Everyday Runners

"Wind extinguishes a candle and energises fire." Nassim Nicholas Taleb
One of the things that gets on my nerves in running culture is the number of excuses that many of us - myself included of course - can come up with for underperforming in a race. I know that I have struggled at times in the wind, the heat, the cold, and I reckon I’m not that great at hills. If I did a race on a perfect course, at the perfect temperature with no wind, I reckon that I could still find something to complain about: ‘the race didn’t have good vibes’, ‘there wasn’t enough good competition’, ‘I hadn’t trained for it specifically’. And so on. I wonder why we tell ourselves these stories. 
This is not to say that I don’t believe that conditions or circumstances or training don’t make a difference on one’s race day performance. My point is that perhaps they shouldn’t be the dominant part of the narrative we repeat to ourselves or to others. I would hope that the conditions of the race ‘create the kind of race’ that one is going to run. Each race is different - even if it looks the same in terms of distance. Each race presents its own challenges and opportunities. We can learn to run with the conditions of the day to make the most of it for ourselves. And that is why I encourage the athletes that I coach to see races as something exploratory and creative rather than as a strictly evenly-paced time trial - even though that might work in some circumstances. 
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I have recently been reading some books by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, who is best known for his book, The Black Swan, which ironically, I haven’t read. I’m currently leading his very weighty book, Antiffragile, and this is where my idea about ‘antifragile running’ comes from. The subheading of the book is ‘things that gain from disorder’. Taleb, who has what he calls ‘fuck you’ wealth, is incredibly well-read and learned and reads the classical languages. He classifies things and practices or ideas into three categories (but mainly two) - fragile-robust-antifragile. Fragile being what breaks under light-stress, robust which breaks under harder-stress, and antifragile which actually profits, benefits, gains from the stress. His book, which is a kind of ‘ethics’ - a kind of guide to living the good life: the lessons in his book are applicable in all sorts of directions - and thus I can’t help but linking his thinking to ‘running’. 
Relevant Links
Andy Fuller/Reading Sideways Press
Strava: Andy Fuller
Instagram: Everyday Runners Leiden
Email: everydayrunnerspodcast@gmail.com
Support the Podcast via Buy me a Coffee
Music by Jeroen Rondeel of Cymbaline 
 
 
 

How do Kenyan athletes find themselves in Japan? What are the opportunities that training and being an athlete in Japan present to Kenyan athletes? How do Kenyan athletes capitalise on this experience? What are the difficulties they face and how do they manage the expectations placed on them back home? 
I had a wonderful conversation with the very engaging, very eloquent Mike Peters of Shizuoka University in Japan. We held the conversation over Zoom, but nonetheless, I felt like I was sitting down talking with a dear, long-term friend. Mike was very candid about his own route into academia and undertaking his innovative research. 
One of the terms Mike uses in this conversation is ‘maendeleo’, which is a Swahili term roughly meaning ‘progress’ or ‘development’. But of course, these translations don’t quite do it justice. Ideas of progress and development are highly contextualised. 
I also enjoyed talking with Mike about his work as an interpreter. And my impression is that this was part of his broadening of his ‘anthropological skill set’. So, this conversation was of my favourite kind: loosely structured, improvised, candid, and with lots of loosely interconnecting paths related to running (and researching). 
Finally: I’m starting to my book on ‘Playing Running’ for publication in 2027. I would love if you could help support me to fund some costs of this book. To be honest, I am looking for 50 Supporters. A contribution of 25euros will get you an Acknowledgement in the book and a free copy of the book.  The primary costs I need to cover are that of: Design and printing. If you enjoy listening to this podcast and believe that it is a worthy venture, I would greatly appreciate your support. <3<3<3
Relevant Links
Andy Fuller/Reading Sideways Press
Strava: Andy Fuller
Instagram: Everyday Runners Leiden
Email: everydayrunnerspodcast@gmail.com
Support the Podcast via Buy me a Coffee
Music by Jeroen Rondeel of Cymbaline 
 

