Distance running can be a lonesome sport, and nobody understands that more than David Troy. The Dublin, Ireland, native spent four years competing in his home country before coming to Temple in 2023 to pursue his master’s degree. However, his plans were almost spoiled before he even had a chance to compete.
After committing to Temple for the 2023 track season, Troy got ready for the next stage of his career in a new country. But the transition to Temple was more challenging than he anticipated.
Troy started to experience sudden pain in his right leg shortly after he got to Temple, but he was unsure of the extent of severity. His training took a hit because of the pain and his blossoming career was in jeopardy. Eventually, doctors discovered Troy had a compressed nerve in his right leg, but there was no treatment available to him at the time.
“It was extremely tough,” Troy said. “Nothing went to plan. It seemed that everything that could go wrong, went wrong at the worst possible time. It was a disaster.”
Troy’s first season at Temple was one riddled with injuries and setbacks, resulting in some of his worst times and most underwhelming races of his career. After months of recovery, Troy has made an impressive mark by finishing in first place at the Temple Owls XC Invitational on Aug. 30. Now back at full health, Troy believes the sky is his limit.
Troy spent the first few months of his Temple career in physical therapy trying to recover from his injury and understand the extent of his diagnosis. At the same time, he was also going back and forth between Ireland and the United Kingdom speaking to specialists. The tedious process nearly left him in tears thinking his career was ending unceremoniously.
His leg’s capability was still uncertain once the 2023 fall cross country season rolled around, but Troy was determined to compete so he tried to ignore his pain. Despite his best efforts, he couldn’t ignore the injury and it caused major issues on the track. His performance took a significant dip, as he capped off at the conference championships where he finished 70th and described it as the worst race of his life.
“I would struggle with my body so I would train harder to offset it and by the end I was exhausted physically and emotionally,” Troy said, “It all came to a head during the conference championships in November.”
The 2023 season was challenging for Troy, and he returned to Ireland hoping to get past the mental fog his injury caused him. It didn’t take long before he had to face another setback, as he had to deal with visa eligibility issues. He didn’t know if he would be able to return to Philadelphia in time for the season and compete in the sport he loves.
“When I went home in May, my leg still wasn’t working and I was at rock bottom. I didn’t know if I was going to come back,” Troy said. “I was meant to do two years on my degree, so I was trying to come back for the second year but there was an eligibility problem so I didn’t know if I was going to be able to. I was really stressed about that.”
While back home, Troy knew he had to change his mindset surrounding his injury issues. He decided to maneuver around the injury and put himself back to work. Troy spent the rest of his time at his hometown club, running more than 100 miles a week without even knowing if he would return to the Owls in 2024.
Troy consulted his coaches from Dublin and Temple, hoping to find a training regime that would work with his injury. After the plan was finalized, he worked tirelessly to return to North Philadelphia and prove he had more to offer than what was displayed during the 2023 season
“Whenever you’re running at this level something is going to be bothering you,” said Temple cross country coach Riley Buchholz. “Something is not always going to be 100 percent. It’s almost not likely you’re going to see someone at the national meet who’s not dealing with inflammation or some form of nagging things. Once it gets past that level of ‘okay it’s not something minor’ that’s when we have to adjust.”
Troy instantly made an impact once he finally got the green light to return to Temple. Along with his first place finish at the Temple Owls XC Invitational earlier this season, Troy finished 32nd out of 200 runners in the Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational at Penn State, with a time of 25:46.3 in the 5.2 mile event.
Troy was not just fighting to get back to full health for himself but for his team, and his roommate and teammate David Litvin saw it more than anyone. Troy’s athletic journey exemplified the meaning of being a team player, Litvin said.
“He really does love this place and I think he cares so much about not just his experience but the overall team,” Litvin said. “He’s definitely going to tell you what he likes and what he doesn’t like, and he’s going to tell you what he thinks needs to be improved.”
Troy had no idea what his future held as his nightmare-ish 2023 came to an end. A mysterious injury and questions about his eligibility put his career at Temple in flux. Troy had the choice to give up on his running career but decided to give it one more chance and it has worked in his favor.
“I had a choice, whether to pack it in and move on, or figure out a way to get around it,” Troy said. “I decided I was gonna train my [butt] off in the hopes that I was going to come back. I was going to act like I was coming back.”
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