Don't Sabotage Your Race by Overthinking: Focus on What Matters Now
You’ve trained hard, juggled life, and now race day is on the horizon. But instead of feeling ready, your brain's running wild. Sound familiar?
In the final weeks before a race, it’s easy for doubt to creep in. Maybe a key session didn’t go to plan. Maybe your fitness isn’t quite where you thought it would be. And suddenly, instead of looking ahead with confidence, you find yourself looking back—over-analysing, questioning, second-guessing.
This is where many athletes start to unravel, not because they’re unfit, but because they let their mindset get in the way.
Let’s be clear:
You can’t change the sessions that didn’t happen.
You can’t go back and redo a bad long run or a missed interval session.
But what you can do is choose what to focus on now.
And if you want to race well, your focus needs to shift from what’s gone wrong to what you can still do right.
Matt Reid at the Triple Brutal
Control the controllables. That’s the real key.
Maybe you missed a long run because of work or had a swim session where nothing clicked. That doesn’t mean you’re not ready—it just means you’re human.
In these final days, think about what will move the needle:
Are you sleeping well?
Are you fuelling right?
Do you have a clear, realistic race plan?
Instead of clinging to an outcome you hoped for months ago, be honest about where you are now. Sometimes the best race plan is one that’s just a little more conservative—one that allows you to build into the day, find rhythm, and execute well.
Racing isn’t about hoping everything will magically click. It’s about making smart, confident decisions in the moment.
Peak performance isn’t perfect performance.
This is something we talk about often with our athletes: the goal isn’t to tick every box or hit every session spot on. That almost never happens.
True peak performance is about showing up—on race day and in training—and doing the best you can, with what you have, on that day. It’s about grinding out a solid session when things feel flat. It’s about adapting when life gets messy. It’s about letting go of perfection and leaning into being present.
Because when the gun goes off, the only thing that matters is how you race that day.
Athletes on the start line - Inverurie Duathlon
In the final days and weeks before your race, here’s what you should be doing:
Finalise a realistic race plan.
Base your pacing, fuelling, and mental prep on your current form—not what you hoped to hit six weeks ago. Adjust if needed. Start controlled, finish strong.Revisit your key sessions—not to judge them, but to learn from them.
Look at what went well and where you felt strong. Use that to fuel your belief.Practise your routine.
Run through transitions, fuelling strategies, kit choices. The more dialled in your process is, the more headspace you’ll have on race day.Stay consistent—not heroic.
Now’s not the time for ‘panic’ training. Stick to the plan. Trust the taper. Let your body absorb the work.Focus on recovery.
Prioritise sleep, hydration, and good nutrition. These are your biggest performance enhancers right now.Visualise the race.
Picture yourself on the course. Think through how you’ll respond to challenges. Mental prep matters just as much as physical.Control your inputs.
Avoid social media comparison, online race threads, or obsessing over weather forecasts. Protect your mindset.
Lisa IM WC finish
So here’s your reminder:
Let go of the missed sessions.
Let go of the what-ifs.
Let go of the fear of not being “ready.”
And one last thing...
Whether you smash your goals, exceed expectations, or fall slightly short—life rolls on. The bins still need to go out. The grass still needs to be cut. Your race matters, but it’s not everything. So give it your all, enjoy the process, and don’t let the outcome define your worth.
Ben Wood Ironman Finish