By Corrine Malcolm, CTS Ultrarunning Coach As an endurance athlete it’s likely that you’ve had blood work done sometime in the past. Terms like “CBC” (complete blood count), serum ferritin, hemoglobin, and hematocrit might ring a bell. If you are a female athlete you are likely all too familiar with iron deficiency (ID), or anemia. …
Darkness is coming! Saturday night we turn the clocks back an hour, gain an hour of sleep, and lose an hour of sunlight at the end of each day. For early-morning exercisers, the return to standard time is a welcome change. For those who rely on afternoon or after-work for training, earlier sunsets make …
I love a great group ride. I was raised on them and they have been an integral part of my life as a cyclist for more than 40 years. The group ride is where you learn to draft, how to ride shoulder to shoulder so you can talk without yelling, how to gauge your …
By Jason Koop CTS Coaching Director Author, “Training Essentials for Ultrarunning” I’ve been to a ton of ultrarunning events over the past two years, but none as a competitor. I crewed, paced, volunteered, cheered, and supported; I just didn’t race. Earlier this year my wife signed up for a mid-October 50k, and I thought …
By Syd Schulz, CTS Sponsored Athlete We all know negative self talk is bad, but how many of us are actually successful at stopping it? I know I often succumb to being my own worst critic, and just telling myself to “cut it out“ and “be positive” is rarely helpful. Ultimately, wrestling with your mind …
I’ve been thinking a lot about pain this week, mainly because I’ve been in a lot of it. In last week’s “Ode to my collarbone” I wrote about dealing with the immediate aftermath of a broken collarbone and briefly mentioned opioids, the very effective painkillers that can also carry a significant risk for abuse and …
By David Henry, CTS Ultrarunning Coach I’ve been thinking a lot about assets and, in particular, what asset is most valuable for an ultrarunner. Is it a super-high V02 max, superior pace at lactate threshold, incredible running economy or some other metric? Those are nice, but in the end, really nothing holds quite the …
As I looked up at the pretty yellow aspen leaves fluttering against the blue Colorado sky, all I could think was, “F@&k, that was my collarbone.” I didn’t intend on sky gazing on Monday. I was only on the ground looking up at the leaves because a deer took me out while I was descending …
By Jason Koop, CTS Coaching Director and author of “Training Essentials for Ultrarunning” Winter is coming… at least to the northern hemisphere. While it’s not the end of the competitive season for everyone, it is for the majority of the athletes my coaches and I work with. And that brings the inevitable discussion of what …
At higher elevations around Colorado Springs, the aspens turning yellow, which means there’s no denying winter is rapidly approaching. Many cyclists and triathletes are wrapping up their event seasons, which means we’re having a lot of discussions about short- and medium-term goals. One of the top goals: maintain climbing power. As great as it would be …