Having been discussing stress this last few days I thought it would make a good starting point for a blog topic.  We see people getting stressed in all situations daily, whether this be work or just life.  Then there are those who seem to get stressed before a race or even a training session.  Is this stress any use or is it just having a negative effect on our performance?  I can get stressed at times, but I suppose I have learnt to deal with this over the years.  When young and carefree I can't remember getting stressed about anything.  Now I feel the stress sometimes before big events.  Thinking about this in more detail I suppose I feel more stressed at lower key events where people expect you to do well.  Regardless of who else is in the race, others just expect you to win.  Having ran some very big events the stress at these seemed little compared to other smaller races.  Take for example the European Mountain Championships in Turkey, 2011 and the World Mountain Trophy in Alaska, 2003.  I was under no believing that I was going to win these events, even though I was ready to go out there and give 100% once that gun goes winning just didn't enter my mind.  As it happened at both these events I had great races and do believe this is becuase I wasn't wasting energy or time worrying about others or my finishing position. 
I believe dealing with stress is a personal skill and people go about it in various ways.  I see runners go very quiet before a race or the total opposite and come out of themselves.  Dealing with it I believe is the key and can effect your performance on the day.

This week has been stress free for me!  My mileage has remained high and I have hit my sessions hard and enjoyed my running.  The next week is going to see a smaller week mileage wise as we intend to take it easier before the Northern Cross Country.