Our sponsored athlete Eilish McColgan describes her rollercoaster start to 2022
Fresh off the back of a Half Marathon PB and British Record in February, I headed across the pond to the US for our first altitude camp of 2022.
I knew I was going to feel a bit tired when we landed in Colorado - it was to be expected with seven hours’ time difference and almost a full 24 hours of being awake from door to door! But when we finally reached Colorado Springs, I knew that I didn’t feel quite right.
That night, I came down with cold sweats, a thumping headache, a bad fever and extreme nausea. The following morning, I tested positive for Covid-19. It felt a little surreal considering I had had a negative PCR test less than a day before travelling, but it must have been in my system.
The first few days were rough. I was sleeping all day every day and did not have the energy to do anything. I managed my first little walk on day 5, and it took around 2 weeks before I started feeling normal and confident enough to try my first track session.
Initially, every run felt awkward and forced. Going from being in the best shape of my life to struggling in every interval session was both physically and mentally challenging. Nevertheless, I persisted, listened to my body and adjusted my schedule.
We essentially shifted all my plans back by 4-6 weeks and will continue working towards some big goals for the summer season. Although it will be a later start to my racing season, I’ll be ready for it.
My first race back was an ASICS event on 24 April. From there, I'm planning to take part in a few shorter road races to help me prepare for the upcoming track season. Ultimately my goals remain the same: to run personal bests over 5,000m and 10,000m on the track. There are three major championships to choose from this summer – World Championships, Commonwealth Games and European Championships – it‘s going to be a jam-packed schedule!
Eilish McColgan Lindsays has sponsored Eilish since 2013. Eilish is 31 years old, a three-time Olympian, British record holder for 5,000m and European Record holder for 10k and 10 miles. She holds numerous British titles over five different events and is a European Medalist both outdoors and indoors.
Record breaking
At the ASICS event on 24 April, Eilish set a new British record in the 5k road race. As her mum and coach Liz McColgan tweeted afterwards,
“How the heck she pulled that out of the bag, I just don’t know… she amazes me.” Congratulations Eilish!
Eilish also secured a new PB, a National Record and a European Record over the 10km at the Great Manchester Run on 22 May. Eilish tweeted her delight after crossing the finish line,
"33s faster than last year & second behind the incredible Hellen Obiri! Over the moon & excited for the track season!”
To return to the main contents of Lindsays Life issue 22, please click here.
