CTS Coaching Reviews

I am very happy with my decision to work with Ryne. He has created a training block for me that has me feeling fit, confident and–most important–injury free! Ryne has done a fantastic job communicating with me and explaining my training and then adjusting my training based on how I have handled the miles as well as my feedback and my schedule. I could not be happier with how things are going and I am very excited to test my fitness at the MMT 100 in a few weeks!

Clayton helped coach me from a true novice to a cyclist. He was patient, knowledgeable, and available. He was a pleasure to work with as well.

Ryne is an absolute badass, great coach and I can’t imagine working with someone else. He is helping me level up consistently over time.

Working with Jeana is amazing. She has been extremely helpful in setting and achieving my goals. She is always positive and transmits a “can do” attitude. She is also very flexible in changing/adapting my training and goals when life sends the inevitable curve ball or injury. She works with both my wife and me and coordinates our training while at the same time treating us like individual athletes. She also takes the time to meet up with us whenever possible for a ride, skiing, or just a social get together.

The two main factors that make a coach worth it are 1. they understand the science of foundational zone training and can proscribe an effective escalation of training load designed to help you meet your goals – 2. Your are accountable to someone else for your efforts – there are definitely times when you just do not want to get on the bike but knowing that coaching call is coming is a significant motivating factor.

Before training with Ryne I didn’t have an ultra coach. I trained by talking to other runners, reading, and listening to my body. After each race, I knew there must be another level that I’d never achieve without a coach. Ryne was an amazing coach who put together well designed runs, gave valuable feedback, and designed a plan to help me beat my goal.

Here is some more info written by my wife:

“I figured I better post an update! Not only did he finish, he killed the Rocky Raccoon 100 Mile Trail Race this year. He beat his first year by OVER AN HOUR. Derek finished his first Rocky in 22 hours. This year he finished in 20 hours 50 minutes. He beat his last finish by an hour and 10 minutes. The first year he finished he was exhausted and completely worn out, barely making it to the finish line after starting the race too fast. This year he was prepared and had a plan. Not a single person passed him for the last two laps (that’s 40 miles) and he passed person after person. This year he finished strong and he felt strong.”

Jim has been awesome. In the short time I have been training with him he has brought me to a level I have not been in a number of years. He is in tune with my health and the energy I have available to train. He communicates well. It has been great to have his guidance with the training plan. The direction and feedback I get with Training peaks is a great motivator. The detailed descriptions of his workouts are perfect and leaves zero possibility of error. I like Jim’s comments on how the training is going and that we get to talk most weeks even if no problems exist. The extra motivation, direction, and opinions are all greatly appreciated. I am hoping that my body will continue to handle the training as it has so far.
Thanks Jim

It’s an honor and a privilege to work with someone of Andy Jones-Wilkin’s stature. He has been around ultrarunning for a long time, has finished at the very front of the pack at some of the most prestigious ultras but enjoys the back-of-the-packers just as much. He’s kind, humble, sincere and a great advocate for the sport. He’s quick to laugh and I love a coach (or anyone) with a good sense of humor. AJW is good for the sport. His love of the sport is infectious and that helped encourage me to reach for greater challenges like the 50-miler and soon 100-miler. He’s quick to respond, and make adjustments when life gets in the way. The training he provided me as well as the personal communication helped me to run my first 50-miler with no issues. I I had a great day and was amazed that the training helped prepare me to actually run almost the entire 50-miles. I’ve run all my life but that was a revelation. It made me feel like anything was possible!

Working with Ryne was a big help for my training. He was willing to help out a younger athlete with a busy schedule and worked to make my training as streamlined as possible. We had excellent communication and he provided lots of useful feedback on my activities. Without his help, I would have never gotten to the start line of a 100-miler. Would highly recommend!

Max understands how to coach, and what a cyclist needs. He’s easy to work with and responsive anytime I have a question or want to chat. I couldn’t ask for a better coach.

He has adapted the workouts to my availability, this helped me to keep on track, I even had a minor injury but he adapted things so that we could make it recover very well.
Before I just trained as much as I could, now with his planning that includes increases in demand and enough rest periods I feel much better overall.

Coach Ruben has been the best thing for me as far as cycling and getting results from the sport I truly enjoy. Ruben really displays professionalism, concern and a passion as a coach. I am fortunate to have connected with him and being guided by him. Yes, indeed my game has changed. He has told me the steps we would be taking and how I would feel at the start of our program and sure enough it has been that very way. It’s amazing that he knows my body limits and I look forward every day to waking up and hitting the program he has layed out for me. He is a quality individual and I know he represents CTS in the highest degree. Can’t say enough good things about my coach….just super glad he’s my coach.

