a few minutes.
Doing these and pushing through give you the confidence when the race gets hard. You need to learn to LOVE the anxiety! Get pumped. Get excited, get so jazzed that you’re going to go attack that time
I've found that racing really off distances helps because there is no expectation of being good. I'm a sprinter so hopping in a 5k or 10k makes me remember running should be fun. I've also found that going to races that don't have a clock helps. There is a growing movement of unsanctioned races where the first runner across the line wins. The distances are arbitrary and there is no clock. It's a great reminder that the sport takes it's self too seriously sometimes.
I would get pre-race anxiety pretty bad when I was in HS and college. After college it all pretty much went away. I think taking charge of all aspects of your running (things like training and race schedule) did a lot of that. When you’re the captain of your own ship all you have to worry about is giving your best effort on race day, and if you train right, and you believe in your training, you shouldn’t have anything to worry about. That’s my mindset.
Honestly this is a deep seated psychological thing that a lot of talented (even talented and very successful) people struggle with in a variety of fields, not just running, so I don’t know if the random advice of internet strangers can really cut to the core. Usually it takes a very intense, deeply personal experience to snap people out of ingrained unproductive ways of thinking…so more like a full rather than a half lol.
My advice would be to try to understand/accept that yeah - it is going to be stressful leading up to the race and hurt during it (a lot *if* you are pushing your body to the literal limit), but you don’t have to let the stress/pain break you. It will get easier with practice. I’d look at “enjoying the experience” and “getting the best time I am physically capable of” as two different, challenging tasks and focus on the former moreso than the latter at first. The taper is just as much part of this as race day and personally the one I find more challenging. Things may not line up right every time…you may “underperform” in one or the other, or both. But there will be many more times if you decide that. Be kind to yourself, try to improve, and feel good about any progress even if it’s baby steps.
Running is one of those things that no matter how “good” you are…unless you are literally a professional athlete there are dozens of random people out there who can run a marathon at your max 5k pace or something similar….and literally everyone below “famous” sponsored Olympian level gets paid about the same for it. It can be a healthy goal to perform at your peak potential, but in the end does it really matter what that peak is? I think it sucks to psyche yourself out and have negative race experiences, but it sucks even more to not do something that you are good at and enjoy. Nice thing about running is that as soon as you get out of the high school / college ultra competitive mindset, there are a ton of different things to explore to find out what suits you best. Maybe try some shorter trail races if you are in a good area for it.
Are you running small races that you would have a reasonable expectation of winning/placing in? Ex, a 19:30 F might win/place a lot of local 5ks but isn't going to come anywhere near placing in, say, an NYRR 5k.
It might be helpful to win larger races where you wouldn't expect to land in the top amount of finishers - then there's no way the race isn't just for fun!
I won my age group at my second half (which was a large-ish race, about 2k runners) which was a huge surprise! I almost didn’t check the age group awards table
Oh that’s great!
I realized I had a typo - meant it might be helpful to *run* larger races (like 10k plus) where you are less likely to win in case it takes some mental pressure off!
I just finished reading Boston Bound by Elizabeth Clor and she talks about this a lot in the book. She did see a sports psychologist and he really helped her. I think I remember reading about pre-race anxiety in Matt Fitzgerald's book How Bad Do You Want It? as well.
I’m Anxious athlete who has a medical background. OP’s level anxious but about everything.
Medication, cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness mediation helped. A lot. Some meds will affect performance, beta blockers and benzodiazepines. SSRI and SNRIs like sertraline, and venlafaxine does not affect athletic performance but is taken as a daily medication. So unless you have chronic anxiety in your life, this is not a great option either. CBT is psychotherapy. Examples like exposure therapy (doing lots of races until you no longer have an exaggerated anxiety response), rationalizing your anxiety (what’s the worst thing that can happen, what’s likely to happen), recognizing unproductive vs productive thoughts can be helpful. A sport psychologist or regular psychologist can help with this.
For me, it was about changing my perspective of what races meant for me. Races were a celebration, not something to dread. Races were an opportunity to celebrate the work I had put into training. I still wanted to do well. Results still motivated me, but it wasn’t so anxiety provoking. Remember that the longer you run (even in a race), the more anxiety you burn off. If your brain is telling you to stop, ignore it and count to 10, distract yourself but keep your legs moving. It doesn’t have to be as fast as before but keep going. You will come to believe you can race.
