Can mindfulness help calm nerves before a trail race?

The supplied excerpt does not show whether mindfulness calms pre-race nerves; it lists references, not study results. For our Trail Running community, the topic is worth a closer look. Mindfulness means paying attention to the present moment. The article’s title describes a test of a mindfulness routine in young athletes. It focuses on how they felt before competition. But the excerpt does not include their ages, sports, routine, or results. Instead, it names two related works from 2026. One concerns mindfulness and Anxiety before races in runners who cover very long trail distances. The other reviews mindfulness routines for those runners. A third reference, from 1990, describes a questionnaire for measuring competition nerves. These references alone do not show a benefit. They also do not tell us how much practice might help. There are no scores, group sizes, or changes to report here. We cannot tell whether the young athletes felt calmer afterward. Nor can we assume findings in young athletes would apply to adult trail runners. The useful takeaway is a question to explore, not a proven race-day habit. For members already using mindfulness, personal logs could help ground that discussion. Mindfulness Minutes and State of Mind (Momentary) offer two ways to compare notes over time. Race distance, weather, and expectations can add context to those entries. Shared patterns can start a conversation without proving that one habit caused a change. What have you noticed about your pre-race nerves when you use mindfulness, and what have you tracked?