Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 111, October 2018 | Page 13

ROAD RUNNING
fourth overall still placed him as second in the SA
Champs. It was an incredibly close race, with just
six seconds separating the top six men over the line,
and Elroy finishing four seconds adrift of Stephen’s
winning time. “I was really, really surprised. Finishing
so high up and under 62 minutes took away all my
doubts about my possibility of getting back to the
top, because I definitely did not expect to be right up
there,” says Elroy.
“But to be honest, I had no rhythm or confidence,
so I actually gave up in the last 2km. It is a terrible
feeling to not have confidence in your ability, and I
had thoughts of ‘that is the end of my career’ floating
through my head. I just started to jog, but then I must
have recovered and my pace picked up again. When I
saw the other guys coming back at me, I sprinted for
the line, and it paid off. Clearly my lack of base work
had caused the sluggishness, and of course, my lack
of confidence played a role, but after that race, I know
things will get better again.”
Another Injury?
Despite the operation and his great result in PE, Elroy
says he continued to struggle for form, and then late
in August he suffered another scare. Two weeks prior
to the Mandela Day Marathon on 26 August, where he
competed in the half marathon and finished third, he
realised that there was swelling on one of his testicles,
which was quite uncomfortable when running,
especially on the long runs.
“I was worried that things were not quite sorted
after all, so I went back to the doctor and he found
that there was some internal bleeding causing the
swelling. That was a relief, as I thought it could be
quite serious. It is uncomfortable, but knowing it is
not serious means I can finish the rest of the season
here in South Africa, do some more road races, and
then have another small operation in November, which
will give me enough time to do the work needed to
prepare for 2019.”
Elroy’s plan now is to focus on these races in order to
get back some level of fitness, so that when he has to
go for the operation in November, the road to recovery
will be quicker. Training and racing now for him for the
rest of the year is also about the confidence factor.
“I was selected to go to the Africa Championships in
Asaba, Nigeria at the beginning of August, but I was
not even close to being ready fitness-wise. However,
Sanlam Cape Town
Marathon 2017
Mandela Day Half
Marathon 2018
I felt I needed that experience of racing against the
best to build my confidence and to just have the body
remember what it feels like to race at that level, but it
was terrible. I was lapped for the first time in my life
in a 10,000m and finished in 30:23. Still, it felt good
to be mixing it with the best again. It was necessary.
I was then asked to do the 5000m, too, which I did,
running 14:10.” office at 8am, so his morning runs are done at 4am.
That’s very much like most of the runners in South
Africa, but when you are competing at the elite level,
recovery is vital, and spending a lot of time on your
feet is not really conducive to proper recovery. Nor is
missing out on that valuable afternoon nap, which is
an essential for speeding up recovery.
Time to Train “I do miss that recovery time, but work needs must
come first. With me finishing around 4:30pm, I miss
the second training session of the day with the
Springs group under Coach Phakati in the winter time.
They go out at 3pm to get the ’warmth’ of that time
of day, but now when it gets warmer, they will go out
again around 5pm, so I will join them. For now, I have
been doing my second session on my own.”
While Elroy is rightfully considered an elite athlete – he
has, after all, run 13:04.88 for 5000m, and 1:01:10 in
the half marathon – yet he still has the same plight as
so many of our South African elites: He needs to hold
down some form of employment in order to survive.
The 32-year-old is an HR assistant at the University
of Potchefstroom, which means his day begins at the
Once Elroy has his operation in November he will
return to hard training for the 2019 season, which
will be an extended season due to the World
Championships only being in October. That leaves
him with a dilemma, as he is training for the 5000m,
but also thinking of representing South Africa in the
marathon at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which means
he needs to run a qualifier towards the end of 2019.
The long season will not leave him time get into
marathon shape, given that the track season only
ends in October.
“I haven’t yet decided if I will try for the marathon
for Tokyo, but it is in the back of my mind, and I will
need to decide pretty soon, as it will affect my entire
preparation for 2019 and 2020. Much will depend
on how quickly I feel back to normal after the op in
November. But after running 2:12:49 in my debut
marathon in Cape Town last year, I definitely have
unfinished business with the marathon.”
Enjoying the fast finish of the
FNB Cape Town 12 ONERUN
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