Should I have a pre-race routine?

~ GRACE, ARIZONA

~ NAU athlete, Maggi Congdon on the start line at the Bryan Clay Invite

Years ago, in the early days of my work, I met with a soft-spoken endurance athlete preparing for an important race in Rome. He shared with me his personal pre-race ritual, which he referred to as “positivity squats.” Positivity squats involved him and his teammates gathering together to do some pre-race calisthenics that they did prior to every training session. However, pre-race, during the downward portion of the squat they imagined themselves summoning energy from the universe into their bodies. This energy represented the work that they had done in the lead up to that race. Then, in the upward portion of the squat, once their bodies were full of energy, they returned all extra energy back to the universe. They would draw on this energy later, when they needed it in the race. “No one with a negative attitude was allowed to do positive squats,” this athlete told me. “You can’t put bad energy into the universe.”

This story is one example of a pre-race ritual: a set routine carried out prior to a race to help an athlete perform at their best. Lately, I’ve been thinking that for years, I’ve been neglecting the pre-race ritual with my athletes. So, this question comes at an ideal time.

I think that it would be helpful to begin by explaining to you why I’ve been neglecting the pre-race ritual because doing so will provide some warnings as to how a pre-race ritual can be misused. The first reason that I neglect it is because I used emphasize it, a practice which wasn’t very effective. Instead of a loose plan I used to design what I called a mental performance plan where specific race prep practices and actions were included, even days before the race. That method turned out to be excessive preparation. Over time I sensed that athletes found the MPP too much and too rigid. I think that it made those who have strong perfectionistic tendencies more perfectionistic and gave those vulnerable to anxiety more to be anxious about. I noticed that people used their plans for within the race plans way more and better when I simplified my approach down to just the loose plans that we have now.

The other reason why I have hesitated to address pre-race ritual in a group sessions is because what every athlete needs is so different. I didn’t wish to impose anything on anyone. 

The third reason why I resisted the pre-race ritual is because mental prep before a race can sometimes imply that this prep is supposed to result in the attainment of a particular emotional state. For example, an expectation to feel calm and excited every time if one just goes through these specific steps. But, the reality is no human can guarantee that they are going to achieve any emotional state consistently ever. I was concerned that if I emphasized a pre-race ritual too much some might misunderstand it’s purpose and put too much effort into trying to feel a certain way pre-race, when they would be better served to just accept how they feel and commit to their plan of execution.

So, a pre-race ritual is not something to hold rigidly or become perfectionistic about, or distraught if it’s implementation is imperfect. It needs to be completely yours – designed around what only you need. And, it is not intended to or capable of creating a desirable emotional state every time you use it.

So, now that we know what a pre-race ritual is not expected to do or how it should not be used, what is it for and how should it be used?

I see 3 main reasons to establish a pre-race ritual:

1. Pre-race rituals help the athlete take responsibility for their relationship with the race.
2. Pre-race rituals can optimize harmony within yourself before attempting something hard.
3. Pre-race rituals can set you up to go all in – to do everything within your control to perform at your best.

How the pre-race ritual in helps you take responsibility for your relationship with the race

During a team focus session in the fall, NAU Coach Mike Smith shared some wise advice regarding athletes’ relationship with the race. He noted that many athletes go into their races looking for validation from its outcome. For example, it is common for athletes to rely on a race time to affirm their belonging, or as evidence that their hard work was “worth it.” “That’s not fair to the race,” Coach Smith said. No race can or should be asked or expected to determine these issues for you.

Coach Smith’s ideas paralleled a way of thinking I’ve had for awhile, which is that the race is like a live being that we interact with. Like any live being, racing/ competitive running have their characteristic tendencies. One is that races most often unfold in unpredictable ways, athletes bodies and minds are always in variable states, opportunities are what they are and come and go as they do. A lot of this is just the nature of the sport and out of our full control. No amount of negotiation will make it change, and its not personal – the nature of the race will always be this way forever and for everyone. So, when it comes to improving our relationship with the race, if anything is going to change in a meaningful or significant way it has to be within us. If we want change we have to take responsibility for how we relate to the race.

This is where a pre-race ritual can be very helpful. The pre-race ritual provides a pause, a block of time set aside to practice some awareness – to see what is about this sport that you are so deeply involved with and how you are in that relationship. It provides space to recognize the nature of the race and take responsibility for our energy and perspective.

