you are not the only one with this
i guess there is 2 things
1 you dont have to race , training can be just as much fun.
2 maybe talk to a sport psychologist and see if you can develop techniques to improve.

Apologies I should have mentioned before
Before covid I did speak to a psychologist and things were going ok
I would get 4-5 hours a night before a 70.3 ,
It’s just hit me though , that it could be a case of not racing often and leaving too much of gap gap between events
But these days affording it is tough

In my younger days I was always anxious leading in to a race and no sleep the night before. I had lots of internal pressure to win the event.
Also when I was doing tri's (duathlon only now) I was always a very nervous open water swimmer so the thought of the swim would add to the tension.
No that Im in my late 50's I have way more fun at the races. No pressure to win, only to see how hard I can push myself.
Is there a certain part of the race that you most dread or is it just the idea of the whole thing?
Also too, doing smaller local events takes the heat off.

You asked a very good question and it’s made me think

Few years back I was able to gain confidence and that confidence worked . I would often find quotes from athletes , for example m.Tyson “f@@@ it it’s a fight whatever happens, happens” or “everybody’s got a plan until you get smacked in the mouth/face”
Funny thing is it worked

Running is my strongest point and would often pass people

Now I am a stronger athlete than I ever was ,
But you know thinking about your question again …..

I am doing local races
And maybe seeing many athletes a lot stronger than me and athletes that have put in less time than me to get to where they are , has maybe played on mind a bit

I struggle with major clinical depression, and it comes with loads of anxiety (not just during racing for me). I’d suggest a sports therapist is probably the best person that can help you.

I don’t race anymore (because of thar and because I broke my collarbone and swimming has been a bit of a challenge), and training is so much fun when I don’t have the pressure to compete.

Did you ever think about only to compete with yourself ? And not think about anyone else at the time ?

Your body, hormone, testosterone level, age, living condition, relationship... everything changes around you, so it's pretty normal to be anxious. You might want to take melatonin, sleeping pills, wine, NyQuil, CBD oil... anything that might work for you to relax. I was extremely nervous for years right before jump in to the water no matter what distance it was. I was sweating over 250 yard swim. Once I got on the bike, I felt fine. It eventually went away after I improved my swim. I still get stressed over long run workout like 7+ miles but I feel great after a mile or so. Anyway, there are things you just can't control and need help from outside, so feel free to ask for help. I take melatonin a night before race and I sleep pretty well and feel great after getting up at 3:30-4AM. Eating carb for dinner helps a lot too. I couldn't sleep at all before. Good luck my friend!!

Yeah, but inside pressure and expectations are also very hard to control, and I think that’s the major culprit for me.

I have these expectations of myself during training too, but we don’t have those outside eyes that come with racing.

It’s such a complicated thing to explain.

Do you have anxiety that makes it hard for you to sleep before other things or just triathlon? Have you considered taking a sleep aid - prescription or non prescription?

Perhaps exposure therapy would help. Just spend a spring / summer / fall doing every triathlon within 2 hours of where you live, just lots of short events. Your comment about how you were doing better before Covid suggests may betting "used to it" again might help.

I don't have this problem with respect to triathlons, but I do have anxiety about other things, and I know exactly how you feel. Being up all night the night before can truly make whatever it is you have to do the next day absolutely miserable.

I can't relate directly to the anxiety, as I'm one of those "professional sleepers". My biggest worry is getting up four hours before I normally get up.

Might you consider volunteering for events, while continuing to train? I know some local and regional events have a free entry into a future event if you volunteer. I don't have a clue about IM/PTO or other international brands. My thoughts are you'd be around the "action" which might help you and you'd provide a great deal of help to the event as an experienced Tri athlete. For example, if you're handing out the finisher metals to the last 20% of the participants finishing, this might reduce your anxiety knowing you are better prepared/experienced then most of these people. Being new to Tris, I'm glad when there's still volunteers around to cheer me on when I finish. When you see me finish, you'll think "If he can finish, I know I can." :)

This makes me think I might do this volunteering. I think I'd love to travel somewhere with my wife, volunteer for the event instead of racing, have an enjoyable weekend and maybe help an event. I may have to mention this to my wife... She loves to travel.

---

Not a coach. Not a FOP Tri/swimmer/biker/runner. Barely a MOP AGer.
But I'm learning and making progress.

