Glasgow 2014: Eilish McColgan puts heart scare behind her

McColgan will compete at the Diamond League event at Hampden

Scottish athlete Eilish McColgan says she is not going to let her recent heart scare hamper her running career.

The 23-year-old, who will compete for Team Scotland at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, suffered heart palpitations in April while out in the Middle East.

McColgan admits that she was initially "scared" by the experience.

"From a very young age, I've always had heart palpitations, loads of people have them, but it's never affected me running," she told BBC Scotland.

"I knew instantly these palpitations were different," she added.

McColgan did not have her heart re-started, which is a common procedure in rectifying an irregular heartbeat.

"They gave me some medication to slow down my heart," she revealed. "It's not a method you can keep doing as it'll affect my athletics.

"At the and of the season, we'll sit down to see what we can do to eradicate the problem."

She says she has been reassured by talking to swimmer Michael Jamieson, who has suffered similar problems but is back competing at a high standard.

McColgan, daughter of Commonwealth gold medallist Liz McColgan, got in touch with the Olympic medallist when she realised that her condition was very similar to his.

"We saw the same specialist and he advised me that Michael was able to get straight back into training and he's had no issues since," she said.

With the Commonwealth Games now only two weeks away, McColgan says that continuing to train hard and look forward is the best way for her to achieve success.

Glasgow will not be the first time she has competed at a home games. In 2012, she finished ninth in her heat of the steeplechase at the London Olympics.

This weekend, she will compete in the Diamond League at Hampden Park, an event she feels will help both her physical and mental preparations for Glasgow 2014.

"It's important for me to get a feel of the stadium before the real thing," she said. "It's important to have experience it and get rid of those nerves before the Commonwealth Games.

"If I can run as close as I can to the European qualifier of 9.43, I'd be happy.

"I just want to get myself as fit as possible and on that start line."