CATHERINA MCKIERNAN'S first 10,000 metres race on the track this season will be the Olympic heats on Saturday July 27th with, hopefully, the final the following Friday her other seasonal journey over tile distance.

But the Cavan woman will not be twiddling her thumbs waiting for that July date to display her talents on the track. Instead she will prove her stamina for the task with a run over 15km on the road in Paris this week before setting off to compete on the track in the Tokyo Grand Prix on May 12th over 5,000 metres.

Races over 5,000m will form the crucial element of her preparations for Atlanta although she has as yet not fully finalised her competitive plans. Northern France is another stop on her itinerary for a race in either St Denis or Lille, with that region holding a special memory for her as it announced her arrival as an athlete of quality on the track last season when she set her Irish record for 10,000m. Injury subsequently deprived her of the opportunity of proving that she was not a cross country specialist only.

The Grand Prix meeting in London is also pencilled in and that could bring her into competition with Ireland's medal hope at that distance, Sonia O'Sullivan. The Cobh athlete has already signalled that London is firmly in her plans as her final race before Atlanta but O'Sullivan would probably elect to race over a shorter distance.

Altitude training has now become an integral part of McKiernan's preparations and she will travel to Albuquerque, New Mexico, for a further three week spell there in either June or early July.

Several of those who have been in the Irish training camp in Life College, Marietta, Georgia, for the last three weeks will get their outdoor competitive season underway this weekend in the Penn Relays. David Matthews will team up with James Nolan, John O'Reilly and Keelan Conlon in the 4 x 800m relay as well as in the medley relays. Niall Bruton will run in an alumni relay for his former college, Arkansas.

But Ken Nason will not be running in a team. Rather the Olympic qualification time will be on his mind when he takes his place in the 1,500m. Nason, a Villanova graduate, is now based in Boston with John Doherty coaching him. The Cork man recently ran a 1,000m time trial at the training camp in Georgia in two minutes 22 seconds as an indication of his current well being. A further performance like that could see him edge closer to the Olympic mark as the pace quickens.