And How to Finally Flip That
You train hard. You show up. You give everything you’ve got in your workouts.
But then race day hits… and it doesn’t go how you hoped. You feel off. Tense. Slower than usual. And maybe even a little frustrated afterward—because you know you’re capable of more.
If that’s you, you’re not broken. You’re not lacking talent. You’re likely just dealing with a mismatch between your physical training and your mental preparation.
The truth is, training your body is only part of the equation. To perform at your peak when it matters most, your mind has to be trained too.
Let’s look at why this happens—and how to fix it.
The Real Reason Race Day Feels Different
Most athletes train in a familiar, low-pressure environment. Your nervous system stays relatively calm. You’re focused but relaxed. You breathe deeper. You move more efficiently. Your heart rate stays in a manageable zone.
But race day changes everything.
Even before the event starts, your brain perceives pressure. That triggers your sympathetic nervous system—what we know as the “fight or flight” response. Cortisol spikes. Adrenaline floods your system. Your heart rate elevates. Your breathing becomes more shallow. Your muscles tighten—even if you don’t realize it.
According to a 2018 study published in the Journal of Sports Sciences, performance anxiety in athletes decreases coordination, narrows focus, and reduces reaction time. That means your technique, judgment, and rhythm—the very things you practiced—can fall apart when your nervous system is overstimulated.
You might have trained your body well—but if your mind isn’t on the same page, it won’t know how to respond under pressure.
A Client Story: Kim’s Swim Transformation
One of my clients, Kim, was an experienced triathlete who swam beautifully in training. Her pool splits were solid. Her technique was polished. She was consistent. But every time she stepped onto the sand for an open-water race, things changed.
Her breathing shortened. Her shoulders tensed. She would panic halfway through, even though she knew she was capable of finishing strong.
We worked together to rewire her nervous system’s response to competition.
Using a combination of sports hypnosis, NLP-based mental rehearsal, and performance breathing, Martha learned how to calm her stress response before it ever kicked in. We created a custom mental script she used the night before and morning of each race. It trained her to feel familiarity, not fear, as she walked toward the start.
The result? Her open-water swim times dropped. Her confidence went up. And she was finally able to match (and even beat) her training times during real races.
The Science of Mind-Body Performance
Here’s the encouraging part: science shows we can train our minds to respond better under stress.
- A 2020 study in Frontiers in Psychology found that athletes who practiced diaphragmatic breathing significantly lowered cortisol levels and increased perceived calm before competition.
- Research in The Sport Psychologist journal supports the use of imagery and visualization in enhancing athletic performance, especially under pressure.
- Hypnosis and mental rehearsal techniques have been used by elite athletes—from Olympians to professional triathletes—to improve focus, calm the body, and sharpen execution when it matters most.
Your body already knows what to do. The key is teaching your mind to stay out of the way.
What You Can Do Starting Today
1. Visualize the entire race—not just the highlight reel.
Mental rehearsal works best when it includes real details. What will you hear? How will the water feel? What will you do when it gets tough? Training your brain to expect challenges helps it respond more calmly when they actually happen.
2. Simulate race-day pressure in training.
Wear your full kit. Practice open-water starts. Do hard intervals with an audience. Add mental pressure intentionally—so it stops feeling unfamiliar.
3. Use performance breathing.
Before a race or workout, take 3 minutes to breathe slowly through your nose, focusing on long exhales. This activates your parasympathetic nervous system—the “rest and digest” side—and helps counteract race-day nerves.
4. Train your subconscious.
Sports hypnosis works by speaking directly to the part of your brain responsible for automatic responses. If you keep telling yourself “I choke on race day,” your mind will obey. But when we reprogram that belief, your body learns to stay relaxed and focused—just like in training.
If you’re struggling to match your training performance on race day, it’s not because you’re not working hard enough. It’s because no one ever taught you how to train your mind.
That’s where I come in.
As a Performance Mindset Coach, I help athletes like you align your mental game with your physical potential—so you can finally compete like you practice.
Want to train your mind for race day success?
Let’s work together. send us an email, or use our Contact Us form on our website!