Andy is the coach I looked for, for five years. Of course he knows his technical stuff. Where he shines is both listening to what I know about myself and suggesting workouts that push my fitness and self concepts. I work harder when I don’t have complex workouts. He gives me blocks of intervals that don’t require much thinking, just time them and put in the effort. No complexity to trip me up. My recovery from heart-valve surgery accelerated with his thoughtful, challenging intervals and foundation work. I’m impressed that I’ve gained stamina even as I’ve gotten well past the 70 year mark with more than seven years of previous demanding training.

I will workout on my own, but I workout more often and more regularly when a coach posts workouts and gives me actionable feedback afterwards. I have lots of questions and he gives thoughtful answers, suggests reasons, and encourages experimentation. And what a bonus that he was a competitive tandem rider and understands the demands of a couple riding together as well as my miles on a single bike.

Coach Ruben has given me what I needed to achieve results and grow my cycling abilities to a level not even I thought I could achieve. He’s positive, accommodating, understands issues with training and family life and how it affects us. Very willing to adjust my schedule to keep me moving forward.

I wouldn’t want another Coach.

Dave

Renee is one of the most knowledgeable coaches on cycling, nutrition, and weight training. She easily explains complex ideas in ways that I can understand the science. She puts the the science behind the workouts, into words that I easily grasp. Her dry sense of humor is so helpful after a hard workout. When I feel like a failure when I can’t finish a workout, she makes me feel better about acknowledging the effort versus just looking at the results. I am just an average cyclist wanting to be the best I can, but I feel like I get coached by Renee like I am an elite cyclist preparing for an important race. There is not much more I can say that can describe how lucky I feel to be coached by her.

My first year with Andy was tackling the Leadman series of events in 2019. I headed into round 1 of 6 fitter and more confident than ever. By the time I crossed the finish line in the Leadville Trail 100 run, the last event, I had accomplished more that I thought possible. Andy helped me accomplish my biggest goal to date injury free and with the fitness I needed. We continue to work together on more goals in 2022. Knowing Andy is in my corner is an added advantage. I know I am getting the most out of my training. I can’t thank Andy enough!

She is amazing!

I could not be happier!

It has been interesting so far, building the coach/athlete relationship. It is all new for me. While I committed to listening and learning before I started, part of me pushes back on certain aspects of the training that are so very different from what I have been doing up until this point (and doing relatively well). I wanted to get better faster and be able to do all of this for as long as possible. I cannot tell you how much I have learned from Fitzy. The more we communicate the more the relationship is being understood, on my end at least. Recovery and the importance of it has been the biggest learning situation so far, but the different training blocks are also exciting and new to me. Can’t wait to see where it goes.

I am stronger and faster while learning more about the techniques used for my improvement and how to process the variations that come over time!

In my short time working with Jason, I’ve completed workouts – getting up to 2x40min @ 90% of FTP – that I never previously thought I would be able to do. And we are working with a work to recovery ratio – 3 weeks on, 1 week recovery / max efforts – that seems to be a ratio I’m tolerating well, plus the CTS ramp rate so far has gotten me to an overall load / CTL that is the highest I’ve ever hit.

On the pure coaching level, Jason clearly explains what we are doing, and why he’s chosen the specific workouts and the goal for the period we are in. And for me, working with a more data driven coach aligns more with how I think.

The only suggestion I have, and I think this is across CTS, would be to integrate strength sessions into coaching. Or have the ability to have a strength coaching & assessment done, and then a plan developed that would integrate well with the cycling plan.

Clayton listens and plans challenging yet attainable workouts. I would highly and enthusiastically recommend him to other mountain bikers who want to improve.

I am very happy to be working with Corrine. She has helped me integrate interval workouts into my training in a way that helps me prevent injuries, which was always a problem when I tried on my own. She has also helped me understand and appreciate the importance of rest days; I can really feel the benefit when I run after a rest day as my legs feel much fresher.

I also feel less beat up after races. My times have not improved overall but I feel stronger and am climbing better. I do believe I will start to see improvement in finishing times as this year progresses, but if not, that is fine, my goal at this point is to continue running and racing for as long as I can.

Thanks Corrine and CTS!

Larry

Working with Corrine has helped me to have a more balanced and healthful approach to running and goal-setting. She understands my emotions after both good and bad performances and helps me manage them to set healthy goals to work toward next. I’ve done some of the best long runs and workouts of my life with Corrine’s guidance and she has kept me honest about recovery and periodicity, which has kept me completely healthy!

