Keely Small will never forget the five hours she spent on a drip or the way her legs wobbled in the closing stages of her first taste of Commonwealth Games action this year.
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But the Canberra teenage pocket rocket says a shattering end to her 800 metre race earlier this year will be the perfect motivation to chase redemption on the Gold Coast.
Small, the Australian under-18s 800-metre record holder, will juggle school and training for the next six months as she aims for national selection for a dream Commonwealth Games call up.
Small led the final at the youth Commonwealth Games in the Bahamas earlier this year, but a 58-hour journey to get there and intense heat saw her " basically collapse" with the line in sight.
She is using that lesson to fuel her ambitions for next year and was invited to a 'dare to dream' information session at the AIS Arena last week to start her journey to the Gold Coast.
"I was severely dehydrated and I basically collapsed, I was on a drip for five hours after the race, but it was a good experience," Small said.
"I learnt so much from that. It was the first international event I'd been on as a team, I was away from my parents and away from my coach.
"Yes, I was disappointed. But I can take a lot away from it and I've got the opportunity now to maybe go to the actual Commonwealth Games ... so that's where my sights are set."
Small set the national junior record in Canberra in March, clocking a time of 2:01.46 to be the world's fastest under-18 female.
It was just 0.46 seconds outside of the qualifying time for the senior world championships and Commonwealth Games.
The 16-year-old is the No. 2 ranked Australian 800 metre runner, but her personal best is only marginally slower than Brittany McGowan.
But one of her biggest challenges will be coping with school work and increasing her training load to chase a Commonwealth Games goal.
"It is hard, I'm in year 10 and St Clare's and the school really helps me a lot," Small said.
"They understand my goal at the moment is to get to the Gold Coast and they'll help me work out school around my running, which is amazing.
"It would be crazy if I could get the Gold Coast. I wasn't thinking about it a couple of months ago, but being able to get the 2:01 minutes, I've definitely set that as the big-picture goal."
