I′ve been an amateur runner for a few years now, and despite my rigorous training and dedication, I often find myself falling short of my personal bests during races. Just last month, I put in months of preparation for a marathon, but on race day, the weather turned unexpectedly hot and humid. My performance suffered drastically, and I finished far behind my goal time. This got me thinking: how much does chance really play into an athlete′s peak performance? Is it just about training hard or are there factors beyond our control that can significantly impact outcomes? What has your experience been with this?