She’s also very easy to communicate with and I enjoy using TrainingPeaks to plan/track my training.

I’ve been working with Sarah for 8 months and couldn’t be happier with every aspect. While I don’t need constant communication, I value our regular check-ins and appreciate that Sarah is paying attention to all the comments I add, even my most trivial commentary I add to Training Peaks. This year has by far been my most consistent running year and I 100% attribute that to Sarah’s coaching. I’ve previously struggled with building my volume appropriately and therefore experienced many load injuries but this year (touch wood as it’s not over) since working with Sarah, I haven’t experienced any and feel my body is significantly more resilient. I know we’ve only just scratched the surface, too! With my previous coach I doubted my ability to simply withstand the physical toll on my body from endurance running as I had experienced many stress injuries. Now I don’t question that at all. That’s not because Sarah’s told me I can do it, that’s because she’s provided me the framework and support to see the transformation in myself and build a body (and mind) that CAN do it!

I’ll preface this review with the fact that I’m a Doctor of Physical Therapy with a Bachelors’ Degree in Exercise Science. I’m a trail/ultra coach myself and was looking for a coach who could truly challenge me physically and was someone I could learn from to better my own coaching. Corrine is the cream of the crop. I super appreciated her respect for the science, but also has tremendous experience to draw from. I DNF’d the Run Rabbit Run 100 back in 2016 and finally decided to give it another go. I hired Corrine to make absolutely sure that I could complete my goal, and in a way that I felt proud of. But I’m a busy dad who runs a business… Corrine was easy to work with and respected my schedule and life obligations. I highly recommend working with CTS and especially Corrine. They’re doing it right. The bar for entry to be a coach these days is LOW, and at CTS they make sure you’ll have a solid coach who can get you where you want to be!

Excellent Coach!

Nina has been a tremendous aid to growing my strength and endurance on the bike. I like both MTB and gravel and she has convinced me the workouts are working to enable better cycling on all my bikes. I enjoy the explanations of what the goals of the workouts are. Before CTS I did not think I was data driven – and although I am probably still pretty low key on that compared to a lot of your athletes I like to understand the Why and then look at the results. But ultimately I get the results when out on the weekend rides.
Nina has also been a coach on the mental aspects when I struggle with feeling “good enough”. She is a great human and has an easy way of delivering advice and relating to me.

I look forward to continuing with her not only for a goal event but for year round growth.

The accountability has really helped, in addition to his wealth of knowledge. He’s very motivating and super helpful when we need to adapt.

I was coming back from an 18-month long injury, and wanted to add strength training to my workouts in order to be a more durable ultrarunning athlete moving forward. She built a great program for me that got me to my A goal safely and stronger than ever. We had a wonderful chat about my running history (and any injuries) and she incorporated directives from physical therapy. She’s also a fantastic communicator and was super flexible when I had to adjust my schedule last minute due to work or family issues. I’ve worked with other coaches before, so it’s not my first rodeo, and I absolutely loved everything she brought to the coaching relationship! I can’t wait to work towards other goals with her in the future!

I wasn’t sure about how a coach would help me at first. I’m not an elite runner and I don’t train full-time. However, I do enjoy running/racing and while my training had some structure, I guessed it could be better. Hiring Sarah took things to a much better place. Taking out the randomness of my running program and having a professional coach listen to my goals and then tailor a training plan to not only suit those goals, but also work with my specific capabilities has been remarkable. Sarah’s positive attitude, attention to detail, thorough commentary to all my questions, inquisitive and thoughtful questions of me, and just her constant support of my goals has been remarkable. She is easy to talk to, quick to respond, usually has an idea or two in her pocket, but is also willing to research the answer if oddball questions come up. The quality of my training has improved dramatically and having Sarah on my team has already proven race beneficial as well.

Sarah has been awesome at helping me train smarter. The strength training has helped tremendously in making me feel stronger on the trails. She’s been awesome at adjusting training based on the scheduling constraints life throw at me. I recently injured my leg and having a coach adjust things and go to for advice has been amazing. I feel much more prepared than i have in the past.

I am trying Reid’s patience with electronics. We really haven’t progressed past getting TP & Garmin working. Hoping I am past that.
I am working the plans Reid has sent.
I do travel a bit which has also been a challenge also.
Feeling some benefit. Not as such value as I thought possible. Again it’s dealing with electronic hop up w/TP. Spending vast majority trying to figure out what isn’t happening electronically. Again I think we have a path that is working….not really sure yet

I have improved my training tremendously. I am encouraged to squeeze out more training time from my schedule. Clayton is realistic, and encouraging. I improved my time at my last event to the best I’ve done in about 5 years.

