By Jason Koop, Head Coach of CTS Ultrarunning For what seems like an eternity now, we’ve been warned about the potential for age to detrimentally affect muscle mass retention. Recommendations aimed at older athletes have become so ubiquitous you could go across any of the major endurance media outlets, from Runner’s World to Ultrarunning Magazine …
By Jason Koop, Head Coach of CTS Ultrarunning Every year come January and February, I see a lot of new ultrarunners start up with CTS coaches. They come from all walks of life and experience levels, from beginners to seasoned veterans. Some come in levelheaded, ready to tackle the season and their upcoming goals. Most, …
By Jason Koop, Head Coach of CTS Ultrarunning I know what you are thinking. It seems strange to be posting a heat adaptation article in September. Many hot weather races like the Badwater 135 and Western States 100 have come and gone. And, outside of anomalies like January’s HURT 100, there are few hot …
By Jason Koop, Head Coach of CTS Ultrarunning Abby: ‘I feel like I’m just on the rivet‘ Jason: ‘That’s OK, just keep pressing’ Abby: ‘OK, I’ll do that’ This was an exchange I had with Abby Hall, an elite athlete I have had the pleasure of working with worked the past four years, while crewing …
By Jason Koop, Head Coach of CTS Ultrarunning Earlier this month I had the honor of crewing and pacing one of my athletes at the Bigfoot 200, which is first leg of the Triple Crown of 200s. Two-hundred milers present a different set of stressors and require different race strategies (as discussed in my …
By Jason Koop, Head Coach of CTS Ultrarunning I love going to ultrarunning events to support, cheer, and congratulate/commiserate with athletes. And I go to some as a runner as well. Regardless of the race, after the finish line it’s time to recover, and I get a ton of questions about post-event recovery after ultramarathons. …
By Jason Koop, Head Coach of CTS Ultrarunning Given the same ingredients, trained chefs can create a wide range of dishes. The same is true for trained coaches; we use the same basic training principles and workout ingredients to create training programs for different athletes across a range of sports. Periodization–the ways coaches organize training …
By Jason Koop, Head Coach of CTS Ultrarunning 2021 is proving a weird year for ultrarunning performances. Whether post pandemic related or a cosmic misalignment of the stars, it’s hard to argue that 2021 has not been simply bizarre for elites and average runners alike. For example, this years’ Western States 100 saw a paltry …
By Jason Koop, Head Coach of CTS Ultrarunning The past seven weeks supporting Timothy Olson’s bid to set the fastest known time (FKT) on the Pacific Crest Trail-and the months of preparation beforehand-have been a huge test of endurance, and I wasn’t even the one doing the running! On paper, Tim’s accomplishment was tremendous: 2653 …
By Jason Koop, Head Coach of CTS Ultrarunning I have spent the past six weeks crewing for Timothy Olson as he attempts to set an FKT on the Pacific Crest Trail. As of his stopping point on Sunday, July 11, he has 11 days, 8 hours, and 25 minutes to reach the northern terminus and …