KatieSchide JasonKoop WSER 2024 50

How She Did It: Katie Schide’s Western States Winning Formula

  By Jason Koop, Head Coach of CTS Ultrarunning, Author of “Training Essentials for Ultrarunning, 2nd Ed” Part 1: Inside the High-Performance Team Now that the dust has settled after the 2024 Western States Endurance Run (WSER), I’ve been humbled by the outpouring of congratulations and gratitude from friends, family, colleagues, and of course, athletes. …

jeff pierce cyclist fitness over 50

Substantial Fitness Gains You Can Make After 50 (and 60!)

  By Jim Rutberg, CTS Pro Coach, co-author of “Ride Inside“, “The Time-Crunched Cyclist”, and “Training Essentials for Ultrarunning” Reviewed by Adam Pulford I have an important message to all Generation X and Baby Boomer athletes out there: It’s never too late to make meaningful and measurable gains in fitness and performance! Yes, there are …

tour de france fueling strategies nutrition

Why Tour de France Fueling Strategies Are Not For You

    By Jim Rutberg, CTS Pro Coach, co-author of “The Time-Crunched Cyclist”, “Training Essentials for Ultrarunning” One of the key storylines from the Tour de France this year (and the past few years) is the extreme carbohydrate intakes in the pro peloton. Elite cyclists and their teams have reported intakes of 100, 120, and even up …

CTS Athlete Alison Jackson

CTS Athlete Alison Jackson Named To 2024 Canadian Olympic Cycling Team

Paris-Roubaix winner has been working with CTS Coach Adam Pulford since late 2020. (Colorado Springs, CO)  – CTS, the worldwide leader in endurance coaching, is proud to support Canadian cycling champion Alison Jackson, who was named to the 2024 Canadian Olympic Cycling Team for the Road Race and Time Trial. The winner of the 2023 …

type of cyclist

What Type of Uphill Cyclist Are You: Aggressor, Follower, or Survivor?

  By Jim Rutberg, CTS Pro Coach, co-author of “The Time-Crunched Cyclist”, “Training Essentials for Ultrarunning” On long climbs riders can be divided into three categories: Aggressors, Followers, and Survivors. The category you fit into depends on your goals, fitness level, and how you’re feeling on a particular climb. Any rider can move from one category to …

ultrarunner looking down

Beating the Urge to Quit in Ultrarunning and Ultraendurance Events

  By Andy Jones-Wilkins, CTS Ultrarunning Coach, 10-time Western States Finisher Anyone who has been running ultras for a while has, at one time or another, had to fight off the urge to quit. It is simply an inevitable fact of life that for most normal humans, after about 8 hours of running, hiking, crawling, …

road cyclists during interval workouts

Decoding Interval Workouts: How to determine the number and duration of intervals

Creating interval workouts with the appropriate amount of time-at-intensity and recovery between efforts is an essential skill for any athlete or coach designing training plans. Individual workouts are the small building blocks that build upon one another to create training stress that leads to physiological adaptations and improved performance. Workouts don’t have to be complicated …

preparing for western states

How CTS Coaches Prepare Athletes for the Unique Demands of Western States

  By CTS Coaches Jim Rutberg, with information from 10-time Western States Finisher and CTS Ultrarunning Coach Andy Jones-Wilkins Developing fitness is just one component of preparing athletes for the iconic Western States Endurance Run (WSER). Every ultramarathon has unique challenges, course features, weather concerns, and logistical complications. In addition to working with WSER Champions, …