Yesterday's visit to Dublin for the Women's Mini Marathon was meant to mark the start of Sonia O'Sullivan's summer season. Instead, it marked the start of a self-imposed sabbatical.
Within minutes of finishing second to Kenya's Magdaline Chemjor, O'Sullivan revealed her plans for a break from all international running for the rest of the year.
It was a disappointing but not totally unexpected decision. The form of the Olympic silver medallist has hit a lull and the feeling now is that another demanding track season would run her into the ground.
"I think I need this break to come back stronger again," said the 31-year-old Cork runner. "The Olympics does take a lot out of you and the illness I had in March took a lot out of me as well.
"Even here I just didn't feel right running around, and for some reason I seem to be picking up illnesses quite easily this year. But I'll definitely be back next year, and there's no doubt that I'll keep going until the next Olympics. I just don't want to use up all my energy now."
It's not the first time O'Sullivan has hung up her spikes to recharge her batteries. After the success of 1998, she missed the entire summer track season of 1999 to give birth to daughter Ciara. She quickly recovered her best form and ran an Irish record when taking the Olympic silver over 5,000 metres in Sydney last September.
Part of Ms O'Sullivan's plans to stay fit will be a few road races over the summer, purely "for fun", including the 10-mile race in Ballycotton on June 24th.
