THE RUNNING EFFECT PODCAST

Dominic Schlueter

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. 7h ago

    From Foot Locker Champion At 14 To 2:20:57 And Four Olympic Trials Without A Team: Jordan (Hasay) Hogan On Salazar's Workouts, Developing A Championship Mindset, And What She'd Do Differently

    Jordan Hasay Hogan never officially retired. She was the most hyped teenager in American distance running. She was a Foot Locker champion as a freshman, she acquired eight California state titles, was an Olympic Trials 1500m finalist at sixteen—and then went on to run a 2:20:57 marathon in Chicago. In this conversation, she opens up about the Nike Oregon Project years in a way almost nobody has. She walks Dominic through the actual training: 115-mile weeks, 25-mile long runs with fifteen at six-minute pace on an altitude treadmill before ten more miles at marathon pace, and Alberto Salazar's habit of tacking on surprise reps until athletes cracked. The centerpiece is the session she still calls the hardest of her life—a morning tempo, then 400s at 58 seconds that were supposed to be four and became ten, with Galen Rupp jumping in to pace, and Jordan averaging 58.7. Underneath all of it is faith.  The priest who traveled with the group to majors, the wrist rosary she wore in every marathon, and the Catholic athletes' conference where she met Alberto by what she can only call fate. She explains the Kobe tribute kit at the 2020 Trials, the comment he left on her Instagram after she tore her hamstring, and how studying his mental game shaped the way she coaches today. On a comeback she's candid: most likely done, maybe one percent, and it would take a miracle. The fulfillment now comes from Hogan Performance and from her son, Micah. Tap into the Jordan Hasay Hogan 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: @jordanhasay

  2. 2d ago

    "I Just Decided I Wasn't Going to Be Scared Anymore": Colin Sahlman on the Year He Won 3 NCAA Titles, Signing With Nike, and the Chase for Olympic Gold

    Colin Sahlman finished 151st at NCAA cross country as a freshman. Four years later he left college with three national titles.Colin returns to the show for the first time since high school, now a Nike athlete training with Swoosh TC in Flagstaff. He walks through the part of the story most people skipped: the freshman year that humbled him, the sophomore cross country season where he didn't even make the travel squad, and the junior year where he missed the outdoor 1500 final and coach Mike Smith floated calling the season early. Colin said no, asked to run the 800 instead, and ran 1:44 for the first time.What changed his senior year wasn't the training getting harder—it got easier. He slowed his threshold work by roughly ten seconds a mile, stopped burning himself out, and went to every line believing he'd win. That belief carried him to 16th at NCAA cross country, a Millrose 800 win over a world-class field, the indoor 3000 and DMR titles at nationals, and the outdoor 800 crown in his final collegiate race.He calls it delusional confidence, and it's the spine of the whole conversation.They also get into why the NCAA humbles almost everyone and why your timeline isn't anyone else's; the Mike Smith phone call that could have gone very differently; what it means to reunite with Smith alongside Nico Young, Ethan Strand, Parker Wolfe and Drew Bosley; and why the 800 or 1500 question is still wide open heading into an Olympic year.Tap into the Colin Sahlman 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=TRE20Personal Instagram: @colinsahlman Photography Instagram: @colins_cam

  3. 4d 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

  4. 6d 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

  5. Sep 3

    "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

  6. Sep 1

    "You Don't Go To New York For A PB, You Go There To Race": European 10,000m Champion Andreas Almgren On His Marathon Debut, 200k Weeks, 37K Long Runs, And The Workouts Behind His European Gold

    Andreas Almgren just won European gold by lapping half the field—and six days later, he announced he's stepping up to 26.2 miles for the first time. In this episode, recorded mid-marathon-buildup with the aches to prove it, Almgren breaks down the decision to make his marathon debut at the TCS New York City Marathon on November 1, and why he chose the toughest, slowest Major Marathon over a flat time-trial course like Valencia.  He explains the front-running gamble that produced his historic 27:23.44 in the 10,000m in Birmingham—a 3:17 opening kilometer that forced him to take the race into his own hands from the third lap—and what it actually feels like to lap the field and win a championship by 19 seconds. Almgren gets into the mechanics of the buildup itself: mileage climbing toward 230K (142 miles) a week, fueling 120 grams of carbs an hour on long runs, testing new super-trainers versus carbon race shoes, and the durability work required to survive New York's bridges and hills.  He also opens up on the "dark years" between 2016 and 2020, the 800m speed he's carrying into a marathon debut, and why he's not ruling out a 10,000m/marathon double at the 2028 Olympics. Plus, a shoutout to double-threshold godfather Marius Bakken, a very Swedish story about a track meet against Finland, and what it's like to become a national hero overnight.  A wide-ranging, funny, and technical conversation with one of the most versatile distance runners in the world right now. Tap into the Andreas Almgren 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: @aaalmgren

  7. Aug 30

    "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

  8. Aug 28

    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

4.8
out of 5
825 Ratings

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.