It gives me structure and also add more intensity and speed work

He has given me a training plan and held me accountable. He always comments on my training and gives me suggestions. I had no expectations on how much I would improve but knew if there was no one pushing me then I would not ride in the hot humid conditions here in Atlanta. For that reason, this has been a great approach and I hope to gain more insights into training and the use of a power meter in training.

I’ve been working with Josh for a couple months and found Josh is great about responding when I send a request for assistance. He is knowledgeable and friendly. The friendly part is important to me, but might not matter for a lot of people. Josh seems to genuinely care about my needs. His cycling knowledge and willingness to share has helped me a lot.

I have nothing but positive things to say about coaching with Andy. From January to May my training with my previous coach had been flat. Too much volume, no intensity. Fitness CTL was stalled. Since the switch to CTS and training with Andy my CTL fitness has greatly increased. The big surprise is that we were able to get these gains despite a major knee injury. Andy has been diligent in working around my busy work/family life as well as my injuries. I was super nervous going into Bigfoot 200 but as it turns out I need to trust more in my training. Given the injuries, my goal was to finish and not make things worse. Not only did I do that, I think I may be more fit than I was going into the race. This week will tell, but I am fully trusting my training at this point.

Extraordinary and very professional and knowleadble . Very happy working with her.

Stephanie has been very helpful:

– Emphasizing the importance of leg treatment, specifically stretching and massage. I had a knee issue for months, and after some ideas and encouragement from her, my knee is as healthy as it’s been in awhile.
– She keeps me accountable – without a coach, I wouldn’t be getting out the door day-in, day-out. That’s been one of the primary reasons for my improvement.
– I was winging it with training plans previously – the plan she’s developed for me is more focused on data-driven results.

Two areas where I’d like to continue improving:
– Understanding the “why” and the science behind the training plan. We’ve talked about doing a phone call as she designs 2-3 weeks of a training plan so I can understand why she prescribes what distances and at what intensity. I haven’t had a chance to advocate more for this. I’d like to learn more.
– I want to take advantage of the nutrition consultation that is part of the level of coaching I signed up for.

Overall, I’ve enjoyed working with Coach Stephanie immensely!

Maddison has made a positive impact in my overall health. I truly believe that having a coach to be accountable has added years on to my career as a surgeon. My biking performance has improved year to year. Below is a summary of positives and areas that could be improved upon for Maddison.

Positives.

1. Maddison is always responsive to emails. He will adjust my schedule based on my personal professional or travel obligations.
2. He will build a workout schedule that accommodates my work obligations.
3. He addresses non-workout issues such as bike set-up. Working around injuries.
4. Is honest about performance. Manages my expectations. Doesn’t tell me what I want to hear.
5. Takes my training seriously even though I am not a true high performing athlete.
6. He has not allowed personal issues such as deaths in the family or injuries to keep him from his coaching responsibilities.

Areas of improvement.

Being a older individual I have asked about other cross training exercises that can be done, such as weight lifting, lower body exercises or core workout to supplement my fitness and performance. There has not been follow through to add specific alternative exercises to the official workout schedule.

I’m kind of a challenge, 61 years old, trying to transition from being a cyclist for over 35 years to going after some ultra running goals I set. My body isn’t built for running, so I’ve been fighting injuries ever since I had this vision quest, and ultimately I wasn’t able to complete the big goal of finishing the LT100 run, I’ve completed many many others that I couldn’t have done with Duncan’s help, knowledge, and guidance, he made adjustments when and where needed. I’ve ran countless 50K runs, a 50 mile run, and achieved much more than just running improvements. He’s a class act.

I didn’t know what to expect as this is my first time working with a professional personal coach. Sarah’s experience and adventuress attitude has been so helpful while I have been preparing for my first 100 miles distance while running a 24 hour race. I have 6 weeks to go and she has me training long and hard, while listening to me and checking my stats to make sure I don’t push to hard, get burnt-out (as I have before self coaching) or get injured before my big challenge. I am so glad I made the decision to use CTS and work with Sarah.

I just finished the 120 miles of TransRockies in Colorado. My coach Sarah Scozzaro has been wonderful in my preparation for the 6 day event. I went into TRR feeling confident and completed the miles without any issues. She is always helpful and encouraging! Thank you so much Coach Scozzaro!

