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Use the role-aware current-week route when this team is already in motion and you want the default week first.

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Keep this module open when you intentionally came here to send, say, share, and close one exact week.

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Only move the saved starting point when this team is launching a true brand-new season from Week 1.

Outdoor Track · Week 10

GI, Appetite, and Pre-Race Nerves

This week helps the whole team, but especially athletes whose appetite changes when meet pressure rises. The point is to keep fueling practical and tolerable instead of losing the plan once nerves show up.

Do not overthink this page. If you follow the four steps on the right in order, you are using the curriculum correctly for this week.

Timing

As meets become more important and nerves rise

Objective

Give families a simpler strategy for athletes who struggle to eat well on race days.

Start here

Do these 4 things in order.

Share the family note

Use the full family note if this is a true family update. Use the quick-share note if you are posting in TeamSnap, Remind, or a quick coach update.

Fastest option

In a rush? Copy the quick-share note first. It is the fastest clean version for TeamSnap, Remind, or a quick team update.

Say this at practice

Read the short talk to the team so the athletes hear the same message the families got.

Nerves change the plan, not the need

Share this handoff

This is the main tool, handout, or follow-up resource attached to the week.

Race Anxiety Nutrition

Open handoff

Follow the checklist and move on

Start with this coach action: Send the email before a bigger meet or championship phase.

If you are unsure what to use

If you want the easiest version, start with the quick-share note. Use the full family note only when you are sending a true family update. Then use the practice talk, share the handoff, and move on.

Back to Outdoor Open Week 11 next

No planning required

This week's exact rollout

Use this default sequence unless your team schedule is unusual. The point is not to customize first. The point is to send, say, share, and check one behavior.

1. Before your first practice or team update

Share the note

Copy the short note if you need speed. Use the full family note if this is a true parent or guardian update.

2. At the next practice

Read the team talk

Say "Nerves change the plan, not the need" and keep it under five minutes. Do not turn it into a lecture.

3. Midweek

Share the handoff

Open Race Anxiety Nutrition and send, print, or project it so the week becomes visible.

4. Before the week ends

Check one behavior

Use this first coach action: Send the email before a bigger meet or championship phase.

Copy block library

Every message this week needs is already separated.

Use the two-minute, ten-minute, or full rollout path without rewriting. Each block has a clear audience, use case, and safe escalation boundary.

Families

Full family note

Use when preparing a true family or guardian update.

Families, TeamSnap, Remind, or quick coach update

Quick-share note

Use when the coach has two minutes and needs the cleanest short version for a family or team update.

Athletes

Team talk

Use at practice so athletes hear the same theme families received.

Coaches choosing the right execution layer

2-minute / 10-minute / full rollout

Use when the coach needs to choose the fastest safe layer without watering down the week.

Coaches and support staff

Staff handoff

Use when another adult needs the week objective, rollout, evidence line, and escalation cue.

Coaches

Coach checklist

Use to keep the week operational instead of informational only.

Athletes

Athlete checklist

Use when athletes need the behavior version of the week.

Families

Family checklist

Use when parents need the household support version of the week.

Families and athletes asking follow-up questions

FAQ replies

Use when a parent or athlete asks for clarification without creating a custom answer.

Coaches and support staff

Red-flag escalation

Use when the pattern may need referral, medical review, or a safer adult handoff.

Step 1

Send this to parents

This is the full version to email to families.

Subject

When nerves hit the stomach, keep the plan smaller and simpler

Dear [Team Name] Families,

Outdoor meet pressure often shows up in the stomach first. Athletes feel less hungry, foods suddenly sound wrong, and the day can start to unravel because they assume they have to choose between eating perfectly or not eating much at all.

The better answer is a smaller, simpler plan:
- use foods the athlete already trusts
- keep portions smaller if nerves are high
- leave enough time so eating is not rushed
- bring one easy top-off option for later if needed

This week is not about forcing a giant pre-race meal. It is about keeping the routine intact enough that the athlete is not underfueled before the event even starts.

Families help most by staying calm and specific. Ask what foods still feel usable. Ask what the backup snack is. Ask what usually works when the athlete is nervous.

