European gold medallist Kate O'Connor has been revelling in doing "normal things" for a 25-year-old, but acknowledges the prospect of Olympic silverware is always at the back of her mind.
Having won silver at last year's World Championships, as well as gold and silver medals at the Commonwealth Games, O’Connor has cemented her place at the elite level within women’s heptathlon.
Following on from her exploits in Birmingham, O’Connor took a full three weeks off, enjoying the downtime to take in events such as Electric Picnic, attending Katie Taylor’s farewell fight at Croke Park and London Fashion Week.
"It’s been really nice mentally to chill out, say yes to things I want to say yes to, enter a different world like the fashion world and see what that is like," she told RTÉ’s Inside Sport
"It’s been really nice to be a normal 25-year-old that does what she wants and not follow such a strict regime.
"It’s been really refreshing for me, to reset and want to get back into training and put the head down for the next couple of months."
In the weeks that followed she relived her events from Birmingham, except the shot putt - "I can’t watch it back as it still irks me how much I left my shot putt slip over the summer" - and it has allowed her to soak in those magical two days.
"It was somewhat surreal watching myself, seeing how competitive I am," she said. "It’s still somewhat surreal to me that that is me I’m watching."
Now O’Connor is dealing with rising levels of expectations. She has made serious inroads in the past two years and with some competitors stepping away or retiring, it is the Irish athlete who is the target of others.
It’s an adjustment she is still processing.
"It’s strange," she said. "I’m still coming to terms with that, but maybe in a way it’s great that I’m a little naïve to that. I don’t know if it’s really within my personality to turn up and think that I’m the best. I don’t know if that will ever be in my personality.
"I think that’s one of my strengths in that I pay a lot of respect to everyone.
"Maybe it’s also a heptathlon thing; I know how had I work, so I can only imagine how hard all the other girls work.
"I believe in myself and I believe I’m fully capable of beating everybody when I’m standing at the line."
After taking a complete break for three weeks, the past two weeks has seen a return to remote training.
Aerobic and strength work will occupy her focus for now, with a trip to Los Angeles next week serving as a recce for the 2028 Olympic Games.
While there are 95 weeks until the heptathlon event in the United States, O’Connor says everything is pointing in the right direction for her to seriously challenge for a podium position.
"We have found a training programme that really works for me," she said. "There is a team around me that I really trust. They have my best intentions at heart.
"I feel like I have been given every single opportunity to be at the top of the podium in LA. Then it comes down to me really putting in the work over the next couple of years.
"I feel like I haven’t maxed out in any of my events.
"The sky is the limit. I don’t have any marker that I want to hit because I don’t know where my ceiling is. I think that’s really exciting."