Hello!
I have a theory that 'the quiet ones' always have a good story to tell. And so, I had long an interest in speaking with Levi for an episode on my podcast. Around the Club, he's not the most talkative guy. He lets his running do the talking. When I first met him, he was on his return to running after a long time doing other things. And, over these past three-to-four years, he's gone from around 17minutes for the 5km down to 15:20. (He admits that he's too scared to race against me at the 10km or half-marathon, though [laughing emoji]). 
Levi generously had me over to his house for a meal at his apartment in Den Haag. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and we could hear the birds chirping while talking. He shared his experiences of different coaches, training as a youngster and now as an adult, doing a PhD, and of course, falling in love. 
And that's all for now.  Doei doei! 
Relevant Links
Andy Fuller/Reading Sideways Press
Strava: Andy Fuller
Instagram: Everyday Runners Leiden
Email: everydayrunnerspodcast@gmail.com
Support the Podcast via Buy me a Coffee
Music by Jeroen Rondeel of Cymbaline 
 

Hey! Hello! 
Some more reflections on running. 
Key point: running sometimes feels too serious. Let's make it look and feel more like playing and like a game, than something that is a little bit too close to work and something disciplined. 
Episode Overview: 
1) spring in NL
2) My week off
3) Actual good marathons to watch as a spectator. (but annoying negative commentary)
4) Playing; Games. Racing. 
5) Absorbing game strategies into racing. 
6) Outro & How to support the show. 
Relevant Links
Andy Fuller/Reading Sideways Press
Strava: Andy Fuller
Instagram: Everyday Runners Leiden
Email: everydayrunnerspodcast@gmail.com
Support the Podcast via Buy me a Coffee
Music by Jeroen Rondeel of Cymbaline 
 

Hello and welcome to Episode #103. This is my conversation with Learoy Alcock - from South Africa - but now of Leiden Atletiek. 
Learoy, a 2:34-marathoner, stays humble and serious in his running while maintaining a balanced social life. We talk about his sporting background, his Two Oceans ultra, his coach and how he manages his current training set up in Leiden, where he balances from the LA coach with his SA coach. 
This conversation features occasional contributions from Emma Houchell, who we'll hear more from in the second part. 
If you enjoy this podcast, please feel free to give it a rating on Spotify or to make a contribution via the Buy Me a Coffee Platform. 
Relevant Links
Andy Fuller/Reading Sideways Press
Strava: Andy Fuller
Instagram: Everyday Runners Leiden
Email: everydayrunnerspodcast@gmail.com
Support the Podcast via Buy me a Coffee
Music by Jeroen Rondeel of Cymbaline 
 

Don't do a marathon. Don't do it to yourself. Please think twice. (Unless you are Noah Schutte, of course). 
Rotterdam was great on the weekend. It's called de Mooiste. The most beautiful. But afterwards a lot of people were tagging their run on Strava with 'de zwarste'. The toughest. 
I saw a lot of people struggling at Km23. It didn't matter if they were 2:10 marathoners or 4:10 marathoners. There was a lot of grimacing and shuffling. There was a lot of doubt in peoples' eyes. 
In this episode I share my thoughts on the race and how it played out - with a bit of a focus on Noah Schutte's performance. 
Relevant Links
Andy Fuller/Reading Sideways Press
Strava: Andy Fuller
Instagram: Everyday Runners Leiden
Email: everydayrunnerspodcast@gmail.com
Support the Podcast via Buy me a Coffee
Music by Jeroen Rondeel of Cymbaline 
 

Hallo en welkom bij EDR podcast. 
Het is de week van de Rotterdam Marathon – een van mijn favoriete weken op de hardloopkalender. Dit jaar is het extra spannend, aangezien de Rotterdam Marathon ook dienstdoet als het 'Nederlands Kampioenschap'. Ik vind het geweldig om te zien dat zoveel mensen die in deze show te gast zijn geweest, meedoen in de voorste gelederen van het klassement. In het bijzonder een shout-out naar Noah Schutte, Gianluca Assorgia en Emiel Berghout.
Deze aflevering bevat een gesprek met twee vrienden van de show: Brent Pieterse en Pim Bijl. Brent staat bekend als een atleet die altijd hard koerst en zich de afgelopen vijf jaar voortdurend heeft verbeterd. Inmiddels bevindt hij zich onmiskenbaar op sub-elite niveau, met sterke tijden op alle afstanden van de 5 km tot de marathon. Hij kent maar één manier: knallen van start tot finish. Bij Brent weet je dat je altijd een eerlijke prestatie krijgt. Deze man heeft waarschijnlijk de beste ratio van wedstrijden tot PR's die ik ken. En wanneer hij wellicht niet presteert zoals hij zou willen, kun je er zeker van zijn dat er geen excuses volgen.
Pim Bijl, podcaster bij De Pacer en journalist bij het AD, heeft onlangs verlof genomen van zijn fulltime baan om zich volledig op het hardlopen te concentreren. Hij is natuurlijk blijven schrijven en heeft een boek over de Rotterdam Marathon geschreven dat binnenkort verschijnt. Pim is ambitieus zonder zichzelf of het hardlopen té serieus te nemen. Een van de dingen die hij in dit gesprek noemt, is hoe hij samen met zijn coach Guido Hartensveld een ondergrens heeft bepaald, maar geen plafond stelt aan wat hij kan bereiken.
Ben je nieuw bij deze podcast? Geef ons dan een beoordeling op Spotify, want dat helpt het algoritme.
Mocht je dit weekend in Rotterdam of Enschede lopen, dan natuurlijk heel veel succes en ik hoop dat de ervaring je zowel nieuwe inzichten als plezier brengt.
Tot de volgende keer – doei doei!
Relevant Links
Andy Fuller/Reading Sideways Press
Strava: Andy Fuller
Instagram: Everyday Runners Leiden
Email: everydayrunnerspodcast@gmail.com
Support the Podcast via Buy me a Coffee
Music by Jeroen Rondeel of Cymbaline 
 

