Parry helped Van Zyl to become a true champion

It will come as no surprise if Irvette van Zyl (Nedbank) finishes in the top ten in the London on Sunday. Depending on how long her legs will last, she might even come close to setting a new South African record.

To say that Van Zyl is a changed athlete since her 10th place finish (2:31:26) in the 2013 will be no exaggeration. Gone is the athlete who, in spite of regularly winning races, was constantly involved in a battle to overcome some or other injury niggle.

“Words can‟t describe how happy I am. I am truly blessed, thanks to my great coach Lindsey Parry (Tuks/HPC),” is one of the comments posted by Van Zyl on social media.

Her gratitude is certainly not unfounded. She is one of maybe two or three South African athletes who have yet to lose a race this season. She is also one of the most versatile athletes, winning races from 3 000 metres on the track to 21km on the road. It seems as if Van Zyl simply can‟t set a foot wrong. During the past weekend she won the at the SA Championship in Stellenbosch and the Spar 10km race in the following day.

A study of Van Zyl‟s results during the past few years shows a clear distinction between her running career before and after Parry started coaching her. Nowadays she hardly ever complains about any niggles and the Tuks/HPC head coach can certainly take full credit for this. He is the one who taught Van Zyl the value of being disciplined when she trains as well as when she races.

The Spar Race in Cape Town was a classic demonstration of the respect there is between athlete and coach. Apparently Van Zyl was „flying‟ during Sunday‟s race and it seemed as if she was going to set a

fast time, but then she slowed down quite considerably. Afterwards she explained why.

Lindsey told me that he did not want me to win in a time faster than 33 minutes and 20 seconds because he did not want me to over exert myself before the London Marathon. So I slowed down as I knew he would be upset if I ran a too fast time.”

Just as a matter of interest, Van Zyl won in 33:24 minutes, almost exactly the time Parry advised her to do.

“Irvette was already a world class athlete when she approached me to coach her. Unfortunately she had been pushed too hard for a very long time and was mentally, as well as physically, at a low. One of the things I quickly picked up was that she did not allow enough recovery time between races. She would race, run a best time, and train again the following day,” Parry (Tuks/HPC) said.

“If I had to pinpoint where I made the biggest difference with her, I would say that it was forcing her to slow down on easy runs and helping her to regain belief in her abilities as a runner. I also made sure that she takes time off after every race to properly recover before resuming her training.”

As far as the London Marathon is concerned, Parry says his expectations are slightly more conservative than Van Zyl‟s.

“I just want her to make sure that she qualifies for the Olympic Games in Rio and I will be happy with a time of 2 hours and 30 minutes or maybe slightly faster. Irvette is keen to give it a real go on Sunday.”

The Tuks/HPC coach said they will only decide on a final race plan after it has been established who the pacesetters will be and what goals the British female marathoners have set for themselves.

“Irvette will have to run the first 21 kilometres in roundabout 75 minutes. I would like her to finish at a slightly faster pace.”