If the athlete has repeated, serious GI trouble or consistently cannot keep enough food in, that deserves more attention than "just nerves."

This week, we are pairing the email with the race-anxiety and meal tools so families can keep the plan workable under pressure.

If you want the free starting point first, join Aspire Runner Fueling Lab here: https://aspireperformancerd.com/runner-fueling-lab?source=coach-curriculum-email

Best,
Coach [Your Name]

Fastest coach path

Short coach note

Use this first when you want the fastest clean version for TeamSnap, Remind, or a short update.

Outdoor Week 10: when nerves hit, shrink the plan instead of deleting it. Familiar foods, smaller portions, more time, and a simple backup snack usually help most. If you want the free starting point first, join Aspire Runner Fueling Lab here: https://aspireperformancerd.com/runner-fueling-lab?source=coach-curriculum-quick-send

Step 2

Say this at practice

Nerves change the plan, not the need

Nerves do not erase the need for fuel.
Smaller and simpler is often the right move.
Use foods you already trust.
If the pattern keeps repeating, say something.

Coach-only logic

Why this week belongs here

Why this week now

Outdoor track athletes often misread pre-race nerves and appetite changes as a reason to strip fuel down too far.

What makes this week work

This week gives a coach-safe answer to the athlete who gets nervous, loses appetite, and then races underfed without turning the coach into a therapist or clinician.

Coach guardrails

What to avoid and what to watch for

Common mistake

Cutting pre-race intake more and more every time nerves show up instead of practicing smaller, familiar foods and a backup plan before the next race.

Do not say this

If you feel nervous, keep food minimal.
Some athletes just cannot eat before racing.

Watch for this

Shrinking race-day meals, repeated GI complaints, or athletes who are clearly trying to calm nerves by under-eating.
A pattern of appetite issues that shows up only when stakes rise.

Escalate when

Escalate if GI symptoms remain severe or if anxiety is repeatedly blocking basic fueling despite rehearsal.

Implementation tracks

Run this week in 2 minutes, 10 minutes, or full rollout

2-minute version

Send the note and remind the team to reduce novelty, not fuel.

10-minute version

Walk athletes through one practiced pre-race plan and one backup option.

Full rollout

Use the full module and teach the team that appetite and nerves can be coached without starving the performance.

Evidence anchors

Why this week holds up

These are the research anchors behind this week. They are here to keep the curriculum coach-safe, current, and specific to adolescent XC and track reality.

Evidence coach note

Evidence coach note for Week 10: Use the evidence to support this behavior, not to diagnose or prescribe: Give families a simpler strategy for athletes who struggle to eat well on race days. Research thread: AND/DC/ACSM 2016 Nutrition and Athletic Performance; World Athletics 2019 Nutrition for Athletics; Performance Nutrition for the Adolescent Athlete (2019) Coach translation: This week gives a coach-safe answer to the athlete who gets nervous, loses appetite, and then races underfed without turning the coach into a therapist or clinician. If the concern looks clinical, stop at the escalation line: Escalate if GI symptoms remain severe or if anxiety is repeatedly blocking basic fueling despite rehearsal.

Evidence-use rule for coaches

Use these sources to explain the why behind the weekly message, not to diagnose, prescribe, promise performance gains, or override a physician, athletic trainer, or dietitian. When red flags cluster, escalate instead of trying to solve it in a team message.

AND/DC/ACSM 2016 Nutrition and Athletic Performance

Foundational sports nutrition guidance on fueling, hydration, recovery, and the role of planned eating patterns in training and competition.

Open source

World Athletics 2019 Nutrition for Athletics

Track-and-field specific consensus guidance emphasizing periodized nutrition across training, competition, recovery, and travel.

Open source

Performance Nutrition for the Adolescent Athlete (2019)

Youth-athlete guidance that keeps growth, maturation, practicality, and family reality central instead of applying adult performance language blindly.

Open source

Step 4

What the coach does this week

Send the email before a bigger meet or championship phase.
Use the anxiety and meal tools together.
Normalize nerves without normalizing skipped fueling.
Follow up with athletes who repeatedly struggle to eat on meet days.