To celebrate the 100th episode I invited Brady Threlfall of the Inside Running Podcast to share his thoughts on various polarising themes in running - excuse-making, certain running-YouTubers, the PB-obsessions of so many runners. 
The episode starts with a shout-out to all of the guests who have been on the show. 
Each show takes about seven hours to produce, so, over the journey I've put in some 700+ hours. This is 'beautiful' unpaid labour. I don't seek advertisements or collabs. 
If you'd like to support the show and my work, I'd love it if you dropped by the Buy Me a Coffee platform to 'show some love'. 
Relevant Links
Andy Fuller/Reading Sideways Press
Strava: Andy Fuller
Instagram: Everyday Runners Leiden
Email: everydayrunnerspodcast@gmail.com
Support the Podcast via Buy me a Coffee
Music by Jeroen Rondeel of Cymbaline 
 

In the space of a month or so Jack Anstey, an Australian track athlete, who runs for Under Armour, became world champion as part of the Australian mixed-cross country relay team. Not long after and after having qualified for the World Indoor Track Championships, he wasn't selected by Athletics Australia. This was yet another moment where the precarious life of a professional athlete come to light. It's a mixed bag to say the least. 
So, in this conversation, we talk about Jack's performance as part of the Australian team in Tallahasee and how he is approaching his training and racing in the light of the disappointment of missing out on representing Australia at the world indoor championships. 
One thing that I really liked about this conversation was how Jack thinks we need to re-evaluate how we consider the age of an athlete and longevity in the sport. 
Relevant Links
Andy Fuller/Reading Sideways Press
Strava: Andy Fuller
Instagram: Everyday Runners Leiden
Email: everydayrunnerspodcast@gmail.com
Support the Podcast via Buy me a Coffee
Music by Jeroen Rondeel of Cymbaline 
 

Welcome to Episode #98: well, I’m loving doing these podcasts. As you can tell: I’m not trying to do anything sensationalist. I’m not looking for controversy. I’m doing my best to stay away from hot topics. I am thankful for the audience that I have and for the opportunities this podcast has created for me to speak with a range of athletes, coaches and researchers. 
 
Over the journey a few people have got in touch with me and asked if they can be on the show. I have to admit, that I’ve generally said no. Perhaps I’m a bit too strict about maintaining editorial control of the podcast. But this time, when Allison Yamamoto contacted me, I was interested in her story and what she wanted to talk about. RED-S: which stands for Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport. I had only learned about this condition some time last year through the social media posts of Jake Smith, a professional athlete who had struggled with under-fuelling. His Instagram posts have shown how he has changed his fuelling strategy and body shape to avoid under-eating: this has helped him avoid injury and perform strongly. 
In this conversation, Allison Yamamoto shares her experiences as a cheerleader, athlete, nutritionist and running coach. We talk about how some of the preconceptions some of us runners share about the ideal athlete may contribute to athletes having RED-S. 
If you are new to this podcast, I’d love it if you gave it a rating on Spotify. If you are interested in showing your love for the podcast and what I’m doing, feel free to head on over to the Buy Me A Coffee Platform to make a contribution to keep the lights on, so to speak. 
Relevant Links
Andy Fuller/Reading Sideways Press
Strava: Andy Fuller
Instagram: Everyday Runners Leiden
Email: everydayrunnerspodcast@gmail.com
Support the Podcast via Buy me a Coffee
Music by Jeroen Rondeel of Cymbaline