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 …
By Jason Koop CTS Coach, author of “Training Essentials for Ultrarunning” I’m giving up my Subaru. Like many Coloradans, I own a Subaru Outback. I love my Outback and it’s easy to see why so many Coloradoans and other adventurers own them. They are a good value, practical, fuel efficient, reliable, and have all wheel …
By Mara Abbott, Olympian and CTS Contributing Editor When we cross a finish line or see a project to completion, our first reaction is generally to the outcome or the process. We might feel, joy, sadness, anger, or satisfaction initially – but as time goes on, what remains is often emptiness. After devoting yourself to …
By John Fitzgerald CTS Ultramarathon Coach Data published by Ultrarunning Magazine indicates that between 2000 and 2016, the number of ultra-distance events grew exponentially and increased over 700%. Assuming the 1,473 races in 2016 fell on weekends, a person could have picked from 28 ultras on average any given weekend. Ultrarunners can race year around …