Stepping into the unknown at the Great Northern Run

Sonia O'Sullivan turned heads in August when she described the effects of the force of gravity on her body, what it was like first time back on the track after giving birth to daughter Ciara.

She said that her insides felt like falling out. O'Sullivan's turn of phrase is often as sharp as her final kick.

Now she's back in training. Back racing too. Back running with her group of athletes around the London fields, stretching it out as only the runner from Cobh can do. Ask her what it's like and she says the same. The same amount of time just a different intensity.

Three months after her move from the maternity ward to the athletics track O'Sullivan's body is eagerly approaching it's second transformation in 12 months, from that pregnant mother to world class athlete, who this weekend looks to her first serious challenge in the Great Northern Run in Newcastle.

Her presence in Sunday's half marathon should light up the eyes of organiser Brendan Foster but more importantly afford the 5,000 metre and 10,000 metre European Champion the most accurate information on her fitness.

"I suppose I'll just see how I'm doing. I hope to run as well as last year even though there's more competition in the race this year. I've been training out now for 10 weeks. It's definitely good that I can run the race and probably that's why I'm doing it - to see how good the training has been so far," she says.

"The last few weeks I've really felt I'm back to normal and I've been keeping up with the people I'd been training with last year. It didn't just happen for me. I'd to catch up. But now I'm back up to the same level.

"It's not my first race. I've been running club races, 5k runs and road races. But yeh, it has been pretty low key stuff so far. I just feel that every week I've improved quite a lot. That's what allows me to think that I can run ok at the weekend."

O'Sullivan's blind faith in a frightening work ethic has not diminished. "I didn't start back quickly," she remarks. "I took 10 days off (after the birth). That's not quickly. It's the most time I've ever taken off." While there will be few long faces if she does not live up to last year's winning run, her 1998 time of one hour 11 minutes and 50 seconds in cold conditions should make for an interesting reflection of this year's progress.

Even if the competition proves too great, O'Sulivan's more mature attitude is pliable enough not to bruise at the prospect of defeat. Perspective had already creeped in before Ciara's birth and obviously that has once more shifted.

"Now I'm not as strict with times as I used to be. I'm more flexible in training and things. I've to look after Ciara first and run afterwards and that's what I do. If she's happy then I'm more relaxed in my training."

"I've no predictions, no worry," she says. "In a way I'm starting from nowhere and I've no idea how I'll do. I'm confident I can finish but it's really something unknown at this stage."

Another point of interest in O'Sullivan's first step into the public gaze is whether the lingering effects of pregnancy will have a positive impact on her career. Long distance runners, Norway's Ingrid Kristiansen and Scotland's Liz McColgan both ran some of their best times after giving birth.

"Yeh, I've seen what women have done before and after pregnancy but it's hard to prove whether or not it's true. Certainly I'm re-motivated because I've been out of runing for a long time. I want to prove I can get back to where I was before and so far I'm pleased."

Next summer brings the Sydney games but the wild swings of fortune between European and World Championships and the Olympic Games in Barcelona and Atlanta have taught O'Sullivan to be circumspect about long range goals. Australia is not yet on the horizon.

This weekend Newcastle's draughty roads requires her attention and on October 16th she has a shorter road race in Loughrea before she winters in the warmth of Australia.

So when will times become an issue ?

"By the end of September next year. I'd like to run my best times then. That would make me happy," she says alluding to Sydney.