Working with Dave has expanded my expectations of the results of working with a coach. I expected to fundamentally be faster and have better endurance, what I did not expect is all the other areas that developed with the work such as on bike strength and agility, confidence (and calmness) in navigating unexpected situations approaching lengthy rides and difficult courses/terrain along with transforming my mental approach to a workout or race.

Through Dave’s guidance rather than participating in athletics, today I consider myself an endurance athlete

Working with Sarah was from the start amazing!
Her explanations and training schedules are easy to understand but with a lot scientific background (which she will gladly explain thoroughly)
We worked together for 8 months for 1 main goal, which is the SwissAlps100 (100 Mile with 10 000 vert m) and I have never felt so ready in my life to experience this race.
Even with my slightly overambitious and rebellious nature, Sarah adapted perfectly to what I wanted and made sure that anything I had in mind was done according to the great plan.

The energy Sarah brought with her during our calls were extremely motivating and made you look forward to every hard week.

Thanks to Matt I now ride the whole spectrum of efforts, from low endurance up to anaerobic. Before coaching every ride was just a hammer fest and I found myself exhausted. My Indoor workouts were so difficult that I began to lose fitness. Now I ride a much greater volume and feel great. I now understand that easy is just as important as difficult.

What is great, even beyond my expectations: Coach Max is able to find a sweetspot between hard training and keeping me motivated, hungry for more. Working without a coach I had a typical problem of pushing too hard too often and now it is solved. I am still on a learning curve and feel my fitness is improving a lot – but the starting point was not that high. Coach is listening to my feedback and adjusts program according to it. I am still before first races after starting work with CTS, but I have gained a lot of confidence in my fitness and development.

What is not perfect for me (I haven’t talked about it with Coach yet) – strenght training program seems to be a little bit too sophisticated for me. Probably it is a bit too structured and complicated and as I don’t have much experience and skills with this type of work, I don’t have much fun doing it. And not always comply with it as well.

She has been pushing me – just the right amount. Is conscious of my weakness(es). She gives thoughtful feedback and makes me feel like she is genuinely interested in my training.

Chantelle is fantastic. While she is happy to look at Training Peaks data and analyze it with me (which I love to do), she also actively listens to my qualitative feedback, picks up on my non-training life stressors, and accounts for family and work commitments when developing my training plan. Chantelle has very deliberately addressed other areas that boost athletic performance and wellness, including nutrition, sleep, mobility work, mindfulness, and strength training. Chantelle is very specific in her training suggestions. We identify issues to improve, put together an actionable plan, and tracked and measure results. As a result of working with Chantelle, I have improved my running performance (PR in a recent 100k ultra); developed a solid race-day nutrition plan; strengthened my climbing ability; and become much more disciplined around strength, mobility, and nutrition. She provides excellent knowledge, direction, feedback, and motivation. Plus, she’s just a fun person with which to chat. I always look forward to our weekly conversations. Chantelle is a wonderful coach!

My coach has improved my strength and really has me focussed on my areas of weakness. He is very responsive and helpful, answering any question quickly and clearly.

In short, working with Duncan has been fantastic. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect, given Duncan is the first coach that I’ve had. However, having worked with Duncan for a bit over a year and a half, I couldn’t be happier. His focus on developing a training plan that balances both my competitive aspirations and life-balance is great. His knowledge and ability to discuss a wide range of training / racing / life topics always provides the right perspective when needed. His flexibility with our meeting / communication is great. Love the variability of how he structures trainings. And beyond all that, he’s just a great down to earth guy who I happy to have a good relationship with.

And if that all wasn’t enough, I had a very specific competitive stretch goal for myself the first day I began working with Duncan, which was to win the Kettle Moraine 100 miler. This was accomplished this past June and I wouldn’t have been able to do that, or the other lead-up milestones without Duncan’s partnership.

Best,
Mike

Matthew and I have been working together since Spring of 2017.

The carefully planned workouts are at the core of what I have gotten from Matthew. But honestly, sometimes his comments and phone calls have been even more important. He has been steady when I have been working hard toward an event, and when I have been allergic to my bike after months of training. He has been there when I was trying to make sense of a power meter for the first time, and when I had to take a long break to recover from a non-bike injury.

He has become ever more attuned to my need for rest. Pouring on hard workouts is EASY. Balancing hard workouts with adequate rest (especially as I get older) is much more challenging. Often he detects my need for more rest BEFORE I DO!

