Racing or Fluting, Performance Anxiety Exists

I’m running the Army Ten Miler for the second time this Sunday and I’m a little nervous.

I didn’t follow a set training plan, but I increased my mileage from week to week and ended things with a 7 mile long run. Now I’m tapering and resting and I’ve had to keep my easy runs from turning into a mad dash when I start thinking about last year’s excitement. My run yesterday was an easy 11:00/mile pace, which makes me hopeful that I can PR (“personal record” for you non-race folks) compared to last year’s broken toe time (1:59:14). That doesn’t stop the occasional butterflies when I think about Sunday morning.

It’s a lesson in dealing with performance anxiety. The race part is easy – I can use those nerves to my advantage since it’s a methodical sub-2 hour process. How do I cram those lessons learned over a 2 hour period into a 10 minute audition or performance?

The biggest thing that has helped me shake the nerves is to acknowledge them. I attempted this in the audition I took a couple of weeks ago, and it helped somewhat. I gladly welcome pre-audition nerves because it means less adrenaline in the actual audition.

We’ll see what happens in my race on Sunday. I think my nerves are coming from a worry that I didn’t train long enough or I didn’t strength train enough. I have to accept that I’m as ready as I can be at this time. Just as we worry that we didn’t prepare enough in the practice room, the lessons I learn as an amateur runner easily translate to music. All we can do is plan, discipline ourselves to get the work done and remain self-confident.

Regardless of my performance anxiety on the course or in the audition room, both experiences make me crave more and they reaffirm that I need challenges in my life. Let the excitement of the moment overshadow your momentary discomfort. Accept the challenges and grow.

Practice like you Train

I had a perhaps not so novel idea today. Why should we practice the same things every day? Instead, why shouldn't we have a larger purpose for every single practice session and take some ideas from runners?

I'm a lapsed runner of sorts. I still run regularly, but I haven't trained since I was an overly enthusiastic newbie two years ago. I'm in a rut. In this rut I let my subscription to Runner's World expire, too.

I resubscribed in a hope to get some kind of motivational tip that would spur me back into a crazed training phase. I've been reading a few pages here and there and I read today about how and why you should have a purpose before you even begin running. Without a purpose, it's too easy to get bound up in time contraints, the weather, or any of the million other reasons we usually fail to do what we say we're going to do.

Yeah, we should have a purpose when we practice. That part is pretty obvious. But have we related our purpose to longer term goals in a meaningful way?

I run about 3 to 4 times a week. One day consists of a long run, which serves to build up endurance and help strengthen the legs and I do speedwork once a week to get faster. The remaining 2 days are easy runs, where I'm letting the work of the harder two workouts settle in.

I hate doing the same thing every day, so I'm not one for making up a routine. Instead, I tend to go with the flow which sometimes sets me up for failure. Translating my running workouts into my flute workouts might help me reach my goals faster. So here's a quick sketch of how my different training runs relate to my practice sessions:

The Long Run - A longer than average practice session that gives you adequate time to cover all the areas of your playing that need consistent attention. It's also the time to just enjoy the feeling of being able to play your instrument and not have to watch the clock.

Speedwork - Technical practice. Want to bump up your scales a couple notches on the metronome? Treat this "workout" as speedwork and limit to one or two days a week.

The Recovery Run - Focused, slow practice. Practice what you need to, but let your body assimilate the changes you're making in your playing. Enjoy the recovery.

The Social Run - Jam session!

The Whatever Run - Play what you want without pressure. Use it as opportunity to explore different areas of your awareness. Or don't.

I'm going to play around with this idea, and create a weekly practice plan that engages all these elements. I'll let you know how it turns out.