Running an ultramarathon is a huge accomplishment, but most athletes feel sore and exhausted the day after a 50k, 50-mile, or 100-mile trail race. How long does it take to recover after an ultramarathon? What should you do to recover more quickly after a running race? When can you expect to return to normal training, …
Training for an ultramarathon takes months or years of diligent and focused preparation. Most athletes are attracted to endurance sports because they have a love for the process. In the grand scheme of things, the race itself is a tiny amount of time compared to the hours, weeks, and months of preparation. A detailed …
When I build ultrarunning interval workouts for athletes, I have unlimited combinations to choose from. I can create intervals ranging from seconds to hours. I can manipulate the intensity of intervals, combine different interval modalities into one workout, vary the amount recovery between intervals, and more. Despite the choices available, most of the interval …
Athletes miss training sometimes. They get sick, something comes up at work, there’s a family emergency, or any of life’s innumerable curveball. Reducing the number of training session you miss goes a long way toward reaching new heights in fitness and performance. This type of consistency has been key to safely increasing training workload …
When I turned 50 I felt like an old man, just like that. While I know “age is just a number” there was something about the Big 5-0 that felt a bit different. Put bluntly, it felt to me that after 50 I was on the downhill side of life. So, after being depressed about …
“How do I become a better runner?” In the days of the internet and social media influencers, that question has a million answers, many of which contradict each other. Filtering information down to what’s supported by science and experience is one of the leading reasons athletes cite for hiring a coach. They want to know …
When I give training talks, I can inevitably count on being asked, “How long should my longest run be?” When I get this question, I usually retort with, “Why do you need a long run?” Silence ensues. The silence stems from the fact runners rarely think about why they need a long run. And even more specifically, …
By Patrick McGlade, CTS Ultrarunning Coach and Physical Therapist Ultrarunning is an exercise in controlled excess. Athletes enjoy pushing themselves beyond what they previously thought possible. We can train for the time on our feet, for elevation changes, the heat and cold, but at a certain point our bodies will wave the white flag …
I’ve written before about how heavy strength training is superior to light weight/high repetition strength training for runners. In response, runners have asked about how, why, and when to implement a strength training program. I’ve also received a number of inquiries as to how to transition from a high rep/low weight or bodyweight based program …
By Jason Koop, Head Coach of CTS Ultrarunning Many runners would like to lose a few pounds. Whether they need to, would benefit from, or should lose weight is another question. Generally, I prefer to focus on fitness and adequate nutritional support for training and let body weight adapt naturally. However, some athletes still …