I face the same anxiety as you and it's been lifelong as a swimmer and now triathlete. Bobby McGee has some helpful ideas I learned when I had some teaching from him so he may be a good resource for you.
For the last couple of years I've taken to completely sleeping in the morning 2 days before the race, even until 9 or 10:00. Then the fact I didn't sleep well the night before is a non issue because I feel quite rested. Oddly, there seems less anxiety I feel because of the "banked" sleep.
Some of us just seem built that way, as I surely am. Whether it be expectations, what we feel is insufficient training or lack of confidence it's a tough one to figure out. I've realized after 41 years in triathlon and swimming prior to that, I'm not going to change so I use the sleep method described above and some podcasts and thoughts to ease the anxiety as best as I can. Once the race starts, 5 minutes and it's fun again......

---

Kiwami Racing Team

Many psychologists suggest that humans tend to image the worst outcomes when thinking about an event when stressed.


Here's what I wrote about it in my book Triing:


"(Some triathletes) imagine and experience competition phobias, not stuff that will kill or maim them, necessarily, but the kind of thoughts that can prevent them from well-earned race performances. People can get so obsessed with potential bad outcomes they fail to acknowledge the positives of being prepared for a race. They visualize catastrophes instead of successes. They go to extremes to think of disastrous consequences, to the point of exaggerating potential worst effects in terms of all-or-nothing results instead of reaching our objectives.

I’ve experienced both extremes. And now, on the other side of them, I have concluded that both unbridled optimism and logic-based anxiety are necessary for proper balance. Franklin D. Roosevelt, who led a nation through World War II and the Great Depression, said, 'Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear. The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.' His leadership translates into sports coaching too."

The night (or days) before races imagine how to overcome any bad thoughts. Image how you will perform the best you can in a race. Relax and rest.

On race day, use your personal mantra. Here's what I use: “I am choosing to be a competitor instead of a spectator.”

Hope that helps.

https://www.palmtreesahead.com/triing

I wish I couldn't relate to this post as well as I can, but, well, I definitely can. Several previous replies focus on the sleep issue, and you did state that "the issue is with the anxiety there is no sleep a night before the event." However - I am going to guess that's not the biggest or only issue. I have to imagine the anxiety itself makes the lead in week and the event unpleasant, and the anxiety itself is the issue. Strategies to address the sleep will probably barely make a dent.

I am guessing this is not the only situation in which you experience anxiety. The best way through this is to work with a mental health professional - for therapy or medical support, but ideally both, though you may have more than one practitioner. All the tips in the world can't replace professional care from an expert.

A sports therapist is like a physio (I am one although I don't practice). I think you mean a sports psychologist.

I have a lot of anxiety issues, although not race related. Is there any specific part of the race that you are anxious about? Is it just the night before that you can't sleep? I have Lorazepam for emergencies and half a tablet solves my insomnia instantly. Maybe talk to a psychiatrist about the options.

Try an on-line guided meditation for sleep the night before the race. I had same issue night before races, tried it for first time before a race that was really really important to me and it actually got me to sleep. Now I do one virtually every night. I either use the Peloton App's meditations for sleep or the Calm app. Sleep night before race tends to not matter - it is the two nights before that matter. Tell yourself that and maybe it will even help you sleep night before.

Breathing exercises before start of race might help too. I recommend book called "Breath" by James Nestor. Book is really good and it has some good breathing exercises to calm you down. Can also search Youtube as there are many videos if you don't want to read the book. Some that work are (1) 2 quick inhales through nose followed by long exhale through mouth a couple of times. (2) Inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds, exhale for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds. (3) Inhale through nose for 4 seconds, hold for 7 seconds, exhale for 8 seconds, hold for 2 seconds.

I remember watching a triathlon where Flora Duffy got a penalty before the run. She went into the penalty box and it looked like she immediately went to the two quick inhales through nose followed by long exhale breathing exercise, followed by exiting the penalty box and running her way to the win.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/740863763812173


Here is the link to Flora Duffy Penalty. Looks like she is doing the two quick deep inhales through nose followed by exhale through mouth.

Here is link to good YouTube video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0OBgihk2f8

These breathing techniques will also help you get to sleep.

The race itself no
Reading more of these comments on this thread has made me think

Perhaps one of the things could be is that I’ve been doing this for a long time abd there are athletes who are way stronger than I Am and maybe I should be doing better

Your suggestion about the pill , I took half a pill of amitriplitine and it worked . Worked for good sleep 2 days before and about 5 hours night before

That does help actually
You pointed out an issue
Seems i might be too negative

I assume you mean training? Not trying to be pedantic but it's unclear from reading your post if you mean during training you start to feel anxious, or the night before the event you start to feel anxious, or something else. When you feel anxious might say something about why you're anxious.

For what it's worth, I think having some trouble sleeping before an event is not unusual. I've seen it discussed in various articles and videos. For me some of it is just feeling ramped up in general or worrying about oversleeping or something.

