By Adam St. Pierre CTS Ultramarathon Coach Every athlete has a limiting factor. More accurately, there are a number of interconnected factors that seek to limit your ultramarathon success. Though it’s an oversimplification to say these are the only three factors limiting performance, three of the most common are: Time, Structure, and Energy. Time For …
Many times, the best questions we get come from athletes and readers. The question below, from Kate, came to us via our Contact form. If you have questions you’d like answers to, send them our way! “I’ve been following a training program for several months, but there are days when I just don’t feel like …
Athletes put a lot of stress on our bodies, to positive and negative effect. Training stress stimulates adaptation and increased performance, but physical trauma and prolonged wear and tear also lead to injuries and pain. Current methods of pain management are effective, but they’re also killing people. In search of improved sports recovery and safer …
By Mara Abbott, Olympian, CTS Contributing Editor As a native Coloradan, I love changing seasons. I have my favorite times of year, but I really like the variety and appreciate the every-so-often obligation to shift my habits and priorities along with the turn of the year. In training and in life, I’m generally quite content …
By Andy Jones-Wilkins CTS Ultramarathon Coach Last week, at a meeting I attended with an experienced group of educational leaders, the topic of discussion eventually centered in on a very basic essential question: “What three things — skills, attributes, temperaments, whatever — do you want your students to graduate high school with?” The facilitator, knowing …
Sometimes the fire inside an athlete starts to dim and needs a bit of fuel to start roaring again. If you’re having trouble getting out of a warm bed to train on a cold morning, keep reading. If the earlier sunsets are stealing your motivation to train after work, I think I can help. …
Chris Carmichael CEO/Head Coach of CTS We live in fast times, and for Time-Crunched Athletes every minute counts. I know you’re busy, constantly juggling more tasks and priorities than you can reasonably fit into a single day. And on top of the normal career and family priorities, you’re trying to fit high-quality training into your …
By Julia Priest, CTS Coach Before Gran Fondos and gravel events grew in popularity, male and female cyclists of all abilities had few opportunities to compete together on the road, dirt, or velodrome. Sure, non-competitive century rides and charity events always had mixed fields, but once there was a competitive element to a cycling event …
By Jason Koop, CTS Coach Author of “Training Essentials for Ultrarunning” For many ultramarathon runners, the event season is done and lottery season has started. Buckles were earned and many gels consumed during the course of your endeavors. Even after a healthy amount of rest you have great fitness from months of spring and …
By Syd Schulz, Pro CTS Athlete It’s November, the season is winding down (unless you’re racing, cyclocross, of course!), and for those of us in the mountain west, the snow has already arrived. In other words, it’s the perfect time to incorporate some reading and maybe curl up by the fire with a book. Here …