"The big indicator for me was how I coped with racing, my mentality around it, being quite calm and enjoying it," Carrington said from Milan. "For me that's a good indicator that things are on track physically and mentally. I've definitely got a few things more things to work on, but it's a great start."
Carrington, 24, won all her six races across the two events.
Now backtrack a step.
Over last year's three World Cups and the world championships in Duisburg, Germany, Carrington had a clean sweep of 200m titles, two golds in the 500m and a bronze. The only distant blip was winning the B final in her first attempt at the 500m in the first World Cup event.
She's a fast learner and you wonder how her rivals would view her.
Has she developed a mental grip over her opponents, the sort that makes them wonder how on earth they'll get to the finish line ahead of her?
Carrington has an interesting take on it.
"I almost think that gives them a little confidence because they arrive at a race with no expectations, just striving to get better," she said.
"I would take it as a positive for them. You never know what they're thinking but I am sure they're looking at what I'm doing well and if they can do that to get faster."
Her coach Gordon Walker doesn't believe Carrington has an iron grip over all her rivals.
"She definitely has a grip on a few of them, but I wouldn't say it's the case with all of them," he said. "You've got to remember that these athletes are the best from their country and the best of the rest in the world, so they'll have a certain level of confidence."
Walker cited the Pole Marta Walczykiewicz, second in Milan in the shorter distance and second behind Carrington in the worlds last year.
"She was in front of Lisa for probably 150-175m last year [Carrington got up to win by 0.19s]. I would say she's got a fair level of confidence."
Carrington's philosophy on the start line is straightforward and could be called a case of not thinking about personalities.
"I try not to focus on the outcome or beating someone, because that kind of takes you into nerves and expectations.
"It's more about being around great athletes and thinking 'you know what, we're starting our race and no one's won it yet'. So I guess it's more about respect and enjoyment."
While Carrington is well ensconced in her programme, there's a strong element of the developmental about the rest of the squad.
There's a new women's K4: Jamie Lovett, Aimee Fisher, Caitlin Ryan and world K1 5000m champion Teneale Hatton; a slight tinker with the men's K4, where Marty McDowell joins Zac Quickenden, Jarrod and Farryl Fitzgerald from last year's four; and a K2 combination of Scott Bicknell and Andrew Roy.
The men's quartet finished sixth in their A final, 3s behind winners Spain; the women were fifth, 1.9s behind victorious China; the men's pair were seventh in their B final.
"It's the last year to test a few things out and work out your likely chances of qualifying [for Rio]," Walker said.
Progress building to this year's worlds in Moscow in August will be keenly watched, with the longer game in mind.
