From the Editor: Most Improved Attitude

pdf print email

I am the poster girl for pre-race jitters. A few years ago I did an early-morning beginner cycling race in Central Park. I was just starting out in endurance sports and was super- nervous about my bike handling skills given that I didn’t have any. How would I survive this race? How bad would the road rash be? 

These were the thoughts that consumed me as I rode from my apartment to the park. When the gates along the trail were locked due to construction I hit the roof. ARGH! My much calmer, much-more-of-a-morning-person boyfriend just rode quietly behind me while I cursed and swore and stopped to pick chunks of glass out of my tires along Broadway. Finally he’d had enough after I yelled (for the third time) about not wanting to do this stupid race anyway saying “OK then, let’s just turn around and go home.” Ashamed, I went bright red and meekly said “No, I want to do this.” I survived the race accident-free and thought it was great fun—once I finished. Afterward, as I called my mother to tell her how great it was, he chimed in to add that while I hadn’t won, I certainly deserved the most improved attitude award.

Jitters shmitters. I’m unbearable to be around pre-race. I believe it’s because I absorb the energy of those around me and so everyone’s nervous energy becomes my nervous energy. Put me at a swim start and I’m about to explode I’ve sucked in so much the race field’s energy/anxiety. For that reason I think that racing is taking its toll on me. Friends always tell me to calm down, that nothing is at stake so why worry? But I can’t help it. Make a night person wake up early to deal with crippling anxiety and this is what you get. That’s why I asked Christopher Bergland, endurance athlete and author of The Athlete’s Way: Sweat and Biology of Bliss to write a science-focused article for our Adrenaline issue to help me and our readers understand a bit more about how adrenaline works for and against us. I also wanted to take a closer look at the folks who naturally feed off that rush, the subjects of our other features this month: the rock climbers and the downhill mountain bikers. I hope that any of you with race anxiety like mine, who aspire to feed off adrenaline rather than having it eat you alive will find these stories helpful and inspiring.

Comments & Feedback

Leave a Comment

Name: Email:  do not notifynotify Title: Comment: Code: Please input the code from the image above (case sensitive). Click image to generate new code.

3.26 Copyright (C) 2008 Compojoom.com / Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."