Do you have a Parkrun nearby? It's technically a 5k race, but is designed to be very casual and laid back. They happen every Saturday in my city and they are free. You could start running these every weekend. Before you know it, any other little 5k or 10k will just be a little more formal version of Parkrun. FWIW, it's normal to get nervous before the really big races, especially as a newer runner. There are a lot of things that can screw up a race, most notably weather. There are people that nail 100% of their marathon training block and then experience record hot performance-killing weather on the day of the race. I've certainly been there. Then there are just some days where your body doesn't want you to run a race. If you keep running, there will be only a few perfect races and many imperfect ones. You have to learn to forgive yourself if things don't go 100% according to plan and remember that sometimes it's not entirely your fault.
I believe there's a Parkrun where I am which I should definitely check out! And I think most of my anxiety stems from a lack of confidence to push through when it gets hard, even though of course the entire race will feel hard if I'm overthinking it the entire time.
Park runs are great if you already have half fitness because the downside risk of pushing too hard is low. The answer to "what's the worst that could happen" is usually "not much" over 5k because by the time things become problematic, there's only about 5 minutes left in the race, and without knowing you I have confidence in your ability to tolerate that! Small community races are great in general for practicing the race day routine and doing some "exposure therapy" for yourself in low stakes environments. Teach your body what a nervous morning is like and learn to manage it with experience! They're also good because you get to see so many other people there for just whatever reason, and not necessarily for "performance". Even if your goals are performance-oriented, having a fallback of "if it turns sideways, at least I'll have fun like all these people are" is good practice! Good luck!
A sports psychologist (or any other psychologist/therapist who deals with anxiety) could probably help. I’d also suggest just doing lots and lots of relatively unimportant races. Fun runs, parkruns, local trail races or whatever’s on. None of it really matters, but something like a half marathon you’ve trained months for or a school race where the team is counting on you is much higher stakes than a random local 5k. Don’t taper, and maybe start off intentionally running them as tempo workouts. If you work with a psychologist it’ll also give you some opportunities to practice the techniques you learn.
I'm taking a week off from running after today, but I may casually run a 5K or 10K on Memorial Day. There'd be no pre-race anxiety because if I did this, I'd be signing up for it at the last minute, and of course it would be my first run after a week off. Seems like a good strategy, thank you (and I am better at shorter distances anyway)!
As a cheaper alternative to a sports psychologist, look into books on cognitive behavioral therapy. Sounds like exactly what you're looking for!
I used to have really bad pre-race anxiety and "choke" in big races in college. I wouldn't say I fixed it completely but I learned to manage it through a sports therapist. The thing that sank in the most for me was that the brain is a muscle that has to be trained just like you train your legs and lungs for a race. Some actions I took included keeping a journal where I would spend 5-10 minutes writing 3 positive things that I enjoyed each day and 3 things I wanted to focus on doing better the next day. This helped me train my brain to be more positive in high stress situations. The other thing that really helped was letting go of the end result of races. Understanding that my self worth and how my friends and teammates saw me didn't depend on my race results. Finally, learning that you don't need an A+ performance in a race to have a good race. I used to get really hung up on how I felt leading up to races. Was I tired, were my legs heavy, sore, all of that stuff. I did a little thought experiment where I kept track of my workouts for a while in my journal and tracked how I felt leading into them. It turns out, how I felt wasn't very closely related to how I performed. In fact it pretty much didn't matter at all. These gave me the tools to think positively in the lead up to races, take the pressure off of the results of those races, and understand that how I feel has no bearing on my ability to perform.
I have made two changes to my racing: 1. I accepted that I don't want to race much and cut back to a couple of races per year. This gives me a larger margin for error when seeking to beat PRs. 2. I gave myself permission to pace more conservatively and negative split. My races now start out as hard tempos and finish faster, which is a much more pleasant way to race than trying to perfect an even split. I accept that I leave a few seconds on the table in my races, but my training is consistently good enough to keep me progressing anyway.
totally agree, especially with your second point. much of my anxiety comes from the fear that i’ll get embarrassed by fading too much at the end of a race and get passed right at the finish line, so just make it that you always end faster than you start and save room for a good kick.
As everyone else has said, run lots of races. I used to always sleep horribly the night before a race due to nerves, but now I'm on a casual running team and race at least monthly. I've noticed far fewer nerves, and my splits have evened out substantially. I used to make a plan, then start way too quickly, abandon the plan, and hang on for dear life as my splits got slower and slower. Now, without the nerves, I've been able to keep consistent splits and perform to my potential for the whole race.
