Ashley Couper faces an uphill struggle to make the Commonwealth Games.

After missing out on qualifying for the 1500 metres in her last race by a hair's breadth, the 24-year-old Bermudian middle distance runner then discovered she had a stress fracture in her right femur.

After over a month out of action as she continues rehabilitation, California-based Couper, who runs for the Nike Farm team, has just two more meets pencilled in prior to Bermuda selecting its squad for the July Games in Manchester, England.

"I had been in quite a lot of pain in the week before my last race but I really wanted to race," said Couper from her home in Menlo Park, near San Jose.

"I ran a 4:20.7 and the qualifying for Commonwealth is 4:20.0," she said of her last race. "I was happy I had run that fast so early in the season but bummed that I didn't quite hit it when I knew I was going to have to take time off."

What made her time even more galling was the fact that she believed she could have made the mark had it not been for a collision involving two other athletes.

"There was an incident in the race that happened right in front of me. Two girls were elbowing each other and they both fell down and I had to swing out into lane three to get around them," she said. "In my head I kept thinking if that hadn't have happened I probably would have had a better race."

Returning to her west coast base after the event, Couper decided to check out the pain she was suffering.

"I have never felt anything like it before because I have never had a stress fracture," she said. "I get a massage at a clinic here through the Nike contract and she tried to check out muscular problems, but said there was nothing in my quad, nothing in my hamstring. Then someone with a little more experience said he thought it might be a stress reaction."

Couper took a week off, then tried to run again but was still in pain after working out.

"That was when I was coming home and my dad just set me up with a bone scan and they found a hotspot on the bone scan," she said.

After undergoing treatment, Couper is now on the long road back.

"I started running again two weeks ago but I am only up to doing 26 minutes and nothing on the track," she said.

"I have been doing all my workouts on the bike or in the pool. No biking on the road, no running - in total I took a month off from running and I am only now just getting back into it.

"As I said I am at 26 minutes now and when I get to 40 minutes of easy running with no pain I am allowed to get back on the track."

As someone who runs every day, Couper said she was having a hard time taking time out.

"It's really frustrating. I look at people running, just regular people, and I say I can't believe they are out doing that and I can't do that right now'," she said.

"I am having no pain in my running right now and it's very tempting to just want go for a couple of minutes more than I am supposed to.

"I want to be in better shape but I don't want to go back to square one again."

Couper said she was still hopeful of making the Games, but realised it was a big ask.

"I am still going to give it my best shot. I have a couple of meets planned for June 1 and 8. Qualifying is by June 15 so I have a very small window of opportunity but I am still going to give it my best shot," she said.

"I definitely have my heart set on it but there is always something else and it will come around again. This happens to every athlete - every athlete has a down time, every athlete has something that they are disappointed about.

"I think I am a very positive thinker, but I don't think unrealistically. I don't want to set myself up for disaster, I don't want to be totally devastated if it doesn't happen."