So, the first intention of a pre-race ritual is to take responsibility for ourselves – our role in the relationship with the race. Answering the questions of who do you want to be? How do you want to see? And, what are you going to do? Is one way to do so.

How a pre-race ritual can help you harmonize the energy within yourself before attempting something hard.

I was in Boston this past weekend, and before each race Coach Smith would gather up whoever was in that race and say, let’s have a meeting. I didn’t hear what he said in those meetings but from what I’ve heard when I have heard pre-race meetings, the information was something like: This is what’s coming. Here’s the information that you need to execute well. This is what is important – this is what we are focusing on.

A pre-race ritual gives you that opportunity to have that meeting with yourselves. To meet whatever is inside of you that day and say, in whatever way that you have chosen, this is what is coming, here’s what you need to know about what to expect, this is what is important, this is what we’re focusing on.

The pre-race ritual also gives you a moment to check in with how you are, which I know your coaches do as well.

To check in with yourself you might review your preferred relationship with the race in order to remind yourself about what is true. You might notice, what is getting in the way of that? What weather is showing up that day? You might apply a strategy to try to calm the weather. Or, you might apply a strategy to amplify who you want to be or how you want to see (we cover these in our MTI and focus session series’). Or, and I would strongly recommend this following whatever you try to clear your weather: you might decide to accept all that is present and let it be.

With experimentation you’ll learn what’s right for you.

How a pre-race ritual helps you to go all in – to do everything within your control to perform at your best.

 Prior to and inside the race everyone wants to feel confident. The best way to feel confident is to feel prepared, especially, to feel like you’ve done everything that you could have done to be your best on that day. There is comfort and confidence in that knowing regardless of how effective the preparation felt.

If you establish a pre-race ritual and you use it before every workout also, you gift yourself that awareness. Knowing that you have done everything that you can to prepare for a race in the workouts leading up to the race and the race itself can help an athlete’s confidence and consistency enormously.

How does a pre-race ritual look? How do we design one?

Pre-race rituals are as numerous as the athletes who design them. But, I do have one guideline for you with respect to designing yours.

The goal of a pre-race ritual is optimal presence and self-expression in the race. Ask yourself, prior to and inside my races, what is my typical capacity for presence and self-expression?

When considering what should be included in a pre-race ritual consider, what could I do that would optimize my ability to be present and engaged in the race, and to be myself (or to be the version of myself that I want to access inside the race?)

To generate some more ideas you can ask yourself these questions:

Reflect on races when you have been your most present and engaged (not necessarily confident, or happy, or fearless – just engaged). What was your state and how were you focused pre-race?

Reflect on moments in your life when you have been most yourself (even, maybe even especially outside of running). What were you doing and where were you focused then?

Look at your preferred relationship with the race. How can you best remember it, and even more importantly access and embody that?

Look over what you have written and consider, what from these responses could I implement in a pre-race environment? With the time that I have, in the setting that I am typically in, what is realistic? What would I look forward to applying? Establish something that is mostly pleasurable and easy to do.

Athlete Examples:

Athlete 1:

1 hr before the bus leaves I review my relationship with the race. I bring to mind my plan of execution and I spend 10 mins visualizing myself relating to the race the way that I want to and executing how I want to (including some normal adversity).

Next, I check my (inner) weather. For example, what is my current capacity for presence and self-expression? What fears are present? I meet whatever fears that I find with looking attention. I might use the RANF questions (Winter MTI and focus session series level 2) to “empty the volcano.”

This takes about 30 mins. For the 30 mins remaining, I sit by the hotel window and listen to some songs and think about how grateful I am to be on this trip with this team. Or, I talk with my roommate about how grateful I am to be on this trip with this team.

More examples:

The night before the race I spend 45 mins reading my Bible, or Koran, or poetry that reminds me of my connection with everything.

For 15 mins I journal about how much I love running,

Or, I watch ______________ movie that expands my perspective beyond running.

Or, the morning of the race I spend 20 mins in prayer and contemplation.

Or, I spend 20 mins focusing on the breath and letting all other thoughts go. Then I call a family member and talk about things outside of running.

The question we are always addressing when implementing our pre-race ritual is, right now, what is my capacity for presence and self-expression? What can I do to optimize that?

