THE RUNNING EFFECT PODCAST

Dominic Schlueter
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  • Running
  • Every two weeks

The Running Effect tells the best stories in running—and turns them into insight, inspiration, and tools to help competitive runners become greater. Every week, host Dominic Schlueter sits down with the fastest, smartest, and most inspiring people in the sport—from Olympic medalists to breakthrough athletes—to unpack the stories, lessons, and mindset behind elite performance. Whether you’re chasing a personal best or looking to understand how greatness is built, The Running Effect will make you a deeper fan of the sport—and a better runner.

  1. 1 day ago

    America's Best Marathoner On High School Cross Country: Jess McClain's Four Nationals Appearances, Summer Heat Training, And Advice For Chasing A Golden Ticket

    Jess McClain almost skipped her first Foot Locker Nationals for a high school dance. Her coach talked her out of it, and she went on to become one of only 27 girls in the meet's history to make all four national finals—2006 through 2009, alongside classmate Emily Sisson. Sixteen years later, she's the fastest American woman ever to run Boston. Jess kicks off the Call Room: Golden Ticket Edition, presented by Fleet Feet, leading into the Brooks Cross Country National Championships. She and Dominic start with the heat, since she grew up in Phoenix waking at 4:15 a.m. five days a week and still trains there today. Her answer is effort-based work and a lot of grace, and it's the same approach she used at fifteen. From there they walk Balboa Park year by year: 24th as a wide-eyed freshman; then 20th; then 10th; then 13th as a senior ranked fourth in the country. Jess fondly recalls the free backpack, the West Region blue, the hill everyone underestimates, and the friendships still going. She talks about Coach Messer's precision and Coach Van Sickle's fun, three state team titles at Xavier, and why the team races mattered more than the individual ones. Then the meet's near-death last year, why she immediately thought Brooks should save it, and what the golden ticket system means for kids whose schedules don't line up. Her advice for anyone chasing a spot this fall: be in the mile you're in, and make the process worth the goal. Tap into the Jess McClain Special.  If you enjoy the podcast, please consider following us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and giving us a five-star review! I would also appreciate it if you share it with your friend who you think will benefit from it. S H O W  N O T E S    -The Run Down By The Running Effect (our new newsletter!): https://tinyurl.com/mr36s9rs -Our Website: https://therunningeffect.run -THE PODCAST ON YOUTUBE:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClLcLIDAqmJBTHeyWJx_wFQ -My Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/therunningeffect/?hl=en⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ -Take our podcast survey: https://tinyurl.com/3ua62ffz Behind the scenes of The Running Effect: https://youtube.com/@dominicschlueter?si=PM9FjPc92eFUFEZ LuminaryThreads: luminarythreads.shop $20 off your next Attuned scan: https://attuned.health/discount/TRE20?ref=TRE20 Fleet Feet x Brooks XC Championships FleetFeet.com Instagram: @jesstonn

  2. 3 days ago

    Sleep Science for Runners: Todd Anderson on Sleep Debt, Mouth Taping, and Marathon Performance — Plus the CO2 Tolerance You Build While Asleep That Changes Performance

