Spring felt hopeless. Now that it is – allegedly – summer, Eilish McColgan trusts that hope springs eternal once more. Rid of burdens and reignited, the Dundonian will plant herself back into the spotlight of the international circuit in tonight’s Diamond League meeting in Stockholm and pray for rude health and no further bumps in the road.
“I feel like I haven’t raced in a long time,” the 28-year-old declared ahead of a 5000 metres outing in the Swedish capital that pits her against Kenya’s reigning world champion Hellen Obiri. More figuratively than anything, she indicates. A solitary prior track excursion in California at the start of this month was reluctantly abandoned due to a combination of injury and period strains.
Before that, she recounts: “I was ill pretty much the entire indoor season and wasn’t in a good place, mentally or physically. I shouldn’t have done the British or the European Championships. So this is the first time I’ve been in a good place.”
Therapy, of sorts, has been concluded in the hills of Switzerland where the double European medallist has spent the past three weeks in solitary pursuit of readiness for a campaign that will culminate at the IAAF world championships in Doha.
READ MORE: Cowbells and the Cresta run as Muir gets ready to run Westminster
Unlike Dundee Hawkhill club-mate Laura Muir, who will run the non-Diamond League 1500 metres in the Swedish capital this evening, McColgan did not embrace the full charms of the altitude training hub of St. Moritz and the iconic Cresta Run which doubles as a hilly circuit once the ice has ebbed.
“I don’t have a car because hiring one is way outside my budget,” she confessed. "So I never get the chance to get out and about. I live a pretty simple life in my one-bed studio. I walk to the track and the gym and I run straight onto my beautiful trails from my door. But there is something about the mountains which feels so relaxing. I’m totally isolated – eating, sleeping and running and that’s it. I’m in contact with my mum and my boyfriend. Everything is geared towards training. I can do what I need to do.”
Muir’s opposition at the Bauhaus Galan includes fellow Scot Jemma Reekie with their young training partner Kerry Macangus getting a first taster of a major meeting as the pacemaker. Lynsey Sharp will pursue an upturn in the 800m while European champion Dina Asher-Smith races the 200m.
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