EDR #74: /Athlete Profile/ Bilal Nour: Laughing, Training Hard and Using AI for Race Prep

Hello and welcome to Episode #74 of Everyday Runners. I’m Andy Fuller, the host of this podcast and a co-founder of Reading Sideways Press. 

Thank you to the supporters of this podcast: Dominic, Nesrine, Levi, Gianluca, Joao and Bob. And, a special thanks to the latest supporter: Bob Nederpel. Bob has been a regular listener since the start of the podcast. He’s an 800m and 1500m athlete based at Leiden Atletiek and recently came 3rd in the Dutch Championships in the 40+ category. All supporters give me added enthusiasm in making one episode per week. 

Admittedly, I took the week off from podcasting last week as I had published five episodes in seven days the week before leading up to the BIG5. I personally finished in a time of 16:39, which was a little disappointing because I was aiming for at least a sub-16:30. Friends of the show: Nesrine Leene, Merel van der Marel, Lysanne Wilkins, Pim Bijl and Emiel Berghout all had strong performances. So, congratulations to you guys. 

This episode features Bilal Nour an athlete and student based in Leiden. I barely knew Bilal before interviewing. But, as he also trains at Leiden Atletiek, I was quite familiar with his running ability. During running drills exercises we’ve also had a bit of banter and I thought, the way he makes jokes and ironic remarks about his own or my own running, he’d be good to have on the show. He always brings a positive vibe to training and that can’t be undervalued. For indeed, I think some of us have a tendency to take training a bit too seriously, but Bilal always seems to be the athlete who is most likely to break out into laughter.

For context, Bilal has a time of 3:48 for the 1500 and 1:52 for the 800. So, we talk about all the important running matters: training at Leiden Atletiek, racing strategy and the inspiration he gains from racing with his training mates. We also start the conversation with a few thoughts about how he uses AI tools in regards to racing. 

So, that’s all for now. I’d love it if you could give the podcast a rating on Spotify and, if you are inclined, to support the show through the Buy Me a Coffee platform. 

Until next time, doei doei 

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