Our pre-event planning phone calls have been GOLD. Going into events with a clear plan and a back-up plan has been tremendously helpful. Of course, being able to de-brief my big events with Matthew is equally valuable.

Thank you, Matthew!

My objective has markedly changed several times over the past few years. Jane has adapted my program to these changes in ways that have rapidly produced tangible improvements in the different performance elements that contribute to success in the new paradigms. She is also fun to work with.

Stephanie has been great to work with me on an individual running plan. I have had to work on recovery from an injury and build up for a coming race at the same time and she has made that possible.

1. Keeps me focused and challenged.
2. Rational and effective training plan
3. Never been fitter
4. Creative workouts keep me interested in training.

Andy keeps me on track and motivated even through this past year without the motivation of events t look forward to. He works with my always changing busy retail executive schedule and is flexible to make changes whenever I ask. He is a pleasure to work with to say the least

Began working with Maddison at the Select Training level on October 1, 2020, after two seasons with a local coach. I’m a 60-year old male, who began cycling in 2015, and hadn’t been on a bike since childhood. Maddison provides a very organized and tactical training approach, and understands the science of challenging athletes to fit their body’s ability to adapt through training stress loads and recovery. Maddison is very effective with our weekly training call and helps me logically understand training plans and gravel-race strategies, and has guided me through Field and INSCYD testing, and the quantified metrics. After 10-months, Maddison has helped me achieve a 20w increase in Field Test power (+8%), 27w FTP increase (+11%), 36w, 90-minute power increase (+18%), 24w, 60-minute power (+12%), and 48w, 20-minute power increase (+20%). I’ve signed up in advance for another year with Coach Maddison, and am excited for additive challenge, adaptation, and improvement!

Stephanie is such a great coach. She is always encouraging and motivating. We’ve dealt with a bit of injury as my body adapts to higher mileages, but we’ve evolved the training plans to be smarter about how I handle loads and how to get the most out of my training. Stephanie really listens to my feedback and tailors training based on her knowledge, coupled with my feedback.

Stephanie is also super responsive, even responding to questions and concerns over weekends very regularly. She always makes herself available to talk through issues and is always genuinely happy for me when things go well and we’re making progress.

I feel very supported and lucky to have her as my coach.

I really enjoy working with Max! Max has provided me with the level of structure to my cycling that I needed. He has been encouraging and punctual in responding to questions when I have them. If there is anything missing, it is my inclination to ask questions and request phone meetings more often. Max has incredible knowledge and I need to access it more than I do now. I get so wrapped up in execution that I neglect the “why” of what I’m doing. Now hat I am coaching a NICA team locally, I intend to have more discussions with Max.

I have been working with Allen since 2019. He really improved my power output and endurance during 2019, and then helped me continue to stay in shape and remain motivated all through the crappy lockdown months and through a couple of injuries that I sustained during that time. Now, he is ramping me back up again and I am feeling much more confident in my riding. He is super understanding and patient too. And, he has also helped me with getting over my fear of mountain biking, a sport which I now love doing.

Clayton is the best coach I have worked with – not that the others were bad, but I find he motivates and communicates very well. I never feel like I’m overwhelmed or too pushed – although I do get a decent workout! He adapts my training to my goals and abilities. I’m not training for the Olympic Games- I’m just a guy trying to maintain a reasonable level of fitness at 50 whilst juggling family life, work, etc. and doing the odd mountain bike race. I feel like Clayton really gets that. I really enjoy working with him. I wish him and Caroline well with the imminent arrival of their second child.

I have had the privilege of working with Jason since January 2011. I was training for Leadville, and given the race demands, I needed a structured training plan and an accountability partner to see me through the race and beyond. Working with Jason I completed the 2011 Leadville in 10 hours and then again in 2015 with a 9 1/2 hour result. Jason always has me race-ready and riding at my best with confidence and consistency, often when I was living abroad in Perth, Australia. Jason ensured he was always available for our coaching calls regardless time of day.

Jason is technically solid, but what I also like about him is his added value in providing timely advice on not only training and schedule issues, but also on equipment, nutrition and hydration products and approaches.

CTS is very lucky to have Jason as a valued member of the CTS Team. He adds value to his athletes in so many varied and important ways. I for one am very grateful to have had the opportunity to work with Jason over the last 10 years. A heartfelt Thank You Jason!

I picked up running a bit late in life at the age of 39. I began running 100 milers a few years later with mixed results. I eventually realized that I had no idea what I was doing. My training for that distance was random guesswork and my motivation was waning.

