By Jason Koop, Head Coach of CTS Ultrarunning With what looks to be a very hot edition of the Western States race coming up in just a few weeks, this is a good opportunity to review heat acclimation protocols. It is a little bit late in the game to start the “Repeated Exposure” protocol …
By Jason Koop, Head Coach of CTS Ultrarunning Author “Training Essentials for Ultrarunning” Western States, Wasatch, and Badwater runners – and any other athlete training for a hot weather race – listen up. Start thinking about your heat training protocols now. Don’t wait for the last four weeks of training. Don’t meticulously plan out …
By Jason Koop, Head Coach of CTS Ultrarunning, Author of “Training Essentials for Ultrarunning“, Host of “Koopcast” podcast Run training has historically been driven by training paradigms rooted in its past. Alternating hard and easy days, long runs on Sundays, 7-day training cycles and even shoe rotation. These all made their way into runners’ …
By Jason Koop, Head Coach of CTS Ultrarunning Updated 2024 If you are an ultrarunner and you’re considering two-a-days or double days for your training, you’re going to want to read this first. Training twice in one day can have its place in ultramarathon training, but the practice should be used sparingly and in …
By Jason Koop, Head Coach of CTS Ultrarunning, author of “Training Essentials for Ultrarunning” Determining fatigue and state of readiness has long been a holy grail for endurance coaches. Accurately gauging these aspects would allow athletes to push harder when they are more ready and back off when they are more fatigued. Among the dizzying …
This past week I completed my 45th trip around the sun. As usual, I ran my age in miles, which becomes more of an ordeal with each passing year. It also gives me a lot of time to think about what categorically has worked with athletes over 2-plus decades as a professional coach. Below are …
By Jason Koop, Head Coach of CTS Ultrarunning, Author of “Training Essentials for Ultrarunning” In the worlds of endurance and ultraendurance training, adding more – of anything, to an extent – is a dependable way to improve performance. Just about any reasonable increase in overall workload (i.e., time on feet, elevation gain, strides, strength …
By Jason Koop, “How many races should I do?” is one of the first questions ultramarathon runners ask when planning a new season. There are several considerations, including physiology, necessary recovery time between races, lifestyle stress, and financial and travel challenges. On top of that, there’s psychology: Why are you racing, why these particular …
By Jason Koop, Head Coach of CTS Ultrarunning “Where did all my fitness go?” When athletes invariably ask that question in January, our coaches and I typically point people back to the drop off in training hours they completed between September and December. It’s really a shame to see athletes let so much of …
By Jason Koop, Head Coach of CTS Ultrarunning For years I have wanted a fantasy football-style league for trail and ultrarunning (come on, you know you want one too). It would be fun, good for the sport, akin to the annual iRunFar Western States prediction contest that draws international acclaim and fun banter all …