For me i know there are certain things i do to give me a psychological advantage… Like i shave my legs, the time i save in a race would most likely not be affected by that but i was curious what you guys/gals do to give yourself the psychological edge?
remember they say the placebo work 1/3 of the time!
Buying a $3,000 bike seems to work 
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never tapering for a race… seriously I get worried I’m going to gain weight and lose fitness.
the psychological “advantage” you get from not tapering is outweighed by the physiological effect you would get, if you did
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The key to having a psychological advantage over your competition is to be more fit than them.
People get this backwards a lot.
For me i know there are certain things i do to give me a psychological advantage… Like i shave my legs, the time i save in a race would most likely not be affected by that but i was curious what you guys/gals do to give yourself the psychological edge?
remember they say the placebo work 1/3 of the time!
Personally I would be more worried about the person who DOESN’T shave his legs but is obviously not a newbie. Those people are so badass they don’t need to do what everyone else is doing.
Back in the day, racing flats used to be the thing to mark the threats in running races, but to be honest everyone has the same gear these days. If I see high tech stuff or shaved legs or M-Dot tattoos at races, I think nothing of it. It could be a real speedy guy, or it could be Fred. They look the same.
So yeah, I’m immune to your psychological attacks. But I do try to throw out as many psychological tricks as possible.
My favorite thing to do is fuck up peoples’ pace on the run. I breathe really hard all the time, so if I creep up on people on a hill or something but not pass them, they’ll go faster than they want. It’s just a matter of time until they crack, and that’s when I pass. I generally disturb people even if I’m not close to them, because my breathing is so freakin loud.
The other thing I do is skip aid stations or at least run through them always. People who really slow down or walk through aid stations look very vulnerable and I get a boost to go after them when I see them. Short of IM races, I think I have beaten every single person I’ve spotted displaying this behavior.