How The Maverick Can Overcome Race Morning Nerves in Triathlon

The alarm goes off at 4:30 AM. Your transition bags are packed, nutrition is prepped, and months of training have led to this morning. But something feels wrong. Your heart rate is already elevated before your feet hit the floor. Hands shake while you try to eat breakfast. The confident athlete who crushed workouts all summer has vanished, replaced by someone questioning every decision made in the last twelve weeks.

Race morning nerves in triathlon represent that specific anxiety state where experienced athletes transform from prepared competitors into anxious second-guessers. For The Maverick (IORA), this pre-race spiral creates a unique problem. Your intrinsic motivation and autonomous nature mean you've likely trained alone, trusted your instincts completely, and built confidence through independent preparation. Now, standing in transition surrounded by hundreds of competitors, that internal compass suddenly feels unreliable.