Searching for answers, I took an interest in Jason Koop’s podcasts/book/coaching. I decided to contact CTS, and found Stephanie. She’s been a breath of fresh air for me and my motivation. She has a wealth of experience and knowledge of training, nutrition, racing, mindset and balance. She’s obviously an elite athlete, but that wasn’t of particular importance to me. From my perspective, we’ve worked together to develop training plans both long-term and short-term that push me hard enough to improve my fitness and ability to meet my goals, but not so much that I’m either injured or burned-out. She listens and gives me the feedback that I often need to hear whether positive or negative. There’s a sense of accountability that I wouldn’t have on my own. So, yeah, she’s pretty great.

I talked to Koop for prob less than 30 min in May. Then same in June.
Little if any commentary on my work outs via TP
I was hurt and instead of running I did have to walk some 2 and 3 hr work outs. It was not noticed at all when it was updated in TP. ie I knew it was not being tracked nor watched.
I paid for ultimate coaching and unfortunately feel like I got little to nothing over 3 months.
I am 7-8 weeks out from a 125k ultra. Feel this put me back and now I am changing coaches in hopes of doing my ultra.
I appreciate the coach was out on PCT but he and/or CTS should have addresses this

So far, things have been a bit slow due to an injury but I am expecting them to start picking up soon.

Patrick has been great throughout this injury. When I first signed up I was thinking it was something minor we can get through then focus on improving fitness. It turned out to be a more serious injury that I am finally starting to come out of. During this process, Patrick has helped me stay active within the constraints of my injury. This also included leveraging his PT expertise to help me with my rehab.

Now that I am starting to get into the position of being able to run again, I am looking forward to Patrick helping me meet and exceed my goals.

Matt has helped with motivation, analysis of workouts and equipment choices. But the real thing I love about Matt: he’s very human. He gets that much as we’d like it to be true, most of us have to fit cycling around life instead of the reverse. Matt has continued to coach me to better riding on physical, emotional and mental levels. So much of his instruction and advice have become part of my cycling psyche. And he and his wife had a baby recently. Congrats Matt!

In many ways:
Building up to my first 50 miler
Building to my first 50 KM
Many consultations
Great feedback
Awesome and creative programs

The amount of fitness I’ve gained since I started working with Koop vs. programming for myself (and putting a lot into it) is almost comical. In my mind/experience, he is unequivocally the best.

Since commencing my program with Clayton in October I have clearly become a stronger rider. That is the bottom line. I have accomplished a number of my cycling goals for 2021 and a few others I believe are within reach I just need to pick the day to go out and make it happen.

As a “mature” rider it is very gratifying to be in a strong group ride doing my share of the work and being one of the riders still there at the end.

I love Coach Koop. I haven’t been working with him long enough to actually have any race results yet, but I love his “no BS, let’s get it done” approach and how he handles my training.

If my training has had any lulls, it’s all on me. However, if I am going through lack of motivation issues, I always feel pumped up to get back after it.

I have had years of burnout and injury. Stephanie has helped me reign in destructive training and thought patterns. At the same time she has carefully crafted a training plan that consistently challenges me but never leaves me depleted. I have never trained in my life without being in a constant state of fatigue. Each week I look forward to runs because I am rested enough to train smart. She has an uncanny ability to stretch my fitness but never wear me down. On top of all that, she is understanding of life responsibilities and tailors my training accordingly. I would most definitely refer people to her.

Wow… what I can say. With Chantelle coming into my life as a coach it has made a huge impact on my achievements.
Of note were the following that was made possible by the precise programming; HK4TUC, Chang Rai, Dragons Back Race, and last man standing in Singapore.

Andy and I started working together in 2007 when I was at a low level of performance, slightly above a recreational cyclist level. He has turned me into an international masters level cyclist. We are still together. I could not be at this level without him.

He has been there when I needed to know if what I was experiencing was expected. I think that I am a bit of an anomaly as I assume not many 85 year old biker are trying to maintain some semblance of prior fitness. I would be pleased to find that this assumption is in error. I bike mainly because I enjoy the activity and I wish to be able to continue at a level that is enjoyable. I have a heart rate that seems to be a bit fickle in that load and heart rate does not always keep up. Max has been able to guide me through the problems this has caused. To better monitor my progress might be switch to watts vs heart rate, but I haven’t opted for the cost of watts meters. That may come.
Max has been good at explaining what I need to do next and keeping me on track. There are days that getting on the bike is not my first priority, but I get on the bike or trainer and attempt to make the time spent productive.

