We talk to the Scottish 3000m record holder about a breakthrough year dealing with injuries and adjusting to life as part of his first professional team with ON.
Last year Sarah Tate was enjoying the summer of her life. Every time he ran, something spectacular happened. Whether breaking Eilish McColgan’s 12-year-old Scottish 3000m record, winning silver at the European Team Championships on her senior international debut, doing the same at the British Championships or qualifying for her first World Championships appearance, there has been some serious progress.
“Basically every race leading up to the World Championships I’d run a PB,” said the 25-year-old. “I started the season with a PB (9:37.62)and then I ran 9:18.66 (coming in August). I was really stepping up and I was really excited to see what I could do against the best in the world. Unfortunately, it didn’t go to plan. The ending was embarrassing, but it doesn’t take away from what a special season it was.”
The “end” Tait is talking about was his fever at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium. a painful landing in a water jump that caused significant damage. “You have three major ligaments (in your ankle),” said the 25-year-old, who was the first recipient of McColgan’s Giving Back To Track initiative. “I tore one, I tore the other two, I also had bruises on my bones.
“I don’t think I could have ever imagined how hard it would be to come back from there. I ended up going about six months without running. I definitely don’t want to be a triathlete. I spent too much time on the bike, elliptical trainer and swimming. It’s been much, much longer than I think anyone could have expected.”
But the start of the year wasn’t all doom and gloom for the former West Virginia University student, who was seeded fourth in the 2025 NCAA finals. In January, he signed his first professional contract, joining On Athletics Club Oceania, a team based in Melbourne and coached by four-time Australian Olympian Craig Mottram. Tate has been in Australia since February, working to get fully back on track. Luckily, he’s almost there.
“It’s very different from what I’m used to,” he admits. “The most difficult thing was the fact that I joined the team with an injury and was not able to fully join with everything. We’re getting there. I still spend quite a bit of time in cross training when they are out doing their easy miles.
“But the main difference is actually that they train three times a week. I did it growing up in Las Vegas with my coaches Kirk and Linda Smith, but then in America it was two big sessions a week.
“I’m really excited because I’ve done a lot of aerobics building over the last couple of years (in America) and even though they do a lot of that here as well, they also do a little bit more intensity. I think it will be a nice change for me.
“Craig completely took over at the beginning of the year and then when I came in we literally hit the ground running and we just progressed every week. Every week was different, but it was getting closer and closer to what a normal training volume would be for me.”
There is no shortage of motivation, with the home Commonwealth Games and European Championships to aim for.
“The only thing that keeps me going is the thought of competing in two home games,” Tate said. “I grew up playing at Scotstown as a little girl and all I could think about was standing there in a Scotland kit with my friends and family at home…
When he can expect to start racing again is unclear at this point, but much of the confidence built last year remains. Lizzie Bird’s British record of 9:04:35 is the target she and British champion Elise Turner are eyeing, while Tate admits the Los Angeles Olympics has also crossed her mind.
“I want to see how good I can get,” he adds. “If it gets me to the Olympics, that would be amazing. Having seen what Lizzie Bird and Amy Pratt did, the two of them were just taking bits off the British record and I see no reason why Elise and I can’t do the same over the next few years.”
A typical training week
(Last training week during recovery)
In these final stages of injury recovery, Tate admits: “My training really changes every week at the moment.” Currently running about 80km per week, the goal is to replace more of his cross training with running and bring that total weekly mileage up to 100km-110km. Eventually, he will add a third session to his week.
“For session days it would be Monday, Wednesday, Friday and then the long run is usually Saturday or Sunday depending on how you feel about Friday’s training. I also go to the gym twice a week, which is new to me.”
Two of those sessions will focus on threshold running, while the third will be a “race-pace variation” such as “8x800m and around 300s.” As the season approaches, it transitions to two more VO2 Max focused sessions and one threshold.
Monday: (am) 7 x 1 km (60 second recovery); (pm) cross training, 30 minutes on the elliptical or bike
Tuesday(am) one hour elliptical; (pm) gym session
wednesday: (am) 14 km run (“4:20-5:00/km pace depending on how I feel”; (pm) 30 minutes on the elliptical
thursday: (am) follow the session. “It will be focused on VO2 Max. We only find out what it is when we get to the track,” Tate says.
Friday: (am) cross training; (pm) gym session
on Saturday: (am) Long run, up to 20km, ‘usually indoors 4:10-4:30/km range”.
Sunday: (am) 12 km run; (pm) 30 minutes of cross training
Favorite session:
“Anything a little longer. I like to do Fartlek sessions, like the Mona Fartlek or 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, with float recoveries. Or I love running on the treadmill. People think I’m absolutely crazy, but you cut something like five to four minutes on the treadmill, so you’re running fast… simple.”
Least favorite session.
“Reps of any hill. They really appeal to me. I’ve done 16 x 500m before on the track and that’s a lot more than doing 400m repeats, I’ll tell you that.”
