From the Shadows to HOKA Festival of Miles: Chiara Dailey on Being Overlooked, Training Like A Pro, and Chasing a Sub-4:30 Mile In High School

About this episode

Chiara Dailey discusses her journey as a top prep distance runner and her aspirations for the Festival of Miles.

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…

People in this episode

Host: Dominic Schlueter

Guest: Chiara Dailey

Topics covered

• high school running
• training techniques
• competitive mindset
• personal goals
• distance running

Keywords

• Chiara Dailey
• Festival of Miles
• sub-4:30 mile
• training
• Eric Avila
• California state cross country titles
• high school running

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: HOKA, California

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