How do I stop overthinking running?

You aren't "elite" your a High School Junior. It's not that important, just chill.

My old college coach said, "Training is a lifestyle; racing is a state of mind. If you've done the training well, your body can handle what you're asking of it ...you've just got to remind it."

I used to tell kids I coached when I thought they were over-thinking during a race something similar..."You've done this in workouts, you can do it now..." Or, "Focus on your form, not the fatigue." Seemed to help remember they'd handled this discomfort before and survived. And to focus on what they could control-their body in motion.

Lynn Jennings (3x World Cross Champion, Olympic medalist in 10K) used to break races into chunks. She said she would just focus on get to the turn, get past the shot put ring, get past where long jump is. Or if in cross get to base of hill, get to that tree, make it across the muddy area, etc. It's actually called "chunking" in learning. You break the thing you're wanting to master into mental bite sized pieces you can handle.

Other posters are correct. Take a workout or race a little bit at the time. Just focus on one rep at a time, one rest at a time. You have to practice this: it will not come naturally. But practice will eventually help you mentally relax as weeks/months go by. Keeps you from OCDng the entire/whole ordeal and freaking out about it

Best of success to you.

Get a life besides running. Your not an elite runner. Yet. All of the elite athletes I've known are pretty relaxed before an event. Not asleep, but confidant that their training has been solid and its time to give it their best right then.

It's the same with any kind of performance. One of my kids played guitar in a band in high school. The kid on drums was really good, but he would get so nervous before a gig he would be sick to his stomach, could hardly move, etc. At one gig where I was the roadie/parent chaperon, I walked up to the drummer who was in the process of thinking about how bad he felt and pulled a paper lunch bag out of my pocket and offered it to him. He immediately smiled and got the hint. He played great and thanked me later for doing that. Don't overthink this stuff. Get a life.

I'm 45. You know what I'd love, to run one race as well as I could when I was 17. Some day you'll be 45. You'll have a lot of successes and some failure. How your next race goes won't remotely matter. It doesn't mean it shouldn't matter today, but at 45 if it's not the health of a loved one it's hard to get worked up.

It's quote the opposite. The people following the method join together, new members try to toss some ideas, and all of the veterans shut them down and tell them "just run baby". 3 sub-T, 1 long run, 3 easy days a week, forever until the end of time. We totally simplify everything. People come in wanting to do hills, strides, strength training, fueling with gels, we go: Just train sub-threshold and don't overdo workouts, build consistently over time, forever, and see where it takes you!

> Ditch your watch, run by feel

> Value the process more than the result

> Stay off Strava

> Don’t post about running on your social media

> Meditation, like someone else suggested

Stay off of all social media and just focus on your training. Sounds to me you worry too much about what others are doing which creates self doubt as to what you are doing. Again... stay off of social media.

1) Banish the word elite from your vocabulary. Just be you.

2) Jerk one off a few hours before a race. I'm not kidding. It should moderate your brain chemicals.

Here’s a list:
1) As others have said, use that nervous energy to strategize your race.
2) Don’t race your workouts. So much harder not to do now with social media and Strava reinforcing speed. If you blow a workout and go too fast actually note it in your feed. If you are fast, others look up to you. You can actually educate them to train smarter.
3) Plan for the future: regional’s, state, other bigger meets. It’s a season with many small steps. Each race is just a small step. There’s always a next race.
4) Focus on supporting your teammates and helping the team to win. This and strategizing your race are what is known as “redirection” in psychology. Also, if you are really invested in supporting your team and teammates you will enjoy this very exciting part of your life and have many MORE great memories than just your own performances.

Read Mark Coogan's book and realize running is not that deep of a sport. Then find confidence in your training weeks.