Sally Pearson hopes to return to racing late next month at a local meet, before stepping up Rio preparations overseas in her historic bid for back-to-back Olympic gold medals.
Having not competed since June last year due to serious wrist and achilles injuries, the reigning London 100m hurdles champion says she's itching to make up for lost time.
Pearson has done everything under the sun to ensure her body issues are behind her, even flying to Germany last month for a check-up with the same doctor who treats Usain Bolt.
And despite initially predicting she wouldn't be fit until a month before the Games, the 29-year-old has flagged late May as the start of her race campaign leading into Rio.
"I've got to race, I have to race," said Pearson, who was named as captain of the Australian Olympic athletics team on Sunday night.
"The last race was a quarter race in Rome, so I need to catch up on some racing more than anything.
"Racing has got everything involved, the emotion as well as the physical side of things ... that's why you've got to keep doing more and more and more."
This week is a big one for Pearson.
For the first time on Monday morning, the Gold Coast product practised block starts using her new starting technique, which she's been forced to overhaul following her sickening wrist fracture sustained in a fall in Rome last June.
Because of her inability to hyperextend her wrist so as to rest on her fingers, she's adjusted to lean on her knuckles.
"I had my first three tries today," said Pearson, who also did some boxing on Monday.
"It was fun, it was exciting.
"It's obviously not perfect yet, but I've got 19 weeks to get it better."
In Thursday's training session Pearson will start jumping hurdles, and hopes to combine it with the block start within two to three weeks.
From there, it's about getting race fit.
"I think it's wise to get that race under her belt in late May and assess from there," Pearson's coach Ash Mahoney said.
"Ideally we'd then be back to normal, being able to compete around Europe and then head to the Diamond League circuit."
Having finally made headway with the wrist in recent months, Pearson's flared-up Achilles injury stalled her progress.
Not to be deterred by the setback, she sought the best medical treatment in Australia, then took herself to Germany for a seal of approval from famous sports injury specialist Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt, the former Bayern Munich doctor who has also worked with Bolt, Paula Radcliffe, Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Kewell.
"Usain Bolt sees him four times a year just for a check-up, so why not?" Pearson said.
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