    You can't out-tough sleep. That's Todd Anderson's whole argument, and he makes it as a guy who tried. A walk-on fullback at Michigan State who signed with the Rams of the NFL in 2012, Todd spent a decade in strength and conditioning before deciding the highest-leverage hour of an athlete's day is the one they spend unconsciously.  He's now co-founder and CEO of Dream Performance & Recovery and is working toward a PhD in sleep psychology. Dominic caught him marathon mid-buildup—Todd's training for Chicago, Dominic for Columbus—and the conversation goes deep on why runners are the worst offenders. Perceived exertion and pain tolerance are among the first things to degrade when you're underslept, so chronic short sleep doesn't just cap your ceiling, it makes every mile hurt more. Todd's comparison: it's like training every day in 100-degree heat. They get into the seven-hour floor and where that number actually comes from, the 2024 lab studies where unrestricted sleepers settled at eight and a half hours, and how to tell whether you're carrying sleep debt. Todd breaks down the mechanics of nasal breathing—nitric oxide, CO2 tolerance, and why the strips may do more for you asleep than on the run—plus why 80% of people have a deviated septum and don't know it. Also, why screen damage is dose-dependent; what you watch matters as much as the light; Todd's hypothesis that marathon records would fall faster in the afternoon; and how long he thinks Dominic would survive in a 230-degree sauna. Tap into the Todd Anderson Special.  If you enjoy the podcast, please consider following us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and giving us a five-star review! I would also appreciate it if you share it with your friend who you think will benefit from it. S H O W  N O T E S    -The Run Down By The Running Effect (our new newsletter!): https://tinyurl.com/mr36s9rs -Our Website: https://therunningeffect.run -THE PODCAST ON YOUTUBE:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClLcLIDAqmJBTHeyWJx_wFQ -My Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/therunningeffect/?hl=en⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ -Take our podcast survey: https://tinyurl.com/3ua62ffz Behind the scenes of The Running Effect: https://youtube.com/@dominicschlueter?si=PM9FjPc92eFUFEZ LuminaryThreads: luminarythreads.shop $20 off your next Attuned scan: https://attuned.health/discount/TRE20?ref=TRE20 Personal & Coaching Site: ToddAnderson42.com  Company Store: DreamRecovery.io  Instagram: @toddanderson42

  3. 3 Sept

    "I'd Spend A Million Dollars To Get Six Seconds Better At The 800": Riley Witt Of Bicarb 3.0 On Hot Baths That Rival Microdosed EPO, Threshold Reps At 4:00 Mile Pace & Other Science Truths

    Riley Witt says a hot bath beats a microdose of EPO. That's where this one opens, and it doesn't slow down. Riley walks through passive heat training—45 minutes at 104 degrees, four or five times a week, and the plasma volume adaptations that come with zero skeletal strain. He explains why water cooks you faster than a sauna, why going straight from a run into the heat multiplies the effect, and why a hot bath before bed will wreck your sleep instead of helping it. From there: electrolytes as the most overhyped supplement on the market, why a real sports drink needs sugar, and the carbohydrate timing window that can leave you hypoglycemic on the start line. Then the doping conversation. Riley talks about how WADA actually decides what gets banned, why most NCAA testing is looking for recreational drugs, and what a caffeine limit is really protecting you from. Dominic brings the Shelby Houlihan case and a stat on tainted supplements that Riley refuses to accept, which turns into the most detailed account you'll hear of what certification actually costs—the audit, the quarantine room, the batch testing. And the one everyone will argue about: how a guy with a 3:59 mile runs threshold at 4:00 pace. Riley explains his actual lactate numbers, why 200s at 32 seconds still count, and the theory he's building with Dr. Bill Evans around assisted running and running economy. Plus steeplechase heat, the Odyssey soundtrack, and why Riley would pay a million dollars for six seconds. Tap into the Riley Witt Special.  If you enjoy the podcast, please consider following us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and giving us a five-star review! I would also appreciate it if you share it with your friend who you think will benefit from it. S H O W  N O T E S    -The Run Down By The Running Effect (our new newsletter!): https://tinyurl.com/mr36s9rs -Our Website: https://therunningeffect.run -THE PODCAST ON YOUTUBE:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClLcLIDAqmJBTHeyWJx_wFQ -My Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/therunningeffect/?hl=en⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ -Take our podcast survey: https://tinyurl.com/3ua62ffz Behind the scenes of The Running Effect: https://youtube.com/@dominicschlueter?si=PM9FjPc92eFUFEZ LuminaryThreads: luminarythreads.shop $20 off your next Attuned scan: https://attuned.health/discount/TRE20?ref=TRE20 Bicarb.shop – Official online store Instagram: @riwitt03; @iamrileywitt; @bicarb.shop

