SportsPsychologist.com Blog by Dr Victor Thompson

For many athletes, as the race comes closer and closer, confidence starts to evaporate and nerves start to build. Here are some tips for what the athlete can do in the lead-up to race day and on race day itself to have a smoother and more enjoyable day. Developing race confidence: Tip 1: Prepare by going through race simulations. Set up training to practice for the event(s) you’ve entered. Make your training physically and practically similar to the event. For a triathlete, then this means that you at least once swim, bike and run: • At the same speeds as you expect to in the race • Over the same distance (or close to the distance if it is a long triathlon) • On the same terrain (open-water swim, hilly or flat bike and run courses) • With the same equipment as you expect to use in the race If you aren't a triathlete, then run similar simulations in your sports where it is practical and safe to do so. Tip 2: Use your imagery skills to visualise yourself completing your event with th...

This isn't anything academic, but simply some straight-forward thoughts I've typed-up after I was interviewed on this topic on Sky News. Tour de France leader Michael Rasmussen has been asked to leave the tour after questions over whether he failed to tell the drug testing authorities where he would be during his preparation for the Tour. It has emerged that despite telling the press for over a week that he was training in Mexico, his wife’s homeland, he was actually in Italy. Suspicion has increased as to whether he purposely deceived the testers so he could take cycle of drugs or other blood doping (e.g. EPO) during this period, and only looks worse now there is evidence that he lied. Two other riders have tested positive this week for banned drugs and pre-Tour favourite Alexandre Vinokourov displayed traces of someone else’s blood – all three have been kicked out of the Tour. Worse still for British hopes, two entire teams have left the Tour along with their disgraced riders...

What is it you want again? Think about what you want out of the event: to finish, to run/jog/walk it, to enjoy it or something else. This is important because it will help to keep you motivated and focused during training if you not only know what you are training for (the race) but also know what you want out of it (so you'll know how to run the event). It will also help to tell you what you need to do between now and then to reach your goal. Variety is the spice! Keep motivation high by keeping your runs varied and fun (or at least interesting). So, do runs of different lengths or durations, do some flat and hilly runs, runs with faster bits, road and off-road runs - variety will be good for keeping your interest high and give a good training effect on the body too. Try to run with other runners. See if you can get some of your non-running friends to run or join a running club. Knowing that there is someone expecting you at certain place and time will help get you out the...

Imagine the scene: You’ve just won the Olympic gold medal in your sport. You can hear the adulation: “Well done.” “ You ’ve done it.” “ You ’ve done so well.” “How did you do it?” Yes, if you were that athlete, then you were the one to finish first. So they are right, you did do it. However, was it only you that got you there? I’m not so sure. First, even before you moved a muscle, there was Mum and Dad and their cocktail of genes that directed your development. Then there were opportunities at school and outside school to exercise and compete. Somehow, you managed not to give up competitive sport in your teens, when the majority of your peers quit. So, how did you get from there to the Olympics? I believe strongly that you did it because you had a good team around you. These are the unsung heroes, the people who are almost always in the background. Like in a theatre production, these are the people who built the stage and organise the lighting that allow the performer to perfor...

Experiencing stress before a race is common: bad sleep the night before, waking early, difficulties getting breakfast down, frequent urges to go to the loo, worries about what might go wrong, a thumping heart while we stand still... These experiences can be unsettling. Why do they happen? They happen because: The race represents a test and we may fear that we'll fail to perform compared to others or our own standards (i.e., finish time or position), or We fear some catastrophe (e.g., getting punched in the face during the swim, losing our goggles or drowning; crashing on the bike...) When we arrive at the race site, our body's arousal is boosted further by the race environment - hearing the pump-you-up music blaring out of a PA system, or seeing lean, mean and excited (and stressed) triathletes. This increases the chance that our arousal level spills over into stress or anxiety - where it can become a problem. What's so bad about pre-race nerves? They make ...

For most (summer season) athletes this is the time of the year that we set our sights on the competitions ahead. What we will target, what performance we expect (want) and put ourselves out there to be tested. As the excitement builds, so do the nerves. So what can we do about this? 1. Set up training so you can have opportunities to practice for your events - the distances, speeds or skills you will want to execute come competition day. Nothing helps us feel confident (and to squash nerves) like real experience. So set up practice to run competition simulations. 2. Trawl your memory banks to find the experiences that show that you have done what is required for you to perform on competition day. These could be experiences from training/practice or previous competitions. What experiences show that you are prepared, or becoming more and more prepared? 3. Plan for the period up to the competition so you can see a progression to the event, in which you become more and more prepared. These...