THE RUNNING EFFECT PODCAST

By 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 t... more

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The podcast currently has 769 episodes available.

Best of THE RUNNING EFFECT PODCAST

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Number 1: 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
August 22, 202654min
Number 2: 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
August 24, 202643min
Number 3: "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
August 30, 202647min
Number 4: From Mike Smith's Assistant to Running the Dynasty: NAU's Jarred Cornfield on the System Behind 6 Titles, Keeping It Alive in a New NCAA, and Coaching Colin Sahlman to 3x NCAA Titles
You don't replace Mike Smith. You carry forward what he built, and Jarred Cornfield is proving that's exactly how dynasties survive. Entering year two as NAU's Director of Cross Country and Track & Field, Cornfield returns to the podcast as another Flagstaff fall arrives. He opens up about the transition from nine years as Smith's assistant—resisting the urge to prove himself, leaning on his mentor (still in town, still a phone call away), and practicing the same pressure-management he preaches to his athletes. The conversation digs into the anatomy of the dynasty: six national titles in seven years, why every single one was the hardest thing ever, and whether today's NCAA will ever allow another NAU dynasty. Cornfield pulls back the curtain on the tactical side, too: watching a decade of DMR film with his men before their indoor title run; scouting rival coaches' tendencies; and building course-specific training, this time for Terre Haute, where this fall's championships return for the first time since the frigid 2019 race. Other threads in this conversation: what he actually does differently from Smith; sub-threshold staples in Buffalo Park; the student-athlete question at a school nicknamed running university; exhibiting character when nobody's watching; and his candid, nuanced take on the NCAA scrapping altitude conversions, which is a change that hits Flagstaff harder than anywhere. Plus, a celebration of Colin Sahlman's historic DMR–indoor 3K–outdoor 800 triple, and the theme of 2026's first team meeting: encouragement. Bring on Terre Haute. Bring on the rain. Tap into the Coach Cornfield 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
August 12, 20261h 14min
Number 5: "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
September 01, 202653min