  4. 30 Aug

    "Most Runners Train Too Hard": Marius Bakken, The Father Of Double Threshold, On What's Really Holding You Back, Advising The Ingebrigtsens, And The Golden Zone Behind The Norwegian Method

    https://www.amazon.com/dp/8269471100 Most runners aren't training too hard. They're spreading the hard work too thin. Marius Bakken has spent thirty years proving it. The Norwegian physician and two-time Olympian pricked his finger more than 5,500 times—on himself, on training partners, on runners in Kenya—to map one narrow band of intensity, and the framework he built from it is what the world now calls the Norwegian Method. This conversation is the compressed version of his new book, The Norwegian Method Applied, out now on Amazon with a link in the show notes. We start where everyone should: defining threshold, and why the 4.0 mmol/L figure you were taught is the wrong anchor. Marius explains how to find your own zone without a meter by triangulating heart rate, pace, and the talk test, then walks through a full Norwegian Method week from Sunday to Saturday. Two double-threshold days, one genuinely hard session, easy running held strictly under 70 percent of max heart rate. The logic behind stacking two threshold sessions into one day rather than scattering them across the week is the whole argument in miniature. Then the part most people skip when they copy the method: the muscular case. Marius argues that muscles, not the heart and lungs, cap how much training a runner can absorb, and that muscle tone is why some days feel effortless and others don't. He gets into why carbon-plated shoes are the first thing he checks when an injured runner walks into his clinic, where strength work belongs in the week, how he'd build a national-championship high school program, and where this method stops working. His three takeaways, unedited: run easy on the easy days, control intensity on the hard days, limit intense work to once a week. Then see what happens. Tap into the Marius Bakken Special. If you enjoy the podcast, please consider following us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and giving us a five-star review! I would also appreciate it if you share it with your friend who you think will benefit from it. — S H O W N O T E S The Run Down by The Running Effect (our new newsletter): https://tinyurl.com/mr36s9rs Our website: https://therunningeffect.run The podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClLcLIDAqmJBTHeyWJx_wFQ My Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therunningeffect/?hl=en Take our podcast survey: https://tinyurl.com/3ua62ffz Behind the scenes of The Running Effect: https://youtube.com/@Dominicschlueter?si=PM9FjPc92eFUFEZL Luminary Threads: https://luminarythreads.shop $20 off your next Attuned scan: https://attuned.health/discount/TRE20?ref=TRE20 Marius Bakken's official website: https://mariusbakken.com

  5. 28 Aug

    Cory Leslie on Leaving Pro Coaching for Ole Miss: SEC Roster Limits, Why He Won't Buy Hired Guns From the Portal, and What He Tells Recruits Who Don't Have Olympic Dreams

    He built a world-class pro group in Baltimore. Then he left it for a college roster of 30.  Five years after his first appearance on the show, Cory Leslie returns as Ole Miss's new associate head cross country and assistant track & field coach, fresh off nearly five years building Under Armour's Mission Run Baltimore into a group that produced Olympians and World XC medalists from a city nobody expected it from. He walks Dominic through how fast it all happened: a casual conversation with Connie Price-Smith at USATFs in New York, a formal interview an hour before his Uber to the airport for the Commonwealth Games, and an offer thirty minutes later. Then a scramble to Oxford weeks before the season opener. The conversation gets into why he's moving toward college athletics while other coaches are heading for the exit—the impact he thinks he can have on thirty athletes instead of a handful, and his conviction that plenty of American talent will fall through the cracks under roster limits. He's blunt about what that means in recruiting: if you don't have Olympic dreams, the SEC probably isn't for you. Also covered: what he's telling a team that's had three coaches in one summer; why he's sending them to Memphis on tired legs; the SEC as the best non-Diamond-League track in America; soft-surface trails a half mile from the locker room; what he's leaving behind in Baltimore; and—because it's late August—Ohio State loyalties, Julian Sayin's Heisman case, and a Buckeyes-Rebels title game prediction. Tap into the Cory Leslie Special.  If you enjoy the podcast, please consider following us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and giving us a five-star review! I would also appreciate it if you share it with your friend who you think will benefit from it. S H O W  N O T E S    -The Run Down By The Running Effect (our new newsletter!): https://tinyurl.com/mr36s9rs -Our Website: https://therunningeffect.run -THE PODCAST ON YOUTUBE:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClLcLIDAqmJBTHeyWJx_wFQ -My Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/therunningeffect/?hl=en⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ -Take our podcast survey: https://tinyurl.com/3ua62ffz Behind the scenes of The Running Effect: https://youtube.com/@dominicschlueter?si=PM9FjPc92eFUFEZ LuminaryThreads: luminarythreads.shop $20 off your next Attuned scan: https://attuned.health/discount/TRE20?ref=TRE20 Instagram: @cory_leslie  X (Twitter): @cory_leslie

