O'Sullivan prepares to hit the road again

A fit and clearly rejuvenated Sonia O'Sullivan yesterday revealed her plans for a number of road races over the coming weeks, starting with the 10 kilometre International in Glasgow on Sunday.

Following that, O'Sullivan will be back in Dublin to defend her Women's Mini Marathon title on the June 4th bank holiday Monday, and will later run the Ballycotton 10-mile road race in Cork which has been rescheduled for June 24th.

Back to full training and recovered from the chest infection that ruined her World Cross Country Championship ambitions at the end of March, O'Sullivan made a passing visit to Dublin yesterday to participate in a women's "meet and train" group that is part of the mini marathon countdown.

All thoughts are now on the months ahead and there were clearly no side effects from the frustrating start to the year for the Olympic silver medallist. "The disappointment of the cross country made me a little less motivated for a while," she said, "and I slowed down a bit and actually had a bit of fun in training.

"But I haven't thought a whole lot yet about the track season. The race this weekend will give me some idea of how fit I am and then I can start thinking about what I'm going to do on the track. Obviously the World Championships in August are the main goal, but they are still a bit away." O'Sullivan is almost certain to appear on the track prior to Ballycotton, which she will use more for training than a competitive challenge. The 10 km Mini Marathon, which she won last year in a course record of 31 minutes 28 seconds, is likely to be a similarly low-key event for her, but something she is looking forward to.

"One of the reasons that I'm coming back is that I enjoyed it so much last year. I hadn't intended on running that fast last year, but I do want to be a part of it again. "

Although her summer track schedule is yet to be finalised, O'Sullivan has targeted the Grand Prix in Paris on July 7th as one of her main stop-off points. The World Championships in Edmonton, starting on August 3rd, remain highlighted but not quite certain.

"I am at the stage now where the Athens Olympics in 2004 is the next major target. If that means missing major championships along the way then so be it. But I know I can still be competitive in Athens and I want to be in the best shape that I can be for those Games.

"But the World Championships are still a target at the moment, and it will definitely be over 5,000 metres rather than anything else. To be honest I don't think I've lost that much fitness over the last few weeks and it shouldn't take me long to get back into peak shape."

O'Sullivan also expressed an interest in a proper attempt at the marathon some time in the future, but said the timing would have to be right. "I'd love to run a really fast one, but you'd have to great the training right. Plus I still have the World Cross Country Championships in Dublin next year to look forward to."