I'm now in my final few days before my first ever running of 100km. It's at that point where most of my free headspace is taken up with logistics, kit, food, travel plans, footwear, etc etc. It's not helped by tapering as I'm starting to feel like by doing so little I'm losing what I built...
I'm wrong of course and it's pre-event jitters playing tricks with my mind. It is VERY easy to let it get under your skin.
Have I done enough? Will my injuries crash my attempt? Will I forget something? Will something happen like the taxi not showing up on race day? Will the weather be bad? The list goes on.
I know it's getting under my skin after sleeping last night and dreaming about stuff going wrong. One example. I dreamed that I had forgotten my trekking poles and entire change kit at halfway. Not good. What was impressive was my response in my dream, which was to to stoically say 'Fuck it' I'm finishing anyway. Definitely something I'd say if that actually happened, but it was very comforting to know my subconscious knows I'm finishing this bad boy, regardless of what happens.
Tapering does create some anxiety though. It's always around "Have I done enough?" and "What if xxx happens?".
The first one is a simple - Yes, I have done enough. The way I do this is simply repeating "trust in the training". It's one of my mantras when pushing the edges. It works. Just trust in the training. The second one, comes back to one thing. Preparation....
Preparation is all of it. Getting the kit ordered, tested, etc. Food, documents, tickets, travel, timings, equipment, etc, etc all put together in advance. Take care of that early and you are golden.
Another part is what I talked at length about in my post 'building a finishing mind' - getting your head right. Visualising challenges and then solutions / reactions to them is part of it. You don't want to tempt fate but fortune favours the prepared mind.
I'm a person that likes to have many eventualities covered. That I've already done the thinking. I work with strategy for a living so it's pretty natural I'd think ahead and plan. I am guilty of being overprepared at times, but it eases my anxiety when doing something big and new to have covered as many realistic details as i can, if only in my head.
As I get more comfortable and a few under my belt I'm sure I'll be more relaxed about it, but the last thing I want is that 'Ohhh Fuck!' moment of having forgotten something important getting into my head and breaking my focus.
It won't. This taper week is notorious for messing with you. I'm just going to focus on resting up, eating well, getting lots of sleep, hydrating heavily and getting gear together early. I'm getting the 'crazies' but I'm good to go.
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