Hello and welcome to Episode 88 of Everyday Runners podcast. I’m Andy Fuller - the host of this podcast and a co-founder of Reading Sideways Press. This podcast explores the practices, methods and cultures of running by interviewing everyday runners, high performing athletes and researchers with a social science or humanities background.

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This is indeed a special episode for me as it features a conversation with an athlete I’m coaching: Nienke Pannekoek of Warmond here in South Holland.

I met Nienke about 12 months ago and during our first conversation, she mentioned two things: first that she was looking for a running community here in Leiden and two, that she was deadset on breaking 3 hours for the marathon. Nienke had had a great time running in South Africa, where she had lived for several years, and was yet to find her running mojo back here in NL. In short, we got along well and I entrusted myself - but most importantly, Nienke trust me, to help her find her running people here in Leiden as well as to work with her towards the sub-3 goal in Valencia.

One of my first tasks that I set myself was to dilute the pressure regarding the sub-3 marathon goal. I wanted to broaden Nienke’s self-perception as a runner. Nienke built up her consistency and her enjoyment of running in South Holland through finding new routes, finding some running-buddies whom she connected with and finding the right tier of races that could fit in with her family life and work schedule. I wanted Nienke as much as possible to run in her own way and making sure it suited her.

Nienke thus also became my first official EDR Coaching client - although I detest the word ‘client’ when talking about a friend. So, let’s just say she has become the OG of the EDR OG’s.

I now have a compact group of runner/athletes who I am guiding through their training. My goals for my runners is basically to establish their consistency, diversify their running practice, and then work towards varying goals - whatever they may actually be. When an athlete tells me, ‘this is my goal - i.e. such and such minutes.’ I generally reply to say, ‘that’s a great and very worthy goal.’ But, in the usual running-cliched manner, I start to unpack that goal and we work through all of the various layers to that goal. This can be summarised as thinking about the ‘journey’. This is a metaphor I’m okay with: running is a process of navigating through shifting terrain.

If you are interested in having me as your coach, don't hesitate to get in touch.

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Relevant Links

Andy Fuller/Reading Sideways Press

Strava: Andy Fuller

Instagram: Everyday Runners Leiden

Email: [email protected]

Support the Podcast via Buy me a Coffee

Music by Jeroen Rondeel of Cymbaline