By Jason Koop, CTS Coaching Director, Author “Training Essentials for Ultrarunning” This week, Ultrarunning Magazine will start to release their highly anticipated Ultrarunner of the Year (UROY) and Performance of the Year (POY) rankings. The rankings are a good source of banter, as the myriad of trail, road and track performances have few common threads …
By Chris Carmichael, Founder and Head Coach of CTS Most people who read my blog posts are year-round athletes, meaning the New Year probably is less of a cold start and more of a recommitment to training after a few months of intermittent exercise, indulgent eating, and a bit too much wine (or whiskey). To …
By Mara Abbott, Olympian and CTS Contributing Editor In the new year, my number one fitness goal is to recommit to a yoga practice. It’s hard to believe this is necessary – I’ve been through four teacher trainings, and when I was racing, the only reason I went to one yoga class a day instead …
By Jason Koop, Head Coach of CTS Ultrarunning As we’re about to embark on a new decade, I took some time to reflect on what I’ve learned over the last 10 years. I milled through my e-mails (complete with ‘Sent from my Blackberry’ signature lines), took a look at the now obsolete ULTRA Listserv and …
By Chris Carmichael, Founder and Head Coach of CTS In my view, reflecting on the accomplishments and challenges of the previous 12 months is one of the best things you can do as the year draws to a close. It’s not just a matter of scrolling through your own personal highlight reel; it is …
By Chris Carmichael, Founder and Head Coach of CTS Whether you are getting ready for your first season as a cyclist or your 40th, here’s your 10-point action plan to make it a success. Make sure it’s fun Sounds obvious, but I’ve seen lots of athletes who start out having fun and end up obsessing …
By Jason Koop, Head Coach of CTS Ultrarunning Earlier this week after I had deleted the umpteen-millionth ‘holiday gift guide for runners’ from my inbox, I got to thinking ‘there’s got to be something else runners really want’. Sure, a new pair of compression shorts, or the ‘only breathable and waterproof jacket you’ll ever need’ …
By Mara Abbott Olympian and CTS Contributing Editor Each year since 2008, when I began working with my CTS Coach Dean Golich, I consider myself fortunate to be a part of this community. As we head through the holiday season and into 2020, these are my wishes for the rest of my CTS family in …
By Chris Carmichael, Founder and Head Coach of CTS Would knowing how many minutes of walking or running it would take to burn off the calories in a snack influence whether or how much of that snack you eat? The Royal Society for Public Health in the United Kingdom seems to think so. As a …
By Jason Koop, Head Coach of CTS Ultrarunning For far too long, heel strikers have been ridiculed, mocked and laughed at in running communities around the globe. It’s time for that to stop. We’ve heard it all before. The rationales for a forefoot strike go something like this: “Our Paleolithic ancestors inevitably ran on their …