  6. 24 Aug

    Jemma Reekie on 60 Miles a Week at 5:50 Pace, Missing Olympic Bronze by 0.09, and How She Rebuilt From the Lowest Point of Her Career

    Jemma Reekie doesn't remember most of her records—she just ran and found out later. The Scottish 800m/1500m star joins Dominic fresh off a fifth-place finish in the stacked Birmingham 2026 Euro 800m final, and opens up about a career that's been defined by extremes: three British indoor records broken in eight days as a 21-year-old who didn't even know what the records were; a fourth-place finish at the Tokyo Olympics decided by 0.09 seconds; and a Paris 2024 Olympics that looked like her best shot at a medal on paper but ended without even a final—a result that triggered the lowest point of her career, including a battle with disordered eating and anxiety she didn't get help for until six months later. Jemma talks candidly about rebuilding under coach Jon Bigg after that low, why the mental side of the sport is harder for her than the physical, and how bringing in a breathing coach helped her find stability. She also breaks down her training in detail—60 miles a week, mostly doubles, a strong aversion to slow running, and a "no phone until training's done" rule that's changed her focus.  Plus, her friendly rivalry with Keely Hodgkinson, the story behind her cinematic training videos with videographer Ollie, and where her heart really lies between the 800m and 1500m heading toward LA. A raw, funny, and honest conversation with one of British middle distance's most resilient competitors. Tap into the Jemma Reekie Special.  If you enjoy the podcast, please consider following us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and giving us a five-star review! I would also appreciate it if you share it with your friend who you think will benefit from it. S H O W  N O T E S    -The Run Down By The Running Effect (our new newsletter!): https://tinyurl.com/mr36s9rs -Our Website: https://therunningeffect.run -THE PODCAST ON YOUTUBE:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClLcLIDAqmJBTHeyWJx_wFQ -My Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/therunningeffect/?hl=en⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ -Take our podcast survey: https://tinyurl.com/3ua62ffz Behind the scenes of The Running Effect: https://youtube.com/@dominicschlueter?si=PM9FjPc92eFUFEZ LuminaryThreads: luminarythreads.shop $20 off your next Attuned scan: https://attuned.health/discount/TRE20?ref=TRE20 Instagram: @jemmareekie X: @JemmaReekie TikTok: @jemma_reekie

  7. 22 Aug

    Alex Ostberg: The Workout That Proves Your Fitness Is Usually The One That Ends Your Season, What Bicarb Actually Does To Your Body, And Why Your Willpower Will Always Lose To Your Environment

