Two of Australian sprint star Ella Nelson's greatest fears are flying and racing first-up after a long spell.
So, as the 22-year-old had only returned to Australia last week from her Arizona training base and was competing over her favoured 200m distance for the first time in more than six months, it was perhaps wise to temper expectations on Sunday.
But having come within an agonising one hundredth of a second of qualifying for the half-lap final at the Rio Olympics, those assumptions have inevitably been raised, regardless of the circumstances.
Nelson was pleased to claim victory at the Canberra grand prix meet over in-form Papua New Guinea sprinter Toea Wisil and to have bettered the qualifying mark for August's world championships.
The winning time of 23.00 seconds - half a second outside the PB she set in Rio - was less of a thrill.
"I always get really worked up beforehand," said Nelson.
"That's probably not the best thing in hindsight, but it does get you excited and ready to go.
"I really, really wanted to open with something similar to last year (22.84) but it didn't happen.
"But I am off the plane so we'll see how we are come the nationals (in Sydney in three weeks).
"I think I'll be in a better headspace."
Nelson is still lightly framed in comparison to most of the world's best female sprinters, but she has benefited from a tough training regime in the US under coach Stu McMillan.
"I don't feel like I'm going to break when I'm running now," she said.
"This time last year, I was quite small and running really fast and there was always that big question mark whether I would make it around the track healthy or not.
"This year, I definitely feel a lot sturdier."
