By Andy Jones-Wilkins, CTS Ultrarunning Pro Coach When I was coming of age in ultrarunning in the 1990s, I was fortunate to have very good mentors. Four, in particular – John Medinger, Tim Twietmeyer, Ann Trason, and Tommy Nielsen — all took me under their collective wings and fed me with knowledge and wisdom. …
By Cliff Pittman, CTS Senior Coach & CTS Coaching Development Director Technology continues to profoundly impact training methods across the spectrum of endurance sports. However, a stubbornly low-tech assessment of effort and exercise intensity stands the test of time. Rating of perceived exertion (RPE) is about as simple as it gets: “On a scale …
By Sarah Scozzaro, CTS Ultrarunning Pro Coach In my nearly 20 years of coaching, including more than a decade coaching ultramarathon runners, I have evolved as a professional. There are many ways to work as a coach, and I’ve made certain decisions to align my practice with my values and my approach to athlete …
By Darcie Murphy, CTS Ultrarunning Pro Coach Here’s my unpopular response to the “New Year, New You” voices: It’s okay to not be a goal-setter. If you have been living under a boulder, then maybe you’re unaware we’re expected to have goals for the New Year. And not just for athletic objectives, but also …
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 …
Many marathon runners are making the leap to ultramarathon distances. If you are considering your first 50k, 50-miler, 100k, or even 100-mile ultramarathon, you’re not alone. The most important thing to understand is that an ultramarathon is not simply a longer marathon. As distance and duration increase, the challenges and demands shift so significantly that …
By Darcie Murphy, CTS Ultrarunning Senior Coach The holiday season is upon us! Whether that conjures panic or glee, apathy or excitement, or perhaps a combination, the season will happen with or without you. And it’s probably going to affect your training, too. It is possible to keep your training intact while handling the …
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 CTS Coaching Staff A great physical therapist can be an important part of an athlete’s support network, not only because they can help you return to training and competition following a serious injury, but perhaps more importantly because they can help keep small issues from becoming serious injuries in the first place! We …
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 …