Her 1500m best of three minutes 57.09 seconds arrived in her season-opener at the Florence Diamond League, where she finished a distant second as the record-breaking Kipyegon clocked 3:49.11, and ranks as the seventh fastest time this year.
But after a disappointing sixth-place finish in Stockholm and defeat by Katie Snowden at the national championships one week later, Muir showed a return to form in breaking Zola Budd’s 38-year British mile record in Monaco last month to complete her World Championships preparations.
And while it has been a far from from ideal build-up for Muir, who is now guided by UK Athletics’ World Class Programme endurance performance manager Steve Vernon, this challenging chapter is one which she is confident will only benefit her long-term.
“I’m so lucky to have the support I’ve had and being in this place sets me up to actually perform so much better at the championships too,” Muir said.
“It’s definitely going to be difficult. It’s going to be the first time to have different circumstances since I started my career, since the European Indoor Championships in 2013.
“When I left Andy, I didn’t have a plan going forward but I knew just any situation was better than the situation I was in.
“Steve, with his role, was overseeing things for me and I knew we just clicked. It just really, really worked and I was very happy working with him.
“We’ve been working really well together and I’m really, really happy that he’s wanted to do it. That’s been a massive help.”
