With London 2012 now a distant memory the country is in the midst of an Olympic comedown. We all watched captivated as our amazing athletes picked up medal after medal, smashing record after record but,  while we hope the legacy and feel good factor live on, we’re all left with a big hole in our lives – our viewing ones anyway – as life returns to some form of normality.

Well, if you think you’re feeling the ill effects of the post Olympic gloom then spare a thought for the athletes. For every Jessica Ennis, Mo Farah or Sir Chris Hoy success story there’s those who maybe didn’t quite hit the headlines or quite achieve what they’d hoped to. It doesn’t diminish in any way their achievement in reaching and competing on such a huge stage, but how do they deal with the post-Olympic demons – could they have done things differently, could they have been better?

There will be a lot of soul-searching for some, but not so for Eilish McColgan. She was probably still slightly out of breath from running her heat when she was honest enough to admit publically her disappointment in her 3000m Steeplechase performance. But at the tender age of 21, and bearing in mind it was her first Olympics, she’s not going to beat herself up too much. For Eilish it’s a case of onwards and upwards.

“For me the Olympics was a bad day at the office, but nothing to be too down about,” said Eilish. “I’d competed well all year, but some days you just have an off day and that was mine. It was my first time ever competing in a stadium that size so it was a huge step up for me and I think I was just really nervous.

“With more experience, and the experience I gained there, that kind of thing won’t happen again. I’m 21 and that was the biggest championships of my life – I’ll never be fazed like that again.

“My mum and I have spoken about what I need to do to improve. I was on half the weekly mileage of the girls I was competing against at the Olympics so I need to up my training. I also need to start doing barriers and hurdles work in training. When I was in training for the Olympic Steeplechase I was just doing running with no technique or barrier work and maybe that showed, but due to injury I hadn’t been able to do it. If I can stay injury-free this winter then I’ll see a massive improvement come the summer.

“At London 2012 a lot of the athletes – if not most – were full time, there were only a few of us doing university degrees and working as well as being athletes. When I get the option to go full time and put all my efforts into training then I know there will be a huge improvement in my training and overall performance.

“I’ve got no time to dwell on things, I’m looking ahead to next season and my main aim for next year is reaching the finals of the World Championships – I think that’s definitely a realistic aim.”

Eilish doesn’t just talk the talk, she can walk the walk too.  Two weeks ago in Manchester she took 17 seconds off her personal best in the 3000m. Olympic hangover – not a chance!  All in all this season – which is one meeting in Italy away from finishing – she has set personal bests in the 3000m Steeplechase, 1500m, 3000m and 5000m plus made her Olympic debut. In anyone’s eyes that’s a pretty amazing achievement.