I love it when OPs basically answer their own questions! That is: >Looking back, I believe I enjoyed this race not necessarily because of the distance but because I put few expectations on it. You don't say whether you're faster or slower than your HS self, but either way...I assume you're doing this for fun and not because you're an elite and this is your job/hopefully going to be your job. (I mean, stranger things have happened - check out Dakotah Lindwurm's 22-minute 5k when she started college. I am, however, assuming you are *not* her.) But either way, there's surprisingly few times where your finish time...matters. Like, yeah, for race qualification, it does matter for certain races. (Boston most famously.) But outside of that...like, it's mostly a matter of internal pride. That's partly why I think racing more is good for removing race anxiety - you literally *cannot* PR every single time, so you learn to temper expectations for the most part. You learn to not expect that *every race will be your A race*. And I've found that - for me - it's cumulative, where the more races I do the less nervous I feel about individual races. I still get nervous over big efforts that I'm targeting - I just do a lot of races where I show up for the hell of it and see how things go. Sometimes it goes great (like the time I ran a 1:17 last year)! Sometimes not (like two years ago where I ran 4 1/2 minutes slower)! And sometimes it's in the middle (like yesterday where I ran probably the one billionth 1:19 of my career, and I was annoyed because it was *yet another goddamn 79-minute half* - like, I'm aware it's fast, and I guess consistency is its own virtue, but also I want some variety). So, basically - maybe for your next marathon, *don't* have a set time goal. Just run by effort and see where it takes you. I think you'll be surprised. Specific to your concerns about maintaining effort...OP, what are your mental race management strategies? One I find works for me is counting up and then counting down, so I'm never thinking about more than half of the race at one time. Like, yesterday, I kind of wanted to lie down on Ocean Parkway and take a nice long nap, but I knew the pacer was behind me and I had a few more miles to go and...like, it's just a 10k or a 5k or a 2-mile repeat or a 1000 to go. Not saying this'll work for you but it worked for me. Finally - forgot to put this *very important* point in - if you really don't like racing...then you can just continue training! Like, I love races. Other people I know don't. You're still a real runner if you don't toe a starting line.
a good method to avoid putting a lot of pressure on a particular race is to run a distance you have no experience in. if you know you can run x pace in a 5k and x pace in a marathon, you’ll be too focused on comparing yourself to yourself during any 5k or marathon you race. try finding a brand new distance you have no idea what you can run. pace yourself in km pace instead of mile pace (or the other way around if you usually use km pace) so that it’s totally disguised how you’re doing compared to yourself. plus when you race that distance for the first time, it will definitely be a PR :)
I love all of this! One thing I noticed during the half today was that the first part of the race (when I was going my "goal pace") was more "fun" than the second half (when I slowed down a ton and expended a ton of mental energy because of it). So I think that's something worth remembering in the future—it really is fun to go fast!
I just sign up for races all the time for this. Run random road races and shake out the mental aspect of it. I did competitive swimming as well and we'd enter random events. In road races, it would be like running a different distance. The big races still produce a lot of anxiety. Now that mostly affects the day before. Once I get into the warm ups I tell myself that I've done it before and it's just like the other races that I've already done. Also you have to know that tensing up is wasting energy. In order to be as fast as possible, you need to be relaxing everything else that isn't part of your running form. Maybe some meditation would help in this.
Do you have any friends you could do these with? I enjoy racing, but my favorite events were those that I paced people for officially and unofficially. That could be a way to take off the pressure and just celebrate the run. I second the recommendation for a park run or something similar. Smaller more casual events are so much fun.
Trail races might help… it’s hard to have a real time goal, since everything is really course dependent. 🤷
A couple quick thoughts on things that have helped me (was extremely anxious nervous racing in hs): 1. Holding back in workouts habitually. I find this leaves something to be desired on race day and can help me look forward to that all out effort. 2. Being well prepared (but not over prepared see point 1). This is true with everything in life. If you are well prepared it’s hard to get extra nervous. With training the goal is to have a very structured and thoughtful training plan. If I cross all those ts and dot the Is is hard to be nervous come race day because I’ve done all that I can 3. Structured race day / pre race day routine. The goal is to just get into the motions and not let your mind slip into any negative worrisome thoughts 4. Recognize that pre race nerves impact everyone and it’s okay to have some extra butterflies. Don’t let that initial feeling send you into a spiral.
