#22: Jasmjin Lau: "I never look at the lap counter & I don't count the laps"

This episode is co-hosted with Maaike van Gelder, who was featured in Episode #8.  

We talk with Jasmijn Lau, a 25 year old Dutch athlete, based in Nijmegen. We talk with her about how little she uses GPS watches, her processes of becoming a self-coached athlete, her recovery from a series of frustrating injuries and her more recent string of very strong performances. Jasmijn talks of her enjoyment of cross country and her favourite races throughout the Netherlands. Although I had her name and new of her times, this was my first meeting with her, so, it was great to learn more of her running practice. One of the main take-aways for me was her thoughts regarding racing and her casual attitude towards precise timing, in some of aspects her training. 

It’s the day after the women’s Olympic marathon, so I want to give a shout out to Anne Luijten who came in 50th. Massive congratulations to her. If you are curious about her as an athlete, she was featured in episode #12. 

As usual, I hope you enjoy this episode and until next time - 

Topics Covered: 

• Introduction to Everyday Runners
• “Nijmegen has the best races”
• Half-marathons
• “I especially like to to run championship races”
• London: Night of the 10km PBs/Rome European Championships
• Being a self-coached athlete
• “More on possible half-marathons; and on ‘running a good one’”
• 10km in Valencia, PB while having a cold (but, not Covid)
• Mindfulness
• Using a GPS; Training by time
• Instagram vs Strava
• Favourite races in the Netherlands
• Coming back from injury 
• Pre-race chilling

Relevant Links: 

Jasmijn Lau: Instagram, Wikipedia, World Athletics

*The portrait of Jasmijn that accompanies this episode is by Dan Vernon (@danvernonphoto)

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Andy Fuller/Reading Sideways Press

Strava: Andy Fuller

Instagram: Everyday Runners Leiden

Twitter/X: @readingsideways

Email: everydayrunnerspodcast@gmail.com