More for Laura Muir as runner sets ambitious targets

Despite her obvious disappointment she was philosophical, having switched her focus to concentrate on the European Athletics Championships in Zurich a little over a week later. But again disaster would strike as Muir appeared to get it tactically wrong, finishing sixth in her 1500m heat, a performance she described afterwards as "pretty gutting" and "below par".

When we catch-up five months on, the 21-year-old Glasgow University veterinary student professes to have gained much valuable experience from those upsets.

"It was probably the hardest couple of weeks of my running career," she says. "It was frustrating to know I could run fast and then to see other people get medals when you know you're have the same ability as them. I have to put that behind me and try to learn as much from it as I can."

There were, however, plenty of positives to be drawn from 2014, a year which saw Muir top the world rankings and send a clutch of indoor and outdoor records tumbling, including obliterating Yvonne Murray's 1987 Scottish record with a blistering time of 4:00.07 in the 1500m at the Diamond League in Paris last July.

Muir from Milnathort, Kinross-shire, has already got 2015 off to a flying start by claiming the Scottish 3000m title at the GAA Miler Meet at Emirates Arena at the start of January. She clocked 8:51.75 which is good enough to put her second on the GB all-time indoor list for U23 - behind only Zola Budd.

It bodes well in what will be a busy indoor season and one which the Dundee Hawkhill athlete hopes will culminate in a place at the European Indoor Championships in Prague in March. She and her coach Andy Young have drawn up a battle plan which will see Muir focus on both the 1500m and 3000m in the build-up to the championships in the Czech Republic.

After a brief foray outdoors to compete in the Morrisons Great Edinburgh Cross-Country meeting this month - where Muir and Scottish team-mate Ross Matheson finished third in the international relay - she plumped for the 1500m in the National Open at the Emirates Arena last weekend (which she won) over the more high profile Sainsbury's Glasgow International Match which took place yesterday.

While the finer details of her race schedule are still to be nailed down, Muir has already decided upon the key targets. "There are a few indoor races we would like to do but it's a case of working out exactly which ones over the next couple of months or so," she says. "After the European Indoor Championships, the main focus of the year will be the outdoor World Championships in Beijing."

The 2016 Olympic Games in Rio are also on her radar. "If I can get to the World Championships this year that would be great preparation for the Olympics with it being a heat, semi and a final because I've never done three races in competition before," she says. "Hopefully if I can get that experience this year it will help."

Two years ago Muir, who was one of the Sunday Herald's Six to Follow to Glasgow 2014, was still flying largely under the radar. She chuckles when asked to reflect on how she has grown and evolved as an athlete in that time.

"It's been very fast. I don't think you would find many athletes who have gone through such a progression in so short a space of time," she says. "I think that's why people's expectations are high because I run so fast, but at the same time I'm still very inexperienced in terms of racing compared to a lot of athletes.

"I never dreamed that I would be achieving what I am, but at the same time I'm still trying to catch-up the mental side to the physical. It's been great and I couldn't wish for anything better. I think now I just need to try to get everything to come together at the same time."

Her coach Young, himself a former World Schools 800m champion, has been the calming voice amid the eye of the storm. "Andy has been a huge support for me because he's been there and done it," she says. "My parents are very supportive but they don't always understand what I'm going through. Andy doesn't sugar coat things - he will tell me when I've run badly and when I've run well. He says it how it is."

The coming months are likely to see Muir focus on the endurance side of her running. "I think the last time I did a 3k was at the world juniors in 2012 and the last couple of years it's been more 800m and 1500m that have been the focus," she says. "Now I'm thinking 1500m and 3k. It went really well [at the GAA Miler Meet] and I wasn't expecting that as I'd had a bad cold over Christmas. I wasn't planning to run at all but then picked up and felt healthy enough to compete. I gave it a good shot and it bodes well because I think I can probably go a good bit faster than that."

Muir is not one for putting all her eggs in the one basket, so she is reluctant to be seen as giving up on the 800m distance just yet. "I think running 4:00.07 in the 1500m last year was quite definitive and over the winter we've done quite a lot of endurance stuff so my endurance is pretty good at the moment," she says. "But there was no reason why I couldn't have run under two minutes last year for the 800m. It was a matter of getting the right race and that simply didn't happen.

"It's hard to say what events we are looking to concentrate on but for the indoors anyway it will be 1500m and 3k then see what that opens up."

Since Glasgow 2014, she has been able to fit in some veterinary work placements around studying and athletics training. "I got to see my first caesarean with pups being born which was quite exciting," says Muir. "I was observing the operation but got to help the wee pups arrive and give them a rub down when they came out. That's a nice part of the job.

"Hopefully I'll get to see some lambing and calving over Easter. I will be in Kilmarnock so it means I'll still be able to train in Glasgow."

Muir had hoped to squeeze in some adrenalin-inducing activity as a belated 21st birthday celebration but admits her skydiving aspirations didn't come to fruition. "I would still love to do it, but I'm getting more worried about the landing, if that was to go wrong and I went over on my ankle or knee," she says. "I have seen there is something with a fan that you can do [a skydiving simulator] so that could be my back-up plan.

"My post-running retirement list is getting quite big now," she adds, laughing. "I love skiing as well but that has been off the cards for couple of years now and probably will be for another 10 or so more. It's worth it, though, for what I can do in athletics. I think many people would like to be in the position I am. I intend to stick at it for the next few years."

As for her athletics achievements, Muir admits that she is continually surprising herself. "Running the 4:00.07 in the 1500m was a big shock because I was thinking if I could get 4:02 or 4:03 that would be amazing but to get to 4:00 that is quite a big step. I think I probably could have run sub-four because I was so close to it. To run sub-four would be huge. I'm still surprising myself with stuff but it's great. I'll keep working hard and hopefully the rewards will come."