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The Intoxicating Origins Of Motivation

By Mara Abbott Olympian, CTS Contributing Editor Want to get somewhere? Devote yourself to the process. Destinations are highly unreliable. As the PyeongChang Olympics end and the Paralympics come into full swing, many spectators wonder about the origins of the motivation that keeps these athletes working so hard for so long. This dedication is particularly striking for …

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Is It Time For Age-Graded Time Cutoffs In Ultrarunning?

As the popularity of ultramarathoning has soared in recent years and hundreds of new athletes have flocked to the sport, the issue of cutoffs has become a more and more common topic of discussion.  Particularly with older runners, many of whom have come to the sport for camaraderie and community, the seemingly arbitrary and occasionally …

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Fluid Recovery Partners With CTS To Offer Athletes Better Recovery Nutrition

Fluid Recovery Partners With CTS To Offer Athletes Better Recovery Nutrition (February 28, 2018) Fluid Sports Nutrition and Carmichael Training Systems have announced a partnership beginning immediately that will give CTS coaches, athletes, and camp participants an opportunity to recover better with Fluid’s award-winning post-workout Recovery drink mix. Partnering with CTS helps Fluid reach a …

Mara one does not simply

Take These Daily Steps to Develop Greater Discipline

By Mara Abbott Olympian, CTS Athlete, and CTS Contributing Editor I’m sure you all saw them – the tongue-in-cheek tweets, the self-deprecating Facebook comments highlighting the irony of watching the astonishing physical feats at the Winter Olympics while ensconced in a couch eating Doritos. (With a side of mint chip ice cream. And beer.) Clearly, …

Gayle

CTS Training Talks: How To Plan Your Cycling Season

In this episode of CTS Training Talks we cover: Developing season goals Identifying limiting factors like available training time Structuring a training plan around priority events CTS Senior Coach Clayton Feldman talks with Gayle Connell from the Naked Women’s Racing Team about identifying goals and building a plan that will lead to a successful season. …

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How to Optimize Recovery for Multi-Day Events Like the Haute Route

Haute Route San Francisco (April 20-22), Haute Route Asheville (May 18-20), and especially the seven-day Mavic Haute Route Rockies (June 23-29) are all demanding multi-day events that require special attention to recovery. No matter how fit you are coming into one of these events, it’s critical you focus energy on recovery between stages. Here are …

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4 Ways To Be A More Resilient Athlete

By Mara Abbott 2016 Olympian, CTS Athlete, and CTS Contributing Editor Last week, I told my mom she was my athletic role model.  If I had gotten a bigger eye roll in reply, she probably would have reversed her LASIK.  The way she tells it, she was a complete klutz growing up, didn’t have the …

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The Stubborn Athlete’s Guide to Injuries

By Mara Abbott, 2016 Olympian, CTS Athlete, and CTS Contributing Editor At the 2016 Redlands Classic I went down hard, and came back up with a cracked collarbone. After 10 years of professional cycling it was my first broken bone. However, when I tried explaining my ensuing fear and uncertainty, people were duly polite, but it …

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CTS Training Talks: An Inside Look at VO2 Max and Lactate Threshold Testing

Whether you are a triathlete, runner, cyclist, or another endurance athlete you need accurate physiological data to guide and monitor your training by. Lactate threshold and VO2 Max are two of the most commonly, and effectively, used performance markers used by many athletes and coaches. The point is to learn the highest intensity at which …