Emelia Gorecka has made her long awaited return to athletics, after six months on the side-line nursing a stress fracture in her foot.
She competed in Belgium at the Lotto Cross Cup on the weekend where she finished 10th, and is thrilled to be back competing:
“It felt so great to back racing again having missed the summer,” she told us in an exclusive interview.
“I really enjoyed the Lotto Cross Cup as I’ve never done one before so it was a new experience. Parts of the course included running on sand which was tough! But, I’m a racer and it feels so good to be back racing!”
Feel the fear… …and run my first race, in exactly half a year üí´
— Emelia Górecka (@emeliagorecka) November 1, 2015
Emelia’s summer season ended as quickly as it began, finding herself injured after her first race last May at the Payton Jordan Invitational in California.
She missed the entire summer, including the IAAF World Championships in Beijing. However Gorecka, as always remained positive, looking to make the best of a bad situation and pacing her recovery:
“The timing of my injury actually allowed me to make the most of the summer off and I was able to build back up very slowly and carefully transition back into running. As a result, although I might not be as fit as I would normally be at this time of year, I haven’t suffered from any setbacks on my comeback.
“Of course it was hard missing out on all the races this summer, however I really enjoyed being able to give myself a good break, both physically and mentally.”
Despite missing most of the summer, she has recovered in time to take part in cross country season. With the season in full swing, many athletes will be gearing up for the European s Country Championships taking place in France next month. As an eight-time medallist herself, Gorecka would relish the chance to compete if she’s ready:
“I would love to run at the European Cross Country Championships as I’ve not missed one since my first in 2010! I will run the trial and it will be good to see how I’m fairing. If I manage to qualify then that’s a bonus, if not then at least I know where I’m at and I won’t be disheartened.”
Emelia ran indoors for the first time earlier this year, picking up 3000m gold at the British championships in February, before reaching the final of the European Championships in Zurich. As of yet, she has no plans to do so again in 2016.
“At this stage I’m not sure what my racing schedule will look like in early 2016. It’s certainly not something I’ve ruled out, and I really enjoyed the indoors I did this year.”
As far as next year is concerned, her focus, like many athletes has shifted towards the Olympics Games in Rio. And Gorecka will be looking for a strong winter order to prepare herself for the rigors of next year:
“Rio is of course my biggest aim for 2016, and my winter training and racing schedule is all geared to put me in the best possible position in order to qualify for selection next year.
“As for special preparations, I have made a few tweaks to my training but nothing too special! For me, I just need to make sure I have the right balance of each element of my training in order to race well.”
