Paula Radcliffe is looking forward to finally putting Olympic disappointment behind her as she defends her New York Marathon title on Sunday.
Radcliffe will be going for her third victory in New York.
The Briton, 34, finished 23rd in the Olympic marathon in Beijing after she suffered a stress fracture of her left femur in the build-up.
"I totally don't regret being there because I worked really hard to give myself that chance," said Radcliffe.
"Being in the race and giving it a shot is 100 times better than watching on TV. It's the Olympic Games. I wanted to go there and give it the best shot that I could."
"My main focus is just to do everything I can to win the race"
"The way things worked out I wasn't able to run anywhere near as well as I wanted to in that race," she said.
"Actually, what it took out of my legs was less than a hard training run.
"It's totally different coming into this race because I'm properly prepared and in Beijing I was frustrated in the end that I wasn't able to even perform as well as I should have been able to.
"That's in the past now though and I'm looking forward to it and to racing positively again."
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"I do have good feelings about New York," she said. "When I go there I can race well and something special can happen."
Radcliffe's main competition is expected to come from Ethiopia's Gete Wami, whom she beat in a sprint finish in Central Park 12 months ago, and old rival Catherine Ndereba of Kenya.
Also competing will be rising marathon stars Rita Jeptoo of Kenya and Ethiopia's Dire Tune, while Kim Smith of New Zealand and American Olympian Kara Goucher make their marathon debuts.
"It's a really, really strong field and that's why my main focus is just to do everything I can to win the race," said Radcliffe.
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