Gerda says it was wonderful having Duncan at a race finish again after two years |
ROAD RUNNING |
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Images : Tobias Ginsberg & Action Photo SA |
MA : Besides a new club and new apparel sponsor , you changed your coach during this past year as well , moving to Andrew Booyens ’ stable . Tell us how that has changed things for you .
GS : Andrew was also in Japan for the Olympics last year , coaching the Lesotho athletes , and we connected there . As soon as you have a conversation with him , you realise that he is an awesome guy , with super attention to detail . He helped me as well , sharing lots of last-minute advice with me , like showing me how to cut the watering bottles to make drinking easier . After the Olympics , I saw him again at the Cape Town Marathon , and there again he was there for me , with advice and support . I phoned him after that , and it ’ s quite funny , I never asked him to coach me , and he never asked can I coach you , but he just said , so Gerda , I ’ m going to send you what you need to do tomorrow , and you can let me know how it goes .
It was so natural how we started working together . He ’ s got a different approach to how I used to do things , which I think is polishing what I had already managed to do up to that point , so I think we ’ re a good fit . We talk often , and I even went to train with
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his group in Pietermaritzburg , which was a great experience . I feel it ’ s more than just a coaching relationship , it ’ s more like a mentoring relationship .
MA : Traditionally , the path followed by many distance athletes is to start on the track and in cross country , then move up to 10km and half marathons on the road , next the marathon , and only then the ultras , because it is believed that running ultra-distances will rob athletes of their speed . However , you have bucked the trend … you made your name in the ultras , then went back to the marathon , and you actually appear to be getting faster over the shorter distances . To what do you attribute that ?
GS : I think it can be attributed to the fact that I didn ’ t actually have a background in running . I ’ m sure if I had discovered my talent for running earlier , I would have followed a more traditional route in running , but when I started running , literally everybody around me was training for a marathon , and that was just to qualify to for the ultra-marathons , so off I went with them . But in that first year of running for me , I was not thinking about it too much , it just sounded like fun … so if the runners I started with in Dubai had been training for cross country , I probably would have gotten into that instead , for social reasons .
That said , I also knew I was coming into running late , and my age was not going to decrease , so even
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though I started with a focus on the ultras , I knew it was now or never to focus on the marathon , and I am going to keep focusing on the marathon for the next three or four years at least . But I also know that will only last so long before I plateau and stop being competitive , and then I will focus purely on the ultras again . But I ’ m not there yet , which is really exciting .
MA : So , if you think you can still keep improving in the marathon for the next three to four years , do you have a target in mind for how much faster you ’ d like to get ? After all , you set the SA Record at 2:25:28 in April 2021 , so how much faster do you think you could go ? I realise that ’ s a very hard question to answer ?
GS : It is difficult to answer that , but I look at the international athletes I have trained with and raced before , who have had a similar path to me , or posted similar times to me , and then I feel there is still room for improvement for me . I ’ d like to get into the low 2:20s in the marathon , and if things keep going well and I can keep improving , then I believe I can get to at least a 2:22 . Because I came into the sport so late , I think I have a different outlook to many other athletes . Perhaps they have never been able to go faster , and therefore have perceived limits , whereas I don ’ t know how much faster I can go . That ’ s why I say impossible is nothing , because I don ’ t think of limits in my running , just potential . In my mind it gives me an edge .
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Your 2022 Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon Champion , Gerda Steyn |