Lessons from the Sporting World on Pre-Race Anxiety: This Past Weekend.

For anyone who reads my posts, you may have picked up that I love Formula 1 auto racing. There are lots of lessons to be learned from that sport- for us.

We all share our concerns, fears, anxieties and nerves before a big race on this forum. It's a good crowd here and a good place to do it. I wanted to add some insights from other sports on this topic:

The London Marathon.

The Chinese Gran Prix.

Two great sporting performances over the weekend.

In the London Marathon Emmanuel Mutai won in a course record of 2:04:40, the time was devastated a few days later in Boston by Geoffrey Mutai in 2:03:02 (not a world record because of the course though, according to Steve Cram of the BBC World News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/athletics/default.stm)

E. Mutai impressed journalists before the race with his relaxed demeanor. He said he would "run his own race" and seemed sing-song and casual about the race, but emphasized his preparation had gone "according to plan".

E. Mutai wasn't conducting a press conference, he was mentally preparing: His responses to the press weren't merely answers to questions; they were affirmations. "I am relaxed." "I am ready". "I will take the race on my own terms".

Journalists commented on his relaxed demenaor and jestures. His optimal state of arousal. He was a cocked cannon, ready to explode over the 26.2 miles of downtown London.

The lesson? We are how we act. If we act cool, calm, prepared, collected- we perform that way. We decide.

Jump to the Chinese Gran Prix.

Lewis Hamilton was out of F1 for a year. In that time, the sport changed substantially.

Hamilton went into Shanghai as a professional, a seasoned champion. When everything went wrong that rattle a lad, it did not rattle him.

Moments before the start his multi-million dollar car experienced serious technical problems. Some of his elite technical team began using profanity as they rushed to repair the vehicle. Hamilton responded with cool control, as though it were simply another task to complete. His voice did not change, his speech did not speed up. Seconds before the start, the problem was fixed. Hamilton made it to the start on time. Barely. On a car repaired only moments before, upon which his life depended. He did the only thing he could do: put it behind him.

His start was spectacular. In after- race interviews he minimized it, but it was brilliant. He had completely refocused on the task at hand. In only seconds he went from near non-starter to race win contender.

His stratgey in the race pitched him back and forth, and in a rare series of passing duels and pit stops he went from second to farther back, to third, to second to....

In the closing laps of the race he braked particularly hard into a turn and "flat spotted" his left front tyre. Then he took the lead. Now he was late in the race, on a questionable car that had been repaired moments before the start, on a bad left front tyre, after a long time out of the sport.

He won.

After the race Hamilton was calm, but cried. A rush of controlled emotion pent up during the event and channeled, stored, directed... Managed. At the end, with the task done and the helmet off, he finally let loose. He was effusive in his praise for his team. It was not him; it was his team. He rapidly collected himself, remembering his salary begins at $16,250,000 USD per year plus endorsements and performance bonuses. His sponsors don't pay him to cry, they pay him to be cool, calm, a model for people to aspire to. So he did just that. He pulled on his team's hat, then the sponsor's wristwatch, then went through the podium presentation, the press interviews.

Just a day at the office. And two beautiful lessons for you and I on how to channel our pre race nerves into something constructive and energizing.