There aren't many things in life in which a couple seconds are the Difference between heartbreaking failure and exuberating success. A track race is one of those exceptions. To someone outside of the Running community, it might seem like missing your PR by a few seconds is fantastic! However, running is a cruel sport in this sense. A few seconds can be torturous. When you are going down the straight away, looking at the Clock, and watching your desired time slip though your fingers. That's the hardest part. You always know where you are. You always know when you've lost it and there is simply no way back. Maybe next week, maybe in a month, but not today. In other sports there is always the slight chance that you will come back. That glimmer of hope is always there, even if it is covered by 5 goals and only 2 minutes left. It's there somewhere. Running is different, when it's gone, it's gone. It's just you and the clock, and the clock never faulters. The clock never lies. However, it doesn't always have to be you against the clock, and that is where I believe most runners get it wrong. It's not you against the clock, it's you against you. If you step onto that track and give it everything you have. If you know that you had nothing left to give, regardless of what the clock said, then you have done your job. It takes hundreds of painful losses to make a winner. Winners are born from the ashes of their failures, not the medals of their success. Running is a competition against yourself, don't ever let it be anything different. It's you vs you, and believe me, you don't want to lose that battle. Losing to yourself, knowing that you had more to give, is the worst of feelings. So don't feel it, believe in yourself, and run.