THE RUNNING EFFECT PODCAST

Running a 1:57 doesn't happen by accident. And for Hayley Kitching, it almost didn't happen at all.

A year ago, the Penn State senior was in Austin nursing plantar fasciitis while watching the sport move without her. Hayley is here to unpack the full arc: the injury, the comeback, and the NCAA Outdoor final at Hayward Field where she ran the second-fastest 800 meters in collegiate history—and still finished second. 

Hayley and Dominic go deep on what actually drove the jump from 2:20 in high school to 1:57 on the biggest stage. Her answer isn't a secret workout or a revolutionary training block. It's consistency—a Monday steady run and showing up even when the motivation isn't there.

She also opens up about the nutritional wake-up call that changed her freshman year, her three-day-a-week lifting program that includes a leg circuit she calls "leg day on crack," and the afternoon nap that she considers non-negotiable.

The conversation gets equally honest about the mental side: the confidence she's carried since her junior days in Coffs Harbour; how she thinks about the difference between confidence and pride; and why she'd tell her younger self to get off Instagram and stop comparing results. She also reflects on the NCAA Indoor fall in March, what it felt like to sprint the fastest final lap of the day and still not make the final, and why she came out of Eugene happy despite leaving without the win.

Hayley is heading pro. This episode is the perfect send-off.

Tap into the Hayley Kitching 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

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NEW MERCH OUT TODAY 5PM EST: https://luminarythreads.shop

Five NCAA titles. One backwards hat. Zero apologies.

Habtom Samuel is not a guy who talks much—he lets the track do it. The University of New Mexico junior just capped a historic 2025–2026 season by sweeping the 5,000 and 10,000 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, becoming the most decorated athlete in Lobos history. 

In this episode, Dominic sits down with Habtom the week after the titles to find out what it actually feels like.

The conversation covers the full arc: growing up in Eritrea, the culture shock of arriving in Albuquerque with no family nearby, and the quiet determination that carried him through a sophomore year of four runner-up finishes. 

Habtom opens up about that 2025 NCAA Cross Country final—the one where he lost his shoe midway through the race, kept charging, and still nearly caught Graham Blanks. He talks through the indoor DQ, the decision to work on his kick, and the precise moment in the outdoor 5,000m final where he knew it was time to move on Marco Langan.
There is also real warmth here. 

Habtom talks about what it means to train alongside Josh Kerr, what the Hoka NIL deal has meant for his family back home, and why he refuses to let anything (a lost shoe, a disqualification, a trash-talk headline) pull his focus from what he can control. 

He is not a guy chasing a legacy. He is a guy who shows up, works, and lets the results speak. They have been speaking pretty loudly lately.
Tap into the Habtom Samuel 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  

MERCH: luminarythreads.shop

-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: Habtom Samuel (@habtom_samuel_).

🔗 Shop drop one (early-access password: TRE): https://luminarythreads.shop

Dominic goes solo to launch LuminaryThreads — a merch brand three years in the making, built on a simple idea: you pass roughly a thousand people a day, and what you wear is the one way to reach them. 

Every month, one drop. One short statement meant to inspire, challenge, or move whoever reads it. When it's gone, it's gone for good.

Drop one is the motto that started it all: Turn Your What-Ifs Into Realities.

Only 50 shirts exist. Dom breaks down why he waited three years, why he's taking a loss on the first drop, and what "impact over profit" actually means to him.

🔗 Shop drop one (early-access password: TRE): https://luminarythreads.shop

📷 LuminaryThreads on Instagram: @luminarythreadsmerch

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

NEW MERCH OUT ON MONDAY: https://luminarythreads.shop

Alex Ostberg doesn't waste your time—and this month's Rundown recap is proof. 

Dominic and Alex break down four newsletters that build on each other in ways that feel almost inevitable by the end: a framework for how elite programs fall apart, how coaches know when to pull the plug, and how summer heat can either wreck your confidence or become your secret weapon.
 
The first piece, "Stop Optimizing Things That Shouldn't Exist," starts with a pattern Alex sees repeatedly when collegiate athletes go pro: the blank slate they've been waiting for becomes a trap. More practitioners, more supplements, more inputs—and performance drops.

Someone has to own the whole system, not just be a piece in it. He calls it the difference between vertical and horizontal integration, and he believes coaches who act as master integrators (filtering what reaches the athlete) will always outperform those who don't. From there, Dominic and Alex get into "The Case for Quitting a Workout Early," a piece Alex traces back to his first day at the Bowerman Track Club, stopwatch in hand, with no script for when things went sideways. 

The final two newsletters take on summer heat as a pair. "The Heat Tax" lays out the physiology—why humidity is the real enemy; why the brain throttles the legs before the legs even know what's happening. "The Heat Adaptation Playbook" closes with the practical protocol: post-exercise sauna, effort-based training targets, and the mindset shift that turns miserable summer miles into a fall advantage. 

Same principles as the workout piece, Alex notes—protect the descent.

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/3ua62ffz

Behind the scenes of The Running Effect: https://youtube.com/@dominicschlueter?si=PM9FjPc92eFUFEZL

NEW MERCH OUT ON MONDAY: https://luminarythreads.shop 

From 1:54 and zero Division I offers to sixth at NCAAs in 1:45, Niko Schultz didn't sneak up on anybody, he just refused to stop showing up.

This year, in his first campaign at Penn State, he finished sixth at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and earned First-Team All-American honors. 

That arc doesn't happen by accident. 

Niko sits down with Dominic to unpack everything behind that leap: the decision to enter the transfer portal as a guy most coaches didn't want; the culture shock of arriving at Penn State and not winning a single training rep for three months straight; and what it felt like to be working server shifts after practice just to cover rent. 

Coach Ryan Foster's philosophy comes up early–-how he treats athletes like professionals; doesn’t micromanage the warm-up; and builds an environment where the training group does the coaching.

The conversation goes well beyond the track. Niko is candid about what drove him to start posting: a stress fracture freshman year and a high school coach asking what he was worth outside of running. He sat through two years of getting roasted in the comments before anything clicked. 

Now he's building toward a million followers with the same intentionality he brings to dropping time on the track, and he sees the two pursuits as feeding each other.

He also explains why he switched his international allegiance from the U.S. to Puerto Rico and what the road to the 2028 Olympics looks like from where he's standing.

Tap into the Niko Schultz 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

Instagram: @nikoschultzzz 

TikTok: @nikojschultz 

YouTube: Niko Schultz