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 Jim Rutberg, CTS Pro Coach, Co-author “Training Essentials for Ultrarunning” With more than 20 athletes scheduled to compete in the 2024 Western States Endurance Run (WSER), CTS decided to mount our most ambitious race-support plan to date. The challenge of running 100 miles from Olympic Valley to the Placer High School track in …
By Darcie Murphy, CTS Ultrarunning Pro Coach Ultrarunning combines a multiple skills and abilities, from knowing how to handle yourself in the elements in remote areas, to understanding how to fuel your body for many hours or days while in motion. Typically, ultrarunning includes substantial climbs and descents and a lot of cumulative elevation …
By Darcie Murphy, CTS Ultrarunning Pro Coach Ultrarunning continues to grow and we’re welcoming many new athletes to events each year. If that’s you, we’re glad you’re here! New ultrarunners making the transition from marathons or from sports like triathlon or cycling sometimes struggle to establish reasonable objectives for their first ultramarathon season. What are …
By Anne Tisdell, CTS Ultrarunning Expert Coach Two-hundred-mile ultramarathons are growing in popularity, even if the absolute number of competitors is still relatively low. I finished second to Sally McCrae in the 2023 Moab 240, one of 112 total finishers and was the 10th Female Finisher in the 2024 Cocodona 250. If you’re considering …
By Andy Jones-Wilkins CTS Ultrarunning Coach In a sport where the ultimate goal is to get from the start line to the finish line as quickly as possible, it might seem counter-intuitive to suggest that patience is one of the key skills athletes need to master. However, after two decades in the sport, I …
By Darcie Murphy, CTS Pro Coach I have never been more excited to be a professional coach, and that’s because there’s never been a better time to be a coached athlete. I recently spent a long weekend at the CTS Coach Summit in Bentonville, Arkansas, which was a combination of classroom seminars, in-depth discussions …
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 John Fitzgerald, CTS Ultrarunning Coach The Tor des Géants is an annual 330-kilometer (205 mile) footrace held in September in Italy’s Aosta Valley. This steep and technical race features more than 24,000 meters (78,000 feet) of elevation gain. In terms of distance, duration, and elevation it’s equivalent to doing two Hardrock 100s or …