THE RUNNING EFFECT PODCAST

Note from Dominic: for the first time in 800 episodes, had a weird issue where Ann's recording didn't save the last 5ish minutes of the podcast. So if it ends semi-abruptly that's why. Thank you for your understanding (: Enjoy!

Ann Dunn wasn't looking for one of the biggest jobs in collegiate distance running. 

Then she came home from a run to a text from Chris Miltenberg, and two months later, she's the new head coach of UNC women's cross country.

Dominic sits down with Ann just two weeks after Carolina made it official, and she shares the full behind-the-scenes story: the phone call with Milt, why he decided to split the men's and women's distance coaching so each group gets a dedicated touch point, and what made her say yes. Ann explains how a decade away from the NCAA (earning a master's in exercise physiology, building Formula Complete Fitness from the ground up in Charlottesville, and coaching The Covenant School to state titles) turned out to be an advantage, not a gap on the résumé.

She opens up about holding humility and confidence at the same time, the conversation with her husband Jason that made the move possible, and the FaceTime call from Maddie and Reese (her former Covenant stars, now Tar Heels) after Milt dropped the news. Ann also revisits her own Wisconsin story, where her team climbed from last in the Big Ten to fourth at NCAAs in two years; lays out her goals for Carolina (top 5–10 nationally, competing for ACC titles); offers advice for high schoolers making the jump to college running; and pushes back on Dominic's claim that American teams can't win NCAA titles in the international-talent era.

New chapter, new coach, same standard: Carolina blue with big goals.

Tap into the Ann Dunn 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: @coachanndunn

Website: https://www.formulacompletefitness.com/

You can register for the program directly through the official Shannon Thompson MPC Focus Session Series Page 
 
Instagram: @shannonleighthompson

Your ego isn't the enemy — it's just a bodyguard using outdated tactics.

Shannon Thompson, MAPP, NCCP, is back for another edition of one of the podcast's longest-running traditions. The mental performance coach behind NAU's championship program (and the second-ever guest in show history) returns to break down the 16-page thesis she recently delivered at a coaching clinic, condensed into one conversation packed with tools you can use this cross-country season.

Shannon unpacks what it means to "connect with the heart of the race,” and the three requirements to get there: a sense of belonging, a sense of irreplaceability, and an orientation toward giving rather than getting. From there, the conversation goes deep on the two stories every athlete lives through sport: the egoic story (work hard, achieve goals, repeat with higher goals) and the hero's journey—the narrative that begins when hard work stops guaranteeing results and you enter what Shannon calls "the wilderness."

Along the way, they discuss why ego is never bad, just unhelpful; how parts theory (IFS) gets to the root of race-day anxiety, checking out mid-race, and mysterious pre-race nausea; the fear underneath it all;; a Scottie Scheffler-inspired debate on caring about outcomes without being owned by them; and a five-minute exercise you can use before your next race.

Tap into the Shannon Thompson 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

Trevor Giampa doesn't call himself the best hybrid athlete — he says there's no such competition. He just refuses to accept the idea that chasing a goal in the gym has to cost him a goal on the course.

In this episode of The Running Effect Podcast, Dominic sits down with Trevor to unpack six years of all-out hybrid training and the results that have people convinced he must be cheating: a 2:28 Boston Marathon and a 315-pound bench in the same week, treadmill marathons followed by 15+ reps at 225, and 100-mile weeks paired with powerlifter-style strength work.

Trevor makes the case that "hybrid athlete = mediocre at both" is a myth, that antagonistic goals aren't really antagonistic if you build for them, and that your genetics improve the harder and longer you work. He's done it all as a natural athlete who has never had a sip of coffee, a drink of alcohol, or a single PED — and he explains why the constant doping accusations only fuel his mission to show people what a natural body is capable of.

They also get into his diet (max protein, max carbs, ground beef and rice, venison, kiwis for vitamin C), his recovery philosophy (build a bigger capacity, skip the gadgets), his gym split, the caffeine debate, his move into ultras, and how his Catholic faith became the center of his content and his goals.