This is also the question we ask when assessing the effectiveness of a pre-race ritual. Is my current pre-race ritual helping me to be present, engaged and myself in the race?

Does the pre-race ritual always have to be the same?

In general, I think that you are working toward having a ritual that remains pretty much the same. I think there is power in a set, regular routine. That’s essentially what a ritual is. It becomes a trustworthy and reliable friend, even something to surrender to. However, tweaking is always allowed and there can be quite a bit of experimentation before something regular is decided upon.

Many of you know that I like to include stories in my replies. When it comes to stories about ritual, I’m sure that many great runners have their own. But, the ones that I know come from other, usually older, more conventionally sacred fields.

For example, in the first 6 months that I lived in Philly I experimented with learning the martial art of Aikido. Before every single session there was a ritual of laying out the mats, in a particular style and in a particular order. Fresh flowers were provided from a different student every session (this task was an honor and a responsibility), and a picture of the sensei’s teacher was placed at the head of the room. All present would line up and bow and thank one another for the upcoming lesson before we began. These rituals activated our care, precision and gratitude before we even began the Aikido lesson.

Mountain climbers before attempting an Everest expedition often complete rituals of humility and appeals for protection devoted to the mountain. Here is an example from Tenzig Norgay, a Nepalese sherpa. I included a little extra here because I think the parallels between these climbers and distance running and relationship with the race are quite fun:

“The lighting of butter lamps at the Great Stupa of Boudhanath is one of the more propitious offerings one can make… on the mountain, we hope that we have been imbued with enough Tsin-lap to handle any situation. Tsin-Lap is roughly translated as “blessing,” but it really means the mental ability and strength to allow our minds to be changed in the direction of complete awareness… to receive the Tsin-Lap is to make connection.”

For the mountain climbers there is certainly some hope that these rituals will keep them safe, but the rituals for both the Aikido students and the climbers alike also put them in a state of reverential awareness.

Writers too, have their rituals to prepare themselves to receive the “muse,” the inspiration that provides the content of their work. Stephen King began writing at 4am and always started with Metallica music. The poet, Mary Oliver always walked her dogs by the ocean in the early morning dark, and read the poet, Rumi to get herself in the right spirit.

Mary Oliver writes about committing to her ritual: “I have wrestled with the angel (of the resistance and distractibility inside of her) and I am stained in light and I have no shame.” Because she did her best to be ready to receive and give her gift.

There is a reason why I chose the word ritual here. I could have chosen “plan” or “routine.” The word ritual has a reverential implication to it, an awareness of engagement with forces larger than ourselves. I think this attitude is accurate and appropriate to a race. At NAU Coach Smith says that racing is the most sacred thing that we do. And when relating to anything sacred, respect and humility, are necessary and absolutely advantageous orientations.

Sometimes we equate humility to being ok with sub-par performances or failures. In all myths and sacred practices, the humble and ready student is actually the person most aligned with power, and when that power works through them, unimagined experiences occur.

And if we’re going to discuss spiritual states, lets not forget one very important one. One that probably best reflects your original relationship with the race, perhaps the one that the one that the race is hoping to return to with you one day, and that is: fun.

In summary, Pre-race ritual:

What can you do in a regular and mostly structured to improve your presence and self-expression?

Can you implement that regularly (prior to workouts and races) with the humble spirit of a ready student, a receptive devotee? While still being attentive to the effectiveness of the methods that you choose (ready to evaluate if the method is the best one for you), can you remain unattached to whether or not your ritual creates the desired feeling or outcome…. While still allowing yourself to be empowered by the knowing that you did the best that you could…. to be ready for the race to meet you, as it is, as you are.

“Sherpa’s…have always spoken about approaching Everest with an attitude of respect, awareness, humility and devotion. Perhaps if these foreign climbers had a better understanding of the cultures, history, values and beliefs of the people who lived in Everest’s shadow for centuries, they would not encounter so much hardship on the climbs. Their desire for the summit – at all costs – consumes their energy and eclipses their good luck.

Most of these climbers, myself included, don’t know what we will find during our journey, other than a brief glimpse of impermanence and the frailty of the human condition. If we truly saw only that, and gained only that much understanding, then I would consider our adventure entirely worth our while.”