In fact, she is a bit worried about how the race will play out and is not even thinking about a possible fourth victory in the SPAR Grand Prix Series.

'My only goal is to do enough to ensure that I win the series overall. A third-place finish will hopefully be good enough to do so.'

According to van Zyl her current lack of confidence can be ascribed to what happened at the Olympic Games in Rio. She had to withdraw from the marathon because of a stress fracture in her left foot.

She compares her season's campaign to a game of snakes and ladders. Just when she thought she had reached the top, she was swallowed by a snake and spat out at almost rock bottom.

'It feels as if I have to prove myself all over again, and I am unsure of what my body is capable of now. The fact that I was able to outrun my main rivals throughout the season counts for nothing, because you are only as good as your last race.

'The one thing that will count in my favour is my natural competitiveness. Once I start racing there is no holding back. I always race for a podium finish.

'I just wish I had a week or two more to prepare. I was only able to start running again three weeks ago, and have done only three intense workouts,' said the Nedbank Running Club stalwart.

'All of this means that I am unsure of what my race tactics should be. I think I will be content to just follow the leader at first. If there are no other athletes who want to run hard, it will be fine by me. I will focus on regaining my confidence.'
Van Zyl fully agrees that the biggest difficulty for an athlete who is trying to make a comeback, is to rid herself of the 'injury in her head'. Only when you have done that, you can hope to win again.

Having won the Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Durban races, she is currently leading the SPAR Grand Prix Series with 74 points.

Lebogang Phalula (Boxer) is second with 64 points, followed by Christine Kalmer (KPMG) with 58 points.
There is a good chance that the SPAR Grand Prix will be decided by bonus points. If Phalula wins on Sunday in a faster time than last year's winning time of 35:08, she will earn 30 points – 20 for winning and 10 bonus points for dipping under the previous winning time. This will mean that van Zyl will probably have to clinch a top-three finish to win the series.

Other Nedbank Running Club athletes to watch on Sunday are Rutendo Nyahora, who won the Pretoria SPAR race, Liza Kellerman, who is considered to be a champion in the making, and Ethiopia's Chelitu Bogale Asefa.

Click here for more information about Nedbank Road Running. For more information about the Nedbank Running Club visit nedbankrunningclub.co.za/.