00:00 — Welcome & the late-night recording sacrifice
00:36 — How Trevor defines a "hybrid athlete"
01:05 — Real hybrid athlete vs. chasing social media clout
02:11 — Nick Bear, the BPN community, and breaking the "mediocre at both" stereotype
04:28 — His most impressive feat: 2:28 Boston Marathon + 315 bench in the same week
05:13 — What's harder, running or lifting? Genetics and training load
07:44 — Same-day treadmill feats (45-mile run → bench; 2:26 treadmill marathon → bench)
08:18 — Why you lose reps benching right after a run (blood flow)
08:56 — Height, weight, and race weight (5'9", ~185 lbs)
09:44 — Why shorter is better for running ("short kings")
10:10 — Handling constant doping allegations as a natural athlete
11:01 — Peptides, caffeine, creatine, and the "natty or not" spectrum
13:32 — Why PEDs make no sense if you value the work
14:42 — The supplement stack: creatine, magnesium, and kiwis for vitamin C
15:50 — Diet philosophy: max protein, max carbs, eat around your training
18:00 — Daily calories and protein (~3,500 cal / ~200g)
18:51 — Meal prep, Costco, and almost never eating out
19:12 — Hypothetical: would he promote caffeine for a BPN sponsorship?
21:00 — The caffeine debate and the "alpha flies" analogy
22:55 — Caffeine timing, G1M Sport, and the downside of race-day coffee
23:30 — Bicarb and legal performance aids
24:07 — Which BPN athlete would he race — and at what distance?
24:40 — The gym split: stacking leg day on your hardest run days
26:30 — Push/pull/legs, weekly frequency, and injury-prevention work
27:10 — Shout-out to Dr. Bill Evans
28:02 — Parents, his brother, and whether the genetics are really "crazy"
29:21 — "Your genetics get better the harder you work"
30:53 — Goal announcement: 2:25 marathon + 225×25 bench, same day, before 25
31:37 — Recovery: build a bigger capacity, not a bigger gadget collection
33:36 — Progressive overload vs. just maintaining muscle
34:47 — Does he recommend this lifestyle? Why hybrid is the future of fitness
36:23 — Dream sponsorships and faith-aligned brands (Barbell Apparel, Mark Dowdle)
39:46 — Trevor's faith journey and weaving it into his content
41:37 — Sacrificing training time for faith — and being blessed in return
42:27 — Killing the excuses: a full-time job and 84-hour work weeks
43:25 — How he trained around 12-hour refinery shifts in the dark
45:20 — The David Goggins comparison and his (slightly) saner schedule now
47:41 — The messages that keep him posting
48:16 — His "what if": deciding to start posting content
50:31 — Closing thoughts

Jacob Cohen has run a 5K in a dog crate, a port-a-potty, and on top of the Empire State Building–-and no, he is not stopping anytime soon.

Before he was the internet's favorite 5K guy, Cohen was an investment banker in Atlanta, overweight and grinding through a banking job while his content dream sat on the back burner. 

Running, however, changed everything.

It helped him lose more than 40 pounds, and a run club of full-time creators convinced him to hit record. He posted for a year to 2,000 followers before a joke 5K around his coffee table in October 2025 lit the fuse: it led to 100,000 followers in 50 days and a full-blown escalation of the most absurd run locations imaginable.

In this conversation with Dominic, Cohen pulls back the curtain on the videos everyone's friends keep sending them. He addresses the skeptics head-on (yes, he really does the 5Ks; the watch accuracy is another story), reveals his most physically miserable run location, and explains why the World Cup crowd was in on the bit.
 
He also opens up about the deeper mission: rejecting the unattainable, chicken-and-rice version of fitness the internet sold him at his lowest, and proving working out can actually be fun.

Plus, his surprisingly generous take on David Goggins, celebrity collabs with Diplo, Bert Kreischer, Teddy Swims, and Casey Neistat, his dream Great Wall of China 5K, and why the biggest what-if of his life was simply pressing record.

Tap into the Jacob Cohen 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 

TikTok: @notreallywellness

Instagram: @notreallywellness

YouTube: @notreallywellness

Parker Wolfe was the 43rd man on a 42-man Olympic list. Now, he's making the case for rookie of the year in professional running.

Dominic sits down with the Swoosh TC Flagstaff star to unpack a debut season that reads like a highlight reel: a USATF cross country title on a muddy Portland course, top American honors at World XC in Tallahassee, a first sub-13 indoor 5K, a 12:49.45 Diamond League debut in Oslo, and a front-running Prefontaine Classic two-mile win over Grant Fisher.

Parker opens up about going from top dog at UNC to "the new kid on the block" as a pro, why the professional peak is the hardest one to climb, and how he nearly committed to Duke before Chapel Hill won him over. 

He breaks down the transition from Chris Miltenberg to Mike Smith—more mileage, double thresholds, and a Flagstaff training group so deep he never lacks a partner, from Ethan Strand and Nico Young to the occasional Galen Rupp appearance. 

He makes his case that full buy-in beats a perfect program, walks through the Mo Farah-inspired tactics behind his gutsy front-running win at Hayward, and lands on the lesson at the heart of it all: people overestimate what they can do in a season and underestimate what they can do in a couple years of consistency.

Plus, decoding Nike's confusingly structured Swoosh TC, Parker's five-runner Netflix docuseries cast, Nuggets loyalty, and the Lil Wayne deposition tape Coach Smith screened before Cross Nationals.

Tap into the Parker Wolfe 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:⁠ @parkerw19⁠