By Chris Carmichael CEO/Head Coach of CTS The summer of 2020 has been unusual, to say the least. For cyclists, the widespread cancellation of events has led to increased weekly and monthly riding volume, both in terms of time and mileage. This may sound counterintuitive, but in the absence of events, riders are training more …
By Jason Koop CTS Coaching Director, Author of “Training Essentials for Ultrarunning” Several years ago while pacing my wife during the latter stages of the Run Rabbit Run 100 I vividly remember stumbling upon a ream of a dozen 200-mg caffeine pills. I wondered whether the runner who dropped the package was simply lazy and …
By Chris Carmichael, Founder and Head Coach of CTS As I was climbing the long road up Pikes Peak for the third time in a month, I thought a lot about quitting. Not me, mind you, but rather quitting in general. Why do some people quit and others persevere? What makes some people unstoppable, and …
About this episode: In this week’s episode, coach Adam talks with sports scientist Sebastian Weber, who has worked in professional cycling for more than 10 years, about the software many WorldTour cycling teams are using with their athletes to get a more holistic view of their physiology and drive the focus of their training. Guest …
By Jason Koop, Head Coach of CTS Ultrarunning Garmin’s recent outage has been wreaking havoc on athletes. People have lost track of everything from their weekly mileage to vertical gain accumulated, and even the miles on their shoes. Some have even used the outage as an excuse to skip out on runs (if it …
By Chris Carmichael, Founder and Head Coach of CTS While cycling plays a central role in our lives, for the general public interest in bicycles comes and goes in waves. Ridership and new bike sales are soaring in 2020 as more people turn to cycling for transportation, recreation, exercise, and commerce in response to the …
by Chris Carmichael CEO/Head Coach of CTS Initially, this article was going to be about all the reasons endurance athletes don’t need protein shakes, but that wouldn’t really be fair or accurate. There are some very good reasons for cyclists, runners, and triathletes to consume protein shakes, but they are also often overused, used for …
by Jason Koop, Head Coach of CTS Ultrarunning Truth be told, I don’t like the way most ultrarunning seasons unfold. In any normal year, once January rolls around many of the ultramarathon lotteries have been held. Runners know which races they will be doing the upcoming summer and have anywhere from 6-8 months to prepare. …
By Chris Carmichael, Founder and Head Coach of CTS When you think about it, athletes spend far more time not training than they do working out. There are 168 hours in a week, and it is rare for any athlete to train more than 25 hours in a week (15% total). At 12 hours per …
By Chris Carmichael, Founder and Head Coach of CTS Good athletes make bad decisions when they’re tired. Fatigue and exhaustion are major components of endurance sports. In training athletes are always balancing stress and recovery in order to achieve positive adaptations. During adventures and events, we manage our efforts to prolong optimal performance before fatigue …