Athlete checklist

What the athlete does this week

Pick the foods you already trust.
Use smaller portions if nerves are high.
Pack a simple backup snack.
Say something if the same GI problem keeps happening.

Family checklist

What the family does this week

Keep the conversation calm and specific.
Do not test new foods when the athlete is already anxious.
Pack the day before.
Notice whether the GI problem is repeating enough to deserve more help.

Step 3

Share this handoff

Race Anxiety Nutrition

This is the main tool or resource attached to the week.

Open primary handoff

Pre-Race Meal Builder

Open resource

Gut Tolerance Tester

Open resource

Race Week Planner

Open resource

Common questions

Use these answers if parents ask follow-up questions

What if the athlete can only manage a few bites?

A few bites of familiar, easy food are usually better than nothing. The goal is enough support to keep the plan alive.

Are nerves enough to explain repeated GI issues?

Sometimes, but repeated patterns still deserve more attention than a casual shrug.

Why avoid new foods here?

Because pressure already raises uncertainty. Familiar foods reduce one more source of risk.

Go to Week 9 Done here? Open Week 11

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GI, Appetite, and Pre-Race Nerves

Do not overthink this page. If you follow the four steps on the right in order, you are using the curriculum correctly for this week.

Timing

As meets become more important and nerves rise

Objective

Give families a simpler strategy for athletes who struggle to eat well on race days.

Do these 4 things in order.

Share the family note

Use the full family note if this is a true family update. Use the quick-share note if you are posting in TeamSnap, Remind, or a quick coach update.

Fastest option

In a rush? Copy the quick-share note first. It is the fastest clean version for TeamSnap, Remind, or a quick team update.

Say this at practice

Read the short talk to the team so the athletes hear the same message the families got.

Nerves change the plan, not the need

Share this handoff

This is the main tool, handout, or follow-up resource attached to the week.

Race Anxiety Nutrition

Open handoff

Follow the checklist and move on

Start with this coach action: Send the email before a bigger meet or championship phase.

If you are unsure what to use

If you want the easiest version, start with the quick-share note. Use the full family note only when you are sending a true family update. Then use the practice talk, share the handoff, and move on.

Dear [Team Name] Families, Outdoor meet pressure often shows up in the stomach first. Athletes feel less hungry, foods suddenly sound wrong, and the day can start to unravel because they assume they have to choose between eating perfectly or not eating much at all. The better answer is a smaller, simpler plan: - use foods the athlete already trusts - keep portions smaller if nerves are high - leave enough time so eating is not rushed - bring one easy top-off option for later if needed This week is not about forcing a giant pre-race meal. It is about keeping the routine intact enough that the athlete is not underfueled before the event even starts. Families help most by staying calm and specific. Ask what foods still feel usable. Ask what the backup snack is. Ask what usually works when the athlete is nervous. If the athlete has repeated, serious GI trouble or consistently cannot keep enough food in, that deserves more attention than "just nerves." This week, we are pairing the email with the race-anxiety and meal tools so families can keep the plan workable under pressure. If you want the free starting point first, join Aspire Runner Fueling Lab here: https://aspireperformancerd.com/runner-fueling-lab?source=coach-curriculum-email Best, Coach [Your Name]

Evidence anchors

Why this week holds up

These are the research anchors behind this week. They are here to keep the curriculum coach-safe, current, and specific to adolescent XC and track reality.

Evidence coach note

Evidence-use rule for coaches

AND/DC/ACSM 2016 Nutrition and Athletic Performance

Foundational sports nutrition guidance on fueling, hydration, recovery, and the role of planned eating patterns in training and competition.

Open source

World Athletics 2019 Nutrition for Athletics

Track-and-field specific consensus guidance emphasizing periodized nutrition across training, competition, recovery, and travel.

Open source

Performance Nutrition for the Adolescent Athlete (2019)

Youth-athlete guidance that keeps growth, maturation, practicality, and family reality central instead of applying adult performance language blindly.

Open source