It’s time for a New Year! Here is your to-do list to be faster, stronger, and more fit than you have ever been! And don’t tell me that you’re a year older and therefore you’ll have to accept being slower and less fit. CTS Athlete Frederic Schmid keeps winning US National Championships in every discipline …
Spotify has its Wrapped feature and the Strava app will show you Your Year In Sport, but what if you want to create a more detailed and meaningful review of your cycling training for the year? CTS Coaches use TrainingPeaks to create athlete training plans and monitor athlete performance through uploaded power, heart rate, and …
The week between Christmas and New Year’s is often an opportunity for cyclists to pile on miles and hours. The Rapha Festive 500 (riding 500 kilometers between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve) is one of the original and still popular versions for ending the year with a giant week-long training block. Whether you are …
The ability to explore epic routes is one of the biggest benefits to being a trail and ultrarunner, and completing a Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim (R2R2R) route in the Grand Canyon is a bucket-list achievement for many runners and hikers. There is no organized event or race to sign up for, meaning it’s a self-supported adventure and you’re …
As a female athlete in my 60s who mostly coaches endurance athletes between 50 and 80 years old (with a few above 90!), I am sensitive to the risks and advantages cold weather training poses for athletes my age and older. My goals are always to reduce barriers to exercise, keep athletes safe, and contribute …
No matter what else I have accomplished in my life, I am invariably introduced to new people as A Cyclist. And once that aspect of my identity is revealed, the questions and assumptions begin. We all have cycling-naïve people in our lives and encounter people who either don’t understand why we ride or use the …
The holiday season is upon us! Whether that conjures panic or glee, or perhaps a combination, the holiday season will probably affect your training, too. How can you keep training through the holidays effectively while also handling the social engagements and holiday shopping? The keys are keeping expectations realistic, staying patient, maintaining a sense of …
For cyclists using smart trainers and internet-enabled cycling apps, one of a smart trainer’s core capabilities is to externally control and adjust the resistance a cyclist experiences. Of the multiple ways this can be applied, ERG Mode is one of the most important. Here’s how it works, when you should use it, and when you …
There’s never been a better time to ride a bicycle indoors. That doesn’t mean you can’t also enjoy – or even prefer – riding outside, but there’s no denying that the options available for indoor cycling have never been better. Whether you use indoor cycling to augment your outdoor training, prepare you for indoor or …
As a CTS Ultrarunning Coach and Certified Mental Performance Consultant® (CMPC) through the Association for Applied Sport Psychology, my own races are opportunities to “walk the walk” when it comes to mental performance strategies. A few weeks ago, a mysterious problem with my calves during the Javelina Jundred challenged my desire to persevere and I …