ATHLETICS/ INTERVIEW WITH PAULA RADCLIFFE: Donald McRaemeets the long-distance queen who has not let her Olympic disappointments grind her down. As for turning 35, she's shown no signs of slowing down either

AS A tumultuous year hurtles towards its close, Paula Radcliffe steps back to draw breath and put her feet up. She settles down in a chair, stretches out her long legs and considers the fact this month will represent another landmark in her life.

Radcliffe turns 35 on December 17th and, for a great marathon runner, it is an age which induces pause for thought.

She smiles and suggests that there have been many times over the past few years when she has had trouble remembering her age. "I've had to think, 'How old am I actually?' That's because I've never worried about ageing - unlike Gary [her husband and manager, Gary Lough]. Gary gets depressed before every birthday, and he's 38 now. I keep threatening to throw him a big party on his 40th and he just mutters, 'Don't you dare'.

"But, when you start thinking about it, 35 sounds quite significant. I think of it as a positive because I still surprise myself. I'm on a run and I go past a checkpoint and I expect to be at such-and-such a time and I'm way faster. I feel really good because that's better than I've ever run.

"That's why I try not to think too hard about how old I am or how many years I've been competing. It's just best to keep running."

Radcliffe nods determinedly and then, because she is both fiercely honest and touchingly human, a vulnerable laugh slips from her.

"I dunno. There are days, even weeks, when I feel the same physically as I did at 26. But there're other days when I think, 'God, everything feels a bit stiff this morning'. On those days you just have to concentrate so you get as much out of it as possible. You never know when it might end."

That sounds like a bruising admission after a year in which one particular disappointment still overshadows her real achievement, her Olympic frustration clouding a near flawless run earlier this month in the New York marathon.

And yet Radcliffe, clearly, is not contemplating retirement.

"One of the things I like about this time of year is that you get to plan for the future. Every New Year's Eve my big thing is to set my goals for the next year. I write down two sets - realistic goals and dream goals. The realistic goals will be to go here, here and here and win, win and win. The dream goals will be what times I might run. So this New Year's Eve I'll be dreaming of a new world record."

Radcliffe set the marathon record of just over two hours 15 minutes in 2003 in London, when she was 29. The depth of her ambition can be heard in the way she considers by how much she might lower that mark.

"I don't like to predict how fast I might run on a perfect day because I don't want any limits. What do you do if you're way ahead of schedule after 20 miles? I obviously know it's possible to run much faster - the only question is by how much?

"Some people have said, 'If you could take the shape you were in in London on a really fast course like Berlin, with no wind, you could run 2:13'. But why put down limits? There have been days since London when I've been in much better shape but there simply wasn't a race then. All you can do is prepare as hard as possible so you can give it your best shot to run quicker than ever. After that you just have to be philosophical."

The famously intense Radcliffe had her newly philosophical persona tested this year. Beijing was her fourth Olympics and, after the despair of Athens, where she failed to complete either the marathon or the 10,000 metres, she had been desperate to win gold. A hip injury and a stress fracture, however, ruined the dream again.

She finished the marathon in Beijing, limping in on one good leg, but even before her calf cramped it was plain that she had not had nearly enough training.

"The injury was diagnosed in April - so it was far worse in 2004 because up until two weeks before Athens everything had been going so well. Athens was also confusing because no one understood why I had been so depleted then. This time I knew I hadn't done enough running."

Radcliffe nods bleakly when asked if she believes people define her in terms of those miserable Olympic experiences rather than on her triumphant record in other marathons.

"It's hard and unfair but some people do think of me in that way. I've got this tag as a choker and it's just not true. If anything it's a case of I try too hard and get injured in preparation.

"People rightly see the Olympics as this great championship and assume I keep missing out because the occasion gets to me. But look at the London marathon. I've missed the last two because of injury and I could afford to do that because there's always another London marathon next year. You push yourself to get to the Olympics because it's only every four years."

She will almost certainly race in London next April - especially as its Olympic equivalent is at the forefront of her mind. The fervour with which Radcliffe discusses that 2012 race is intriguing and slightly concerning.

"I'll be 38 and that's the age Constantina Tomescu [of Romania] was when she won in Beijing. In Athens, Constantina had looked terrible and dropped out. Those little things give me hope and inspiration because the odds of succeeding seem to increase."

It is typical of Radcliffe she should believe her Olympic chances will improve rather than diminish with age. But that burning passion means she is again in danger of pushing herself too hard in the long build-up to 2012.

"It's going to be a wonderful Olympics," she says. "The fact it is in London just adds to the whole basket of emotions with me wanting to do better than Athens and Beijing. I also have these amazing memories from the London marathon. When you throw all that into the mix and you imagine the level of support British athletes will get from the crowd - it's giving me goosebumps just thinking about it."

Those goosebumps are also a cautionary sign. If she feels this deeply about 2012 in these dark and wintry days now, how will she manage to control her "basket of emotions" closer to the race? "I have to be more careful further out than I have been before. Once you get to the last couple of weeks before the Olympics and you're in good shape you can just relax. The key is getting to that point. I have to ensure I don't break down.

"I'm still going to want to do this when I'm 48 - let alone 38. The only question is purely physical. How many more marathons has my body got left? No one knows. It'll come down to how well my body withstands the training and me being smart enough not to over-train."

In the wake of her dominant victory in New York Radcliffe is notably relaxed. "It was pretty easy after the first few miles. I started off stiff, sluggish and had a headache. I thought, 'Oh no, I don't feel great,' but then, as soon as I started running faster, it all just clicked. I really enjoyed the last six miles. Part of that comes down to the fact that, since having Isla [her daughter who turns two in January] I'm much better at keeping things in perspective."

Radcliffe lights up when talking about Isla and the positive impact she has had on her and the notoriously prickly Gary. "He's brilliant with her and she gets him to laugh a lot which is good because people always think he's very stern. But Gary's much calmer and more mellow. He's still not so open emotionally but Isla's helping him. Whereas I'm the other extreme - I'm just very open."

That raw emotion is one of Radcliffe's best character traits; and a rare weakness in her as a runner. But hearing her talk about moving house next week in Monaco and her desire to have another child in 2010, it is clear Radcliffe is no longer obsessively single-minded. She is just as keen to discuss the fact that, having been fluent in the language for years, she now talks exclusively in French to Isla.

"I'm 'Mama' to her while Gary, who only talks English to her, is 'Daddy'. I love the fact she's going to be totally bilingual."

Does her daughter have any idea that she is a famous runner?

"Gary asks her 'What does Mama do?' And Isla does this [pumping her arms] 'Allez, allez! Go, go, go!' She really knows I'm a runner - and her mother."

Radcliffe looks very happy. It is easy to understand why, an hour earlier, she had been such a hit with a group of schoolchildren as, under a Tesco scheme she has supported since its launch in 2005, she coached them in the rudiments of running with verve and sheer pleasure.

"I love their enthusiasm and it's impossible to feel you're almost 35 when you're around them." She looks out at a dark and drizzly November evening, and smiles radiantly.

"Yeah, it's been a good year. Of course there're always going to be people who criticise me. But I can look myself in the mirror every day and feel happy with the person I am - and what I've done so far."

• Guardian Service