The Peak-Performance Blueprint: Taper Science, Beating Plateaus, and the Hidden Behaviors of Champions With Alex Ostberg

THE RUNNING EFFECT PODCAST

Dominic Schlueter

Running, Sports

4.8 • 686 Ratings

🗓️ 30 August 2025

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

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What does it really take to peak, push through plateaus, and build a championship culture?

Alex Ostberg returns to unpack the latest four installments of The Run Down, beginning with “The Science of a Taper,” where the guys explore how dialing back training at just the right moment allows fatigue to fade while fitness shines through, unlocking peak performance when it matters most.

From there, they dive into “When the Magic Fades,” a candid look at the moment every athlete experiences when the spark of progress dims. Alex examines why this happens, what it reveals about adaptation, and how runners can stay grounded through the inevitable plateaus.

The discussion then turns to “The Hierarchy of Endurance Needs.” Like a pyramid, Alex outlines how consistency and aerobic development form the base, while intensity, specificity, and tapering build upward—offering athletes a clear framework for long-term success.

Finally, they tackle “The Hidden Behaviors Behind Championship Teams,” highlighting the unseen habits—accountability, unselfishness, and shared standards—that turn groups of athletes into cultures of excellence.

Alex continues to blend science, mindset, structure, and team dynamics in a succinct way, giving readers a rich look at the forces that shape endurance performance.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the Running Effect podcast.
0:02.4	Before we hop into today's episode, a quick note that it is brought to you by Mount to Coast,
0:07.4	a brand new running shoe brand on the market that I have greatly appreciated using in training over the past few weeks,
0:12.9	specifically this R1 model.
0:15.1	They have many models, but the R1 is probably my favorite one that have tried thus far.
0:19.7	And what's nice about it is you feel like you have enough cushion in protection
0:23.2	where running feels effortless,
0:25.0	but you don't want to sacrifice weight for the amount of cushion.
0:28.6	What's nice about the R1 is there's a lot of foam and stability and support
0:32.9	so that your legs don't feel beat up, but it's also not that heavy.
0:36.2	And so it's a smooth, seamless ride. Specifically, if you're looking this fall for a new training shoe for cross-country or
0:42.8	marathons or ultramarathons, if you want to try out the R1 or a different model of Mount
0:47.7	to Coast shoes, you guys can use the code the running effect for 10% off. And their website is
0:52.8	very easy to remember. It is simply mountecose.com.
0:56.3	I hope you guys enjoyed today's conversation of the podcast.
1:02.8	There's one study I was just talking earlier about like effect size and sample size.
1:06.2	There was a study that surveyed over 2,000 recreational marathoners, and it found that weekly volume was the strongest predictor of race performance.
1:15.6	So for those people who were running 50 miles a week, they were 25 to 32 minutes faster than those running 30 miles per week, all else equal.
1:23.6	And then if you go down and you look at intensity, those same people were sampled.
1:29.0	And they found that in that same group of marathoners, those who incorporated intervals regularly,
1:34.2	so those who were doing intensity beyond just easy mileage, they only ran about five minutes faster.
1:38.7	Still important, still meaningful, but way secondary to the gains that you can get from volume alone.
	...

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