Sarah Lavin is eyeing Euro podium after her fastest ever season opener

With Ireland set to send a bumper squad to the European Athletics Championships next week, Limerick's Sarah Lavin is hoping for her best result yet following her fastest ever season opener in Doha.

A tumble over the line didn't deter her in that race last month, she quickly got back to doing what she loves.

"The face took the brunt of it," Lavin laughed, as she spoke to RTÉ Sport.

"It was good to get back out. I raced four or five days later.

"I was lucky to come away with no injuries and fairly unscathed."

The race Lavin ran five days later was in Savona, Italy, where even with a clipped hurdle she managed another sub-13 clocking.

The national record holder knows that more will be required of her if she wants to make the podium in Rome.

"I reckon you'll have to be in the 50s (12.50) to be honest," admitted Lavin.

With such a short build up to the first championship and Lavin typically running over 20 races in a season, she explained that racing regularly gives more opportunity to fine-tune her technique.

"With hurdles being so technical, the more I gained confidence from racing.

"I love racing and putting those technical things into action under pressure.

"With the Europeans being so early it's a tricky one because no-one is getting the number of races they would like, the outdoor season was really only a month long."

Reflecting on her three-race season so far, Lavin is yet to have a clean run with ideal conditions.

A hurdle clipped in each of her first two races and a clean run in cold temperatures in the third leaves room for improvement heading into the European Championships.

The Limerick woman does acknowledge the enormity of her first run out of the season.

"To run 12.73 in May is lightning quick.

"To throw out an Olympic