By Jason Koop, Head Coach of CTS Ultrarunning In Training Essentials for Ultrarunning, I wrote that elite ultramarathon athletes have three things in common. First off, they are tough. Nobody wins a race that lasts several hours or days solely with sheer luck, fitness or genetic talent (although the latter is one component that all …
By Jason Koop, Head Coach of CTS Ultrarunning Sleep matters for a lot of reasons, and may even matter as much some of your training! For starters, the physiological repair and growth that actually makes you better happens when you rest, but predominantly when you sleep. It improves motor learning (learning a new skill) and …
By Chris Carmichael CEO/Head Coach of CTS I first rode a Pinarello in 1983 when I raced on the Aspen-Dia Compe-Giordana team with Dale Stetina and Alexi Grewal at the Coors Classic (Dale won the overall that year). It was a great steel frame with a very Italian geometry that was nimble but not twitchy, …
By Mara Abbott, Olympian and CTS Contributing Editor The arrival of Spring in many locations makes it easy to get excited about being outside and training, but it’s important to be sure you’re bolstering your mental resilience too —whatever your level of competition. During my own racing career, four books helped shape and sustain me …
By Andy Jones-Wilkins, CTS Ultrarunning Coach In one of my all-time favorite sports films, “A League of Their Own,” Tom Hanks plays Jimmy, a battle-tested baseball manager charged with the task of coaching a team in the women’s major leagues during World War II. Opposite Jimmy is Dottie, played with tortured passion by Geena Davis, …
By Chris Carmichael CEO/Head Coach of CTS Pretty much every cyclist I talk to wants to ride uphill faster. And while athletes and coaches spend a lot of time focused on increasing power output and reducing bodyweight, these two things only give you the capacity – the potential – to go faster uphill. Actually riding …
By Reid Beloni, CTS Senior Coach Retül Level 1 Fit Technician In a previous blog we talked about some common problems we see with bike fit, and discomfort and injury are obvious signs you should address bike fit issues. Many times, however, cyclists who would benefit from a bike fit appointment are not experiencing pain. …
By Jason Koop Head Coach of CTS Ultrarunning If I did not despise our culture of finding the latest and greatest ‘hack’ to improve performance, the title of this article could very well be ‘8 Hacks for the Ultimate Ultramarathon Performance’. Fortunately, I have more sense than that. The fact of the matter is that …
By Chris Carmichael CEO/Head Coach of CTS I am 58 years old and I travel a lot and prefer to train at home when I’m in Colorado Springs, CO. Even though I’ve been an endurance athlete all my life, my age means I am prioritizing strength training more than I used to. The frequent challenge: …
By Mara Abbott, Olympian, CTS Contributing Editor Last fall, I decided that I wanted to take a mountain biking lesson. It was a bold move, as you will learn, because I am a truly terrible mountain biker. Here is the story of my lesson, and the best tips I have to share for other riders …