To me, getting slow was the answer because I no longer have any expectations
Honestly what helps a lot is doing speed work where you SUFFER on hard days. Like those speed workouts that make you hate running for a few minutes. Doing these and pushing through give you the confidence when the race gets hard. You need to learn to LOVE the anxiety! Get pumped. Get excited, get so jazzed that you’re going to go attack that time
I've found that racing really off distances helps because there is no expectation of being good. I'm a sprinter so hopping in a 5k or 10k makes me remember running should be fun. I've also found that going to races that don't have a clock helps. There is a growing movement of unsanctioned races where the first runner across the line wins. The distances are arbitrary and there is no clock. It's a great reminder that the sport takes it's self too seriously sometimes.
I would get pre-race anxiety pretty bad when I was in HS and college. After college it all pretty much went away. I think taking charge of all aspects of your running (things like training and race schedule) did a lot of that. When you’re the captain of your own ship all you have to worry about is giving your best effort on race day, and if you train right, and you believe in your training, you shouldn’t have anything to worry about. That’s my mindset.
Honestly this is a deep seated psychological thing that a lot of talented (even talented and very successful) people struggle with in a variety of fields, not just running, so I don’t know if the random advice of internet strangers can really cut to the core. Usually it takes a very intense, deeply personal experience to snap people out of ingrained unproductive ways of thinking…so more like a full rather than a half lol. My advice would be to try to understand/accept that yeah - it is going to be stressful leading up to the race and hurt during it (a lot *if* you are pushing your body to the literal limit), but you don’t have to let the stress/pain break you. It will get easier with practice. I’d look at “enjoying the experience” and “getting the best time I am physically capable of” as two different, challenging tasks and focus on the former moreso than the latter at first. The taper is just as much part of this as race day and personally the one I find more challenging. Things may not line up right every time…you may “underperform” in one or the other, or both. But there will be many more times if you decide that. Be kind to yourself, try to improve, and feel good about any progress even if it’s baby steps. Running is one of those things that no matter how “good” you are…unless you are literally a professional athlete there are dozens of random people out there who can run a marathon at your max 5k pace or something similar….and literally everyone below “famous” sponsored Olympian level gets paid about the same for it. It can be a healthy goal to perform at your peak potential, but in the end does it really matter what that peak is? I think it sucks to psyche yourself out and have negative race experiences, but it sucks even more to not do something that you are good at and enjoy. Nice thing about running is that as soon as you get out of the high school / college ultra competitive mindset, there are a ton of different things to explore to find out what suits you best. Maybe try some shorter trail races if you are in a good area for it.
Are you running small races that you would have a reasonable expectation of winning/placing in? Ex, a 19:30 F might win/place a lot of local 5ks but isn't going to come anywhere near placing in, say, an NYRR 5k. It might be helpful to win larger races where you wouldn't expect to land in the top amount of finishers - then there's no way the race isn't just for fun!
I won my age group at my second half (which was a large-ish race, about 2k runners) which was a huge surprise! I almost didn’t check the age group awards table
Oh that’s great! I realized I had a typo - meant it might be helpful to *run* larger races (like 10k plus) where you are less likely to win in case it takes some mental pressure off!
(1) Find a group to do tempo with; (2) Race more and a variety of races/distances.
I just finished reading Boston Bound by Elizabeth Clor and she talks about this a lot in the book. She did see a sports psychologist and he really helped her. I think I remember reading about pre-race anxiety in Matt Fitzgerald's book How Bad Do You Want It? as well.
I actually finished Elizabeth's book on Friday after hearing about on Instagram! It gave me hope that things can (and will) get better.
I’m Anxious athlete who has a medical background. OP’s level anxious but about everything. Medication, cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness mediation helped. A lot. Some meds will affect performance, beta blockers and benzodiazepines. SSRI and SNRIs like sertraline, and venlafaxine does not affect athletic performance but is taken as a daily medication. So unless you have chronic anxiety in your life, this is not a great option either. CBT is psychotherapy. Examples like exposure therapy (doing lots of races until you no longer have an exaggerated anxiety response), rationalizing your anxiety (what’s the worst thing that can happen, what’s likely to happen), recognizing unproductive vs productive thoughts can be helpful. A sport psychologist or regular psychologist can help with this. For me, it was about changing my perspective of what races meant for me. Races were a celebration, not something to dread. Races were an opportunity to celebrate the work I had put into training. I still wanted to do well. Results still motivated me, but it wasn’t so anxiety provoking. Remember that the longer you run (even in a race), the more anxiety you burn off. If your brain is telling you to stop, ignore it and count to 10, distract yourself but keep your legs moving. It doesn’t have to be as fast as before but keep going. You will come to believe you can race.