THE RUNNING EFFECT PODCAST

Austin Plewe ran a 1:49 at altitude and never trained faster than two-mile pace to do it. 

The American Fork senior joins the show ahead of his Festival of Miles 800m debut to explain exactly how that's possible—and why his roughest year ended up being the thing that made him.

Plewe is a product of one of the most consistent programs in the country. Coach Timo Mostert has been running the same aerobic-first philosophy at American Fork for over two decades, and it has produced Clayton Young, Danny Simmons, Casey Klinger, and now Plewe. No 800-specific sessions. No reps faster than mile pace. The speed is just there, evidenced by a sub-49 400 leg he threw down at the state 4x400 a few weeks ago.

What makes this conversation worth listening to is how honest Plewe is about what it cost him to get here. His senior cross-country season came apart at the seams—a stress fracture, an emergency appendectomy two weeks before statemeet, then an illness before NXR. 

He didn't have one good race all fall. What got him through was perspective, teammates, and a faith that the other side of that stretch had something better waiting. It did, in the form of a Simplot Games title, a US number-one ranking in the 800, and a fifth straight Arcadia 4x1600 title for the Cavemen.

Now he's in St. Louis targeting 1:47, maybe 1:46—and he's already got a post-race alligator po'boy locked in if it goes his way.

Tap into the Austin Plewe Special.

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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

Instagram: @austin_plewe

Josh Blatchford couldn’t stand long enough to brush his teeth—and he was a personal trainer.

After years of chronic illness nobody could diagnose, Josh hit rock bottom in 2020. He was bedridden, losing function on the left side of his body, and spending $30,000 a year on care that kept symptoms at bay for maybe six months before they came back harder. He had a two-year-old daughter he couldn’t lift. His mother-in-law found something called bioenergetic testing on a Facebook forum.

Fourteen months after his first round of remedies, Josh ran the Columbus Half Marathon. He signed up to prove to himself he’d actually healed. He didn’t let himself believe it until he turned the corner toward the finish line.

Now Josh is the founder and CEO of Attuned, the company he built around the technology that gave him his life back. On this episode, recorded in person in Columbus, Josh and Dominic get into how bioenergetic scanning works (hair and saliva samples; 60-plus years of science; and why it can flag a stress fracture weeks before symptoms appear), what separates the Endurance Scan from wearable data, how Dominic’s own scan caught his adrenal issues and flagged his achilles before he mentioned either, and why Josh won’t recommend a blanket supplement stack to anyone—even after taking 52 a day at his sickest. 

One of the most honest and unusual founder stories to come through the TRE universe.

Tap into the Josh Blatchford Special.

If you enjoy the podcast, please consider following us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and giving us a five-star review! 

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

Instagram: @joshuablatch 

Website: attuned.health

Mario Fraioli has coached hundreds of athletes and written over half a million words about running—and his most important lesson is to do less. 

He is the founder of The Morning Shakeout, a weekly newsletter read by tens of thousands of runners since 2015, a longtime running coach, and a Masters competitor still toeing the line himself with a 4:09 mile to his name. 

Two days after the 2026 Boston Marathon, Mario sat down with Dominic to break down what he witnessed, what the sport is getting wrong, and what keeps him coming back every single year.

In this conversation, Mario makes the case for his "Go One Less" philosophy and why the athletes most motivated to push are the ones most likely to break—a lesson he learned the hard way through stress fractures and disordered eating. 

He shares what it was like training alongside some of the best runners in the country and being stunned by how slow their easy days were. And he talks about what curiosity (not ambition) has driven everything he's built, from his first newsletter issue sent to 200 people to the coaching business he never planned to have.

Take the pursuit seriously. Don't take yourself too seriously. And just get started.

Tap into the Mario Fraioli 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

Instagram: @mariofraioli 

The Morning Shakeout Newsletter: https://themorningshakeout.substack.com/
Website: https://mariofraioli.com/

Braelyn Combe listed five girls she expected to contend with at Festival of Miles. Chiara Dailey's name wasn't one of them.

That detail sits right at the center of this conversation: not as a grudge, but as fuel. Chiara has been one of the best prep distance runners in the country for four straight years: three consecutive California state cross country titles, a sub-4:40 mile PR, four straight national qualifications. She'll be the first to tell you she hasn't had that race yet. The one that changes the conversation. June 4th is where she's been pointing all spring.

This episode goes inside what that actually looks like. She talks about working this season with Eric Avila (a former professional runner and longtime family friend) who shifted the texture of her training: more threshold, consistent lifting,a real focus on form she'd quietly been embarrassed about for three years.

She describes her hardest workout of the spring, why she doesn't learn her sessions until after her warmup, and how she's been training her kick at every smaller meet in the postseason—going out in 32 and closing in 31.

She also goes deep on what winning actually means to her. Her moonshot goal for FOM is sub-4:30 (nine seconds faster than her current PR) and she explains, calmly and without hesitation, why she'd rather win in 4:40 than run 4:29 and finish second. She signs off with a direct message to Braelyn: "I'll see you in Fresno and I'll see you in St. Louis."
She's been around. She's done being overlooked.

Tap into the Chiara Dailey Special.

If you enjoy the podcast, please consider following us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and giving us a five-star review! 

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

Instagram: @chiaradailey

-The Run Down By The Running Effect (our new newsletter!): https://tinyurl.com/mr36s9rs

The myths runners live by are surprisingly hard to kill. Alex Ostberg is back with Dominic to dismantle four more of them.

First up: the soft surface myth. Alex explains how the brain anticipates soft terrain and stiffens the legs before foot strike, largely canceling out whatever cushioning the ground provides.

The real injury variable isn't surface, it's pace. Slowing from a 7:40 to a 10:44 mile can cut tibial stress injury risk by over 50%. Variability across surfaces beats avoidance of any one of them.

From there, the conversation moves into the "8 Questions" edition and a broader critique of optimization culture. Only about 10 to 15 percent of runners, Alex argues, should even be thinking about supplements, sleep protocols, or anabolic windows. The rest need to nail the basics first. 

The injury comeback piece brings the most personal material. Alex draws on his own two-year loop of reinjury at Stanford and UNC to argue that healing and readiness are not the same thing. Pain-free is a starting point, not a finish line.

Two rules stand above the rest: invest fully in the protection phase, and pass a stimulus twice before progressing it.

The episode closes on London 2026 and the fueling science behind the first sub-two. Sawe averaged 115 grams of carbohydrate per hour—a number that would have been considered reckless a decade ago. Alex breaks down the carbolution (dual-source transport, hydrogel delivery, gut training) and asks the question the finish line footage raised: have we eliminated the bonk?

Tap into the Alex Ostberg Rundown Recap Special.

If you enjoy the podcast, please consider following us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and giving us a five-star review! 

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