How to deal with pre-race nerves

By Relentless · Updated October 18, 2026 · 4 min read

Nerves before a race are normal and they don't mean you're unprepared. Here is what's happening in your body and five research-backed ways to handle it.

Why do I get nervous before races?

When something matters to you, your body treats it as a big demand and gets ready for it. Your nervous system releases adrenaline, your heart beats faster, your breathing speeds up and blood moves toward your muscles. That shift is why your stomach can feel off and your legs can feel shaky.

That same response is what helps you run hard. The feeling is uncomfortable, but it isn't a sign that something is wrong. It usually means you care about the result.

Are nerves bad for performance?

Not on their own. You need some arousal to compete well. Problems tend to start when nerves pull your attention away from the race, toward questions like "what if I fade?" or "what will people think?", or when you spend your warm-up fighting the feeling.

A study by Alison Wood Brooks at Harvard Business School tested this directly. Most people believe the best way to handle pre-performance anxiety is to calm down. Across experiments with singing, public speaking and math, people who reframed their anxiety as excitement, sometimes just by saying "I am excited" out loud, felt more excited and performed better than people who tried to calm down. The studies weren't run with athletes, but the idea carries over. Excitement and anxiety feel physically similar, so it's easier to shift from one to the other than to switch your body off.

Five things that help with pre-race nerves

1. Name the feeling and reframe it

Say what's happening in plain words: "My heart is racing because my body is getting ready." Then give it a useful meaning, like "I'm excited" or "this is energy I can race with." You aren't pretending the nerves aren't there. You're deciding what they mean.

2. Slow your breathing

Box breathing is a simple way to do it. Breathe in for four seconds, hold for four, breathe out for four and hold for four, then repeat a few times. A 2018 systematic review by Andrea Zaccaro and colleagues found that slow breathing, under about ten breaths a minute, was linked to higher heart rate variability and to people feeling more relaxed, comfortable and alert, with less anxiety. Practice it on easy days so it's automatic on race day.

3. Use the same pre-race routine every time

A routine you repeat for every race, such as the same warm-up, the same drills and the same cue words, gives your mind a familiar track to follow when everything else feels different. It also gives your attention something to do besides worry.

4. Focus on what you can control

You can't control the field, the weather or the result. You can control your warm-up, your position in the first lap, your breathing and your effort. Write two or three controllables into your race plan and bring your attention back to them whenever your mind drifts to the outcome.

5. Let the nerves come with you

This is the core of the Mindfulness-Acceptance-Commitment approach from sport psychology. Notice the nerves, let them be there without arguing with them, and commit to your next action. Many athletes race well while nervous. The goal is to race with the feeling, not to wait for it to go away.

A simple pre-race routine

1. The night before: write your race plan in two or three lines, including what you'll focus on when it gets hard.
2. The morning of: do a short check-in. Notice how you feel without judging it, and name it.
3. During your warm-up: stick to your usual routine and your cue words.
4. On the start line: take three slow breaths, tell yourself "I'm excited" or "my body is ready," and bring your attention to your first move.
5. After the race: write down what you felt, what you did with it and what you'd keep for next time.

When nerves are more than nerves

Some nervousness before competition is normal. If anxiety keeps you from competing, sticks around long after races or affects your sleep, school or daily life, talk to a sports psychologist or a licensed mental health professional. If you're in crisis in the United States, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

How Relentless helps with race nerves

Several programs in Relentless deal with nerves directly. Dr. Pip's From Nerves to Power covers recognizing nervousness and excitement and turning nervous signals into action. Zoe Frank's Race Day Ready is a two-week program on turning race-day nerves into fuel and building pre-race and post-race routines. James Goodall's Race Ready is a seven-day challenge for middle-distance and distance runners. The app's library also has short breathing exercises, including box breathing, that you can use before you compete.

Train this with Relentless. Short daily lessons from mental performance coaches, on iPhone. Free trial for new subscribers.

References

1. Brooks, A. W. (2014). Get excited: Reappraising pre-performance anxiety as excitement. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 143(3), 1144-1158. doi.org/10.1037/a0035325
2. Zaccaro, A., Piarulli, A., Laurino, M., Garbella, E., Menicucci, D., Neri, B., & Gemignani, A. (2018). How breath-control can change your life: A systematic review on psycho-physiological correlates of slow breathing. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 12, 353. doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2018.00353
3. Gardner, F. L., & Moore, Z. E. (2004). A mindfulness-acceptance-commitment-based approach to athletic performance enhancement: Theoretical considerations. Behavior Therapy, 35(4), 707-723. doi.org/10.1016/S0005-7894(04)80016-9

This guide is for general education and isn't medical or mental health advice. If you're struggling, talk to a licensed professional. In the United States, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.