I created a thread, a few years ago

https://forum.slowtwitch.com/...Nightmares_P6998528/

Might not help, but it could be a fun read; and you're not alone

---

"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Every race I've ever done I get the same anxiety. Lack of sleep, nerves, etc. Then there's a point during every race where I think to myself "you're such an idiot, why did you even sign up? This is so hard, you should quit now, you'll never finish, just abandon now, it was a terrible idea to sign up." I haven't yet DNF or DNS'd a race though! And after every single one I am so happy I finished! Maybe some day I'll train myself to not have the negative thoughts in the first place. But for now I just reassure myself with positive self talk: "Listen, your brain said this last time and you still finished with a great result and everything was fine. Don't listen to the negative voices, keep pushing!"

---

The world's only show focused on duathlon 🏃‍♂️🚲🏃‍♂️
NEW EP: How to Win a 5k
https://podcasts.apple.com/...0739?i=1000641392144
https://open.spotify.com/...1ClQ5bg4dTYQjPdCR7x0
https://sites.google.com/view/andrewdbrown

Perhaps the most important thing is that even if you miss the whole previous night's sleep completely, science shows that it doesn't have a material impact on your race. That's what helps me. I have the same thing, although i haven't raced since pre-covid since i'm no longer able to exercise much due to long covid. I will get better at some point, and will probably have the same thing again, but that's life.

I also have sleepless nights before and sometimes during business trips. Now, instead of freaking out when i'm tossing and turning all night and getting angry, i do my best to accept it. I tell myself, 'ok, i will lie in bed and daydream and if i dont sleep, that's cool'.

I'll say the same thing here I say to young age group swimmers:
The butterflies in your stomach mean you care. Just don't let the butterflies take over.

What I mean by that is that it is great to care. Having *some* anxiety around an event - even one that you acknowledge is just for participation - is a good thing. But when the anxiety starts to overcome you, making it hard for you to enjoy, it is time to take a step back and reassess. You have to learn to control your butterflies.

Not being your coach and not being a sports psychologist, all I can really offer is free advice (which is usually worth what you paid).

When I was only a swimmer, the number of races I did in a season was extremely high. 2 relays, 2-3 individual events, at every competition - at least 1/week in season. There were some events in which my anxiety would make me physically ill. Even if I told myself, just go swim it, swim it easy, it doesn't matter, you're not scoring points, etc., I just had an absolute mental block around it. And these were events that were supposed to be my best events! I wasn't new to swimming - this was during the height of my swimming career, from senior year of high school through college.

I wish I had had someone to help guide me through this. But I realized that if I was able to laugh right before a race, I raced...much better. Basically, it broke the steadily rising arousal state and brought me down to a more comfortable mindset, where things were fun. It allowed me to focus on what I wanted to accomplish within the race itself (underwaters, turns, stroke rate, etc.). But this took practice.

This doesn't address feeling anxious a week before an event, hindering your sleep for days and days. Anxiety around missing a taper workout. This anxiety may not have a root cause, and it also may. A couple of questions to consider:

• what are your routines around races and the week prior? (Packing, course preview, etc.)
• what is your travel routine? (Are you local to your races, having to travel, etc.)
• how is your sleep hygiene regularly? (blue light, bed times, etc.)
• what is your workout compliance regularly, not during a taper week? How do you address missing or failing a workout?
• what are your goals? I know you wrote you're aiming for fun and a PB. I hate to sound like a Debbie Downer, but we don't PB every time we race. Depending on where we are in our careers, we don't PB frequently! Can you identify some process-oriented goals for training and racing? Like, I am going to practice positive self-talk 3x during this hard workout; I am going to cheer on 5 competitors and let their energy rebound to me; I am going to swim/bike/run with power through every stroke/pedal/stride.

I suggest taking some time, thinking about these questions. You may even identify something(s) that make your heart pound just thinking about them... it's ok to zoom in on those.

Performance anxiety is not easy to manage. You can do this. It takes a lot of work and time and practice. You aren't broken, you're just learning how this works.

---

KJ
Swim and Triathlon Coach
AllTerrainEndurance.com
KJ@allterrainendurance.com

True, but you can still enter local running events (5k's etc.) for cheap; it's not the same thing, but certainly helpful to manage anxiety.
Besides, I found extremely helpful putting up my DIY triathlons: I take my bike either to the pool or to the lake, set up my transition zone, and go for that. It's super fun (and free) and great way to sharpen up both fitness and transition ability; even better if you can do it with a few others, possibly of comparable level of fitness. This is not the solution to all anxiety issues, but, for me, it has done wonders, in terms of self confidence