SINGAPORE - She had just taken down the 1,500m record that had stood for nearly 40 years, but Goh Chui Ling did not spend much time soaking in her achievement.

After clocking 4min 27.26sec at the Flanders Cup in Belgium on Saturday (July 16) to rewrite Kandasamy Jayamani's previous record of 4:31.20 that was set in 1982, Goh was already eager to build on her feat.

She said: "I'm really glad of course to have gotten the record, but there's so much more to come.

"It's a huge record, but I've shown in training that I can go a bit faster. I've recorded faster timings, so it's exciting to see."

This national record is just the latest from Goh, who has attained several breakthroughs in recent times.

At May's SEA Games in Hanoi, she clinched bronzes in two of her three events - the 1,500m and 10,000m - which were her first medals in five SEA Games.

But competing in three events over a few days took a toll on her body and she avoided competitions for two weeks after that, focusing mainly on training and rehabilitation.

The break turned out to be crucial for Goh, who clocked a season's best in her first race back, an 800m event in Austria.

This short time away from competing also led to a change in mindset, which Goh believes helped her lower the national mark on Saturday.

She said: "More recently, it's about getting consistency at training and consistency not just during the hard sessions but also committing to the easy runs.

"I've had a good switch in mindset where I'm committing and being very intentional about every step of the race."

Being intentional about every aspect of the race for Goh includes focusing on the preparations before the race such as taking note of things like what to eat, what to bring to her race and getting to the stadium.

During the race, it means pushing through periods of discomfort and tough moments.

While Goh, who now holds national records in six events, has enjoyed some success recently, it has taken her some time to get to this stage of her career.

In 2017, Goh, who was mainly competing in 400m events, had quit sprints after she found it difficult to juggle training and her work as a lawyer.

But she continued to run longer distances recreationally, which prompted her current coach Volker Herrmann to convince her to take on longer-distance events.

"What keeps me going is improvement. I'm 29 going 30 and I'm seeing world class women improving in their mid-30s and sometimes 40s," said Goh, who is hoping to lower the national marks for the 800m and 2.4km next.

"To be maturing and improving at such a late stage, it is relatively encouraging to keep on going because there's so much room for improvement."

Jayamani, 67, congratulated Goh on her feat, saying that it was only a matter of time before her record was broken.

She said: "Someone will have to do a better time, it's a normal thing. When someone sets a record, other people will go for it.

"I'm happy that this is an athlete who is coming up. I hope to see more athletes who can achieve better times in all events."