Thomas Barr is determined to give one final Olympic cycle absolutely everything as he begins to contemplate life off the track.
Twice an Olympian, including a fourth-placed finish in the 400m hurdles seven years ago in Rio, the Waterford man feels he can get back to those levels once more in Paris next summer.
The last 18 months, though, have been frustrating. It's a period when an achilles injury disrupted his World Championships in Oregon in the summer of last year, before he had to pull out of the 2023 edition in Budapest with a calf injury.
But Barr believes that if he can stay fully fit, then there's enough in what he's running in training to convince him that he could go out on another major high at the Stade de France.
"Everything was pointing towards, in training, that I could get back into that low 48 seconds [and] possibly dip under," he says.
"This year, the way training has gone so far, in a time-trial session I ran my fastest ever 300m this early in a season.
"I'm definitely moving well so I'm quietly confident that I could get back into that shape, 100%."
One thing is certain and that is that Barr has delivered in the biggest of arenas. His best ever outdoor time came in that Olympic final at Rio as he crossed the line in 47.97.
Heartbreakingly he was on to go quicker in the semis five years later in Tokyo, but he clipped a hurdle late on and ended up finishing fourth in his semi-final and missing out on a final spot.
His time of 48.26 is the second fastest he has ever run and it matched the time posted by the winner of the third semi, Kyron McMaster of the British Virgin Islands.
The luck of the draw, coupled with one poor jump, meant his Olympic dream was over.
"While it was bittersweet, for the last two years that one race [Tokyo] has given me a huge amount of confidence," he adds.
"Looking at the time that I was running, where I was at I was on to run a mid-47 - 47.6 or 47.7 at worst - if I hadn't hit the hurdle. The problem was that I was travelling faster over that hurdle than I was used to so it came up quite fast and I just hadn't anticipated that.
"We've learned from that and we've tried to rectify it. That race gives me savage confidence because a lot of the talk after Rio was about whether it was a one off.
"An Olympic semi-final, I nearly went out and replicated what I did in Rio only for the fact that I hit a hurdle. It proved to me that I am a championship performer, my best will come out at championships, and that Rio wasn't a once off.
"When it counted I was in the shape to run well if I hadn't messed it up. In races last season I was pulling on that confidence and hope that I could do it again.
"Only if I pick up niggles along the way that hampers training, there's no doubt in my mind that I can get back to that kind of shape."
In order to peak in the summer, Barr has two warm-weather training periods planned in Tenerife in January and around Easter time, while he sees June's European Championships "as almost like a warm-up" for the Olympics.
He hasn't ruled out running into 2025, but thoughts of living a "normal" life, without the restriction of training six days a week and having to be extremely disciplined around diet and social gatherings, do come into the 31-year-old's mind and he admits they excite him.
"I've had three very good Olympic cycles. Last year I said to myself, 'that's me, I'm done, I don't want to race again after next year [2024]'.
"I needed that end point to spur me on to think, 'one more year, one more year'. Because of my calf injury, and my achilles the previous year, I feel like I might have a little bit of unfinished business.
"So I'm not calling it my final year just yet, but I'd be very happy to walk away at the end of this year [season] and leave it at that, depending on how it goes.
"There's times when I'm saying to myself that this is the last time I'll be booking Tenerife for January or April, so I am thinking of giving this my very best shot.
"I wouldn't say I'm apprehensive about entering the real world, whatever it does look like; a 9 to 5 job, working for myself, travelling. There's a huge part of that which really excites me because athletics takes a huge amount of discipline and time.
"Every decision I've made over the last 20 years has been based around athletics. I've missed countless birthday parties and weddings. So there's a part of me that's excited about going down that path, doing the things I can't do now because I'm restricted with sport.
"There's also the part of me that's apprehensive because it's been such a huge part of my life for so long. I'm definitely going to miss it, and being part of the athletics community as an athlete."
The achilles injury ahead of Oregon, which prevented him running his best, followed by missing out on Budapest in August gave Barr a new perspective.
For now though, he's fully focused on making 2024 the best summer of his career.
"The last two years, injuring myself coming into major championships, have weaned me off a little bit," he admits.
"We are really focusing this year on, for want of a better phrase, putting all the eggs into one basket. Why not? If I end up picking up an injury, sure what of it, we gave it our very best shot.
"There are a lot of things I'm doing where I'm thinking that this is the last rough winter I'll have to go through, but at the same time I'm leaving the door open until the end of this season.
"It could end on a very high note or on another injury, or a low note, but I'm going to give it my best shot this year and see where we stand."
