By Mara Abbott Olympian, CTS Contributing Editor Last week, a friend sent out a distress cry on Facebook. She had been scheduled to do a long run, but her body wasn’t having it. “I did not expect to feel like I wasn’t going to make it through the run. I did not expect …
By Jason Koop, CTS Coaching Director Author, “Training Essentials for Ultrarunning” This is an exciting time in ultramarathon running. Sports have periods of rapid change and progress, and then there are periods when performances, events, and technologies seem to plateau. With the influx of sponsor money, the professionalization of race organizations, and the continued …
I have always been a morning person, up with the sunrise or before and raring to go. My friend and longtime co-author, Jim Rutberg, is a night owl. He does his best work in the afternoon and at night, and we work best together when we honor each other’s chronotypes. Recent research suggests there could …
By Mara Abbott, Olympian and CTS Contributing Editor Beginning of a New Year? Goal setting time. This year, however, my goal stretches far beyond 2019. My goal is to be in it for the long haul. I’ve realized that I’m on the downward slope of performance in my athletic career. I may be younger than …
I’m not a “New Year, New You” kind of guy. I absolutely think the New Year is a great opportunity to evaluate what you’re doing well and what needs to be changed, but progress is perpetual. The New Year is a merely a mile marker on a long journey to the best version of …
As 2018 draws to a close, I encourage everyone to pause and look back over the accomplishments and challenges you’ve experienced in the past 12 months. What are you grateful for? Who – or what – made you happy? What do you want to do differently in 2019? When I reflect on this year, the …
It’s Christmas Day, so we wanted to keep things light and offer up a treat you can make before a holiday run or last-minute get-together. Provided by one of our favorite chefs and athletes, Jeff Mahin, this incredible Banana Espresso Cookie Dough Energy Bite satisfies our passion for healthy real food ingredients, our very real need …
A few months ago, my friend told me about the difference her “Panda Planner” had made in her life. I snickered. A Panda Planner? It sounds like some sort of Lisa Frank throwback for angsty adults. She told me about how the Panda Planner would ask her each morning to focus on an affirmation for …
By Andy Jones-Wilkins, CTS Ultramarathon Coach Several years ago, I received an out-of-the-blue email from a team of researchers from the Psychology Department at the University of Pennsylvania. They had apparently picked up my name from Ultrarunning Magazine and were interested in having me participate in a study on something they were calling Grit. What is …
Social media isn’t going away. Sure, sometimes it’s tempting to jettison the cell phone out the car window while driving down the interstate. At times we probably all fantasize about a world completely devoid of technology, but for most of us, the positives of social media usually outweigh the negatives. We can stay up-to-date with …