Devon Park long distance runner Tara Palm emerges as Commonwelath Games prospect
TARA Palm remembers when she was forced to accept her athletics career was probably over - now she is eyeing next year's Commonwealth Games.
TARA Palm still remembers a time when she was forced to accept that her competitive athletics career was probably over.
After two years on the sidelines and surgery to repair a serious achilles injury, the 5000m runner attempted a comeback in late 2011, only for the nagging pain to return.
"I didn't believe I'd ever be able to race again,'' says Palm.
"At that stage, I just hoped I'd be able to get back to being able to jog for fitness because I loved it, but I didn't think I'd ever run competitively again."
Less than two years later and the 28-year-old is back among the country's elite women's long distance runners.
Refusing to believe what seemed inevitable, Palm - who before the injury represented Australia at World Cross Country Championships - attempted one last comeback last year.
She barely covered 100m on her first run back and for months she barely raised her pace above a jog.
She subjected herself to what must have been hundreds of post-run ice baths but gradually she worked her way back into full training - and the dodgy achilles held up.
Tomorrow night, Palm will race the national 10,000m championships in Melbourne as a genuine contender.
In a demonstration that she is now back to her best, the Flinders Athletics Club athlete cracked the 16-minute barrier for 5000m for only the second time in her career last week in Adelaide.
In the process she beat Olympic marathon runner Jess Trengove by four seconds and stopped the clock at a swift 15 min 57 sec.
"To go under 16 minutes again was a great feeling,'' Palm says.
"My training has been going well but to actually do it in a race was really satisfying."
Palm is dipping her toe in an elite 10,000m race for the first time this week but, regardless of the result, she is a legitimate chance of making Australia's Commonwealth Game team in the 5000m.
The B-Standard qualifying mark for Glasgow has been set at 15 min 45 sec and Palm will attack it in some fast races later this summer.
"To be honest, I'm just enjoying being back competing at a high level again,'' she says.
"I didn't think I'd have this opportunity again, so I'm trying to savour it."