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I remember in the first part of the race I was sixth and I could have gone quicker, but I had to go slow. It was one of the most difficult things I have ever done.

I'm a runner first before anything else.

I don't remember my first race, but I do recall various school sports days where I became way too competitive. We were seven or eight years old, and I had a very stern conversation with my relay team-mates about how crucial it was for us to win.

I was really happy with my race, though. I beat my personal best by 1.2 seconds.

I couldn't disappoint people. I did not want to fail and exhaust myself, because I was the kind of runner who trained so little that I couldn't race again within another 10 days.

This is a business, and no one enters a race not to finish first. I wouldn't say I'm in it for the competition, but I'm certainly not just in it to coast along. I want to be the best I possibly can be.

When I started running cross-country and track in high school, literally every race was a failure.

I was always surrounded by expectation from the very first race I ran as a 5-year-old.

I raced supremely well. I felt I was as well fitted to do it as I had ever been, and as perhaps I might ever be. I went climbing three weeks before, because I was feeling fed up with running.

I was a runner, a failed quarterback, third-string quarterback, but in track I was a 2-miler.