    NEWSLETTER: https://therundownbytherunningeffect.substack.comThe magic workout you're chasing doesn't exist. In fact, the urge to prove your fitness before race day might be the very thing that breaks you.Alex Ostberg is back for our monthly recap of The Rundown, his weekly newsletter that lands in your inbox every Thursday. The former Stanford and UNC All-American, now an assistant coach at Nike's Swoosh Track Club in Eugene, joins Dominic to unpack the four biggest pieces from the past month—and the timing couldn't be better with cross country season underway.First up: why the best runners gain fitness instead of proving it, featuring Jakob Ingebrigtsen's carrot-farming metaphor and the cautionary tale of the indicator workout that helped derail Alex's senior cross country season. Then the duo digs into bicarb—what it actually does inside your muscles, why the old soda-loading era was a deal with the devil, and whether the one-to-two-percent edge matters for anyone who isn't already elite.From there, the conversation moves upstream. Racing depends on training, but training depends on the lifestyle underneath it, and Alex walks through the four environmental defaults he changed at Stanford that made discipline automatic. Finally, the conversation that saved his running career: Coach Milt holding up a mirror to a struggling sophomore and reminding him, "You wanted this."Along the way: negative visualization, hardship inoculation, Warren Buffett on trust, and why willpower always loses to the environment.Subscribe to The Rundown (always the first link below) and get faster in three to five minutes every Thursday.Tap into the Rundown Recap Special. If you enjoy the podcast, please consider following us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and giving us a five-star review! I would also appreciate it if you share it with your friend who you think will benefit from it.S H O W  N O T E S   -The Run Down By The Running Effect (our new newsletter!): https://tinyurl.com/mr36s9rs-Our Website: https://therunningeffect.run-THE PODCAST ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClLcLIDAqmJBTHeyWJx_wFQ-My Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/therunningeffect/?hl=en⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠-Take our podcast survey: https://tinyurl.com/3ua62ffzBehind the scenes of The Running Effect: https://youtube.com/@dominicschlueter?si=PM9FjPc92eFUFEZLuminaryThreads: luminarythreads.shop$20 off your next Attuned scan: https://attuned.health/discount/TRE20?ref=TRE20

  8. 20 Aug

    Cortney Berling on Why Runners Underfuel Without Knowing It: Carb Timing Around Workouts, What to Eat Before a Cross Country Race, and Why Craving Sugar Isn't a Willpower Problem

    Your body doesn't know the difference between Coca-Cola and watermelon. And according to registered sports dietitian Cortney Berling, that might be the most freeing thing a runner can learn. Back for her third appearance on The Running Effect, Cortney joins Dominic to dismantle the food rules holding runners back, starting with the sport's most controversial question: does weight loss actually make you faster? Her answer is a masterclass in why general nutrition advice fails athletes, especially female ones.  The guidelines on your food label were built around a 154-pound reference man from 1941, not a marathoner in a training block, and definitely not a 14-year-old girl navigating puberty. Cortney shares her own story of underfueling, doing everything society called "healthy" until she lost her period and, for a time, her ability to have kids, and explains why the runners plateauing hardest are usually the ones eating the least. Her rule is simple: only run the miles you're willing to fuel for. Along the way, the two get refreshingly practical. Why full-sugar Coke beats Diet Coke after a long run. Race-day fueling blueprints for cross country and multi-race track meets. The hydration equation every runner should know. Why eating before bed isn't the sin you've been told it is, and how liquid calories save high-mileage athletes drowning in grocery bills. But the biggest takeaway might be Cortney's fifth and final point: your relationship with food matters just as much as the food itself. You don't earn your food by running, you earn your run by eating enough. Tap into the Cortney Berling Special.  If you enjoy the podcast, please consider following us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and giving us a five-star review! I would also appreciate it if you share it with your friend who you think will benefit from it. S H O W  N O T E S    -The Run Down By The Running Effect (our new newsletter!): https://tinyurl.com/mr36s9rs -Our Website: https://therunningeffect.run -THE PODCAST ON YOUTUBE:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClLcLIDAqmJBTHeyWJx_wFQ -My Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/therunningeffect/?hl=en⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ -Take our podcast survey: https://tinyurl.com/3ua62ffz Behind the scenes of The Running Effect: https://youtube.com/@dominicschlueter?si=PM9FjPc92eFUFEZ LuminaryThreads: luminarythreads.shop $20 off your next Attuned scan: https://attuned.health/discount/TRE20?ref=TRE20 Coaching: Eat Well Perform Better  Instagram:  @eatwell.runbetter

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About

The Running Effect tells the best stories in running—and turns them into insight, inspiration, and tools to help competitive runners become greater. Every week, host Dominic Schlueter sits down with the fastest, smartest, and most inspiring people in the sport—from Olympic medalists to breakthrough athletes—to unpack the stories, lessons, and mindset behind elite performance. Whether you’re chasing a personal best or looking to understand how greatness is built, The Running Effect will make you a deeper fan of the sport—and a better runner.

Information

  • Creator
    Dominic Schlueter
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    761
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Dominic Schlueter
  • Show Website
    THE RUNNING EFFECT PODCAST

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