Jessica Hull has received another vital taste of championship racing in Belgrade overnight.
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The Albion Park talent finished sixth in the 3000m event at the World Indoor Athletics Championships.
Ethiopia's Lemlem Hailu was first, with America's Elinor Purrier St Pierre second and Ethiopia's Ejgayehu Taye finishing in third.
It was a race contested like so many events at this level, times out the window and the focus purely on winning gold.
That led to a physical affair, the runners jostling for position while the pace constantly changed as runners looked to break the pack open.
"Going into the race today, I expected it to take a little while to wind up just based on the way the previous indoor World Championships 3000m races have gone," Hull said.
"I just wanted to approach it like I used to think about cross country races in college - time means nothing and place means everything."
With the pace changing so many times, Hull lost touch with the leading pack before closing strongly on the final lap to finish in a time of 8:44.97.
Hailu, the race winner, stopped the clock at 8:41.82.
While she fell short of a medal, Hull has taken plenty of confidence from the event.
The indoor titles provided another crucial opportunity to race at this level before July's Outdoor World Championships in Oregon.
With her focus for this year being on those titles and the Commonwealth Games, Hull had always viewed the event in Belgrade as a stepping stone towards the outdoor season.
"The race was very typical of a 3km or 5km race on the world stage," she said. "It was bunched up, physical and lots of surges and then settling back down which makes it like a fartlek.
"I was prepared for that style of race and having been in a few outdoor 5km races before that have a similar feel helped me stay composed.
"I'm really proud of how relaxed I was out there tonight amongst the messiness. That's a big step forward for me and experience that will help me later this year as we head into a big outdoor season."
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