For over 2 years we have made considerable progress in my focus, fitness and movement. It is a blessing to have him encourage me to take care of myself and to push myself. This year I had an accident that set me back but his consistency was contagious to keep me moving forward. Thankful for a great coach!

Coach Sarah has tremendously helped me improve my fitness and running. She is amazing to work with and focuses on her athletes and not just the next progression in the training block. 100% give this woman a raise lol!

Having worked with numerous coaches thru the years as an athlete, I can say without reservation that Coach Renee is the best. Not only does she provide personalized training programs that have increased my technic and wattage on the bike, she has over the years given me nutritional and strength programs that have benefited me immensely. Moreover, during our weekly calls she provides insightful advice to the numerous questions that I ask as a senior athlete new to cycling. But, I must say that her encouragement and support during my recent medical treatments went beyond just doing her job as a coach. She was patient and understanding through the lows and highs which made me want to work harder for her through the ordeal. She’s my coach until I can’t turn the chain ring another rotation!

Clayton is a patient teacher while excellent at challenging you to exceed your own expectations.

Works with me to help me become and stronger runner. Knows when to push, when to back off. Uses science and research in formulating a plan and a response. Also is tuned into the emotional aspect of life. She is an amazing athlete herself which is a huge plus.

He has kept me focused and has created a great balance between training and recovery.

Less stress deciding what, when, and how to train.

Helping me understand what we are doing and how it effects my performance.

Helping me put my race results in perspective. It’s good to have a neutral third party to discuss races with.

I have confidence in his prescriptions. He has trained and is training older athletes.

I have discovered I can do more than I thought I could.

It’s unfortunate he lives so far away. Adding skills coaching to the package would be very beneficial.

We started working 9mths ago with Sarah and she is my first coach. I was looking for three things from my couch:
-I wanted to include weighs and speedwork in training and increase mileage to get ready for my first 100 miler
-I wanted to have a coach who would be actively involved on my training, giving feedback, answering questions and act as bounceboard for my plans (racegear, nutrition, raceplan) and give second opinion on my decisions (should I rest as my legs are sore or push on)
-Understand that I am full time officeworker with family on my 40’s so there are limiting factors.

From the start she has been delivering on all of these. Sarah is a fantastic coach, she knows technical aspects of conditioning but her greatest skill is the ability to build a connection. I feel that I have a friend, someone who is there for me whenever I need.

I am in best shape of my life and managed to finish my 1st 100 miler in tough conditions.

I think the best way to describe my feeling of this coaching relationship is that I would recommend Sarah and CTS for my friends.

Nina has really helped me take my fitness to the next level! She has been great at making sure I don’t over train and get worn out but also keep it at a good pace to improve. I’ve really enjoyed working with a coach that is also a woman. She understands women specific issues and also helped me work through some health issues that were affecting my performance. Nina also started helping me work through some confidence issues by assigning self-compassion exercises for me. Nina has really done an amazing job at coaching me and I love working with her!!

If you are going to make “the big” effort, do it well. And for that you need the best; you need Charlie.

He has been very good about giving me detailed information on what to do and what to expect, and we have had some very good improvements over the years. Also he has a very good understanding about all aspects of training which helps greatly, highly recommend him!

Stephanie provides a detailed and adaptable, non generic training plan to help me work towards a 300 self sustained km challenge early 2022. Her advice and feedback is precise, and got me away from the mindset that “more is better”, and more in tune with how I feel when I am training. Weekly training goals are clearly set, and are achievable. I also love to be coached by a woman, as she understands the challenges of motherhood and the impact juggling work/ family/ running can have on your performance some days.

Clayton is great coach. He is so supportive and encouraging in working around life and work. I definitely have seen improvements on all levels through the prescribed workouts once things cleared up. I appreciate his patience and perseverance in making this student reach new heights! Clayton is truly an exceptional coach, and congrats to CTS for having him as your coach.

Hello CTS:

Happy to add my comments for Clay! I’m having a great experience with CTS and in particular with Clay. We started in November/December of 2020 and I chose him because he immediately impressed me as having a very calm demeanor and level headed approach to coaching and training. Clay has provided me with stability, knowledge and the ability to bring me along through training with a consistent approach. As well, we have a very open line of communication about how I’m responding and feeling physically. That’s extremely valuable to me as I try to get better and learn along the way. Clay is also great about responding to all my questions and he overdelivers on the answers.

I’m super excited to be working with him! I’m glad I found CTS and I’m thankful to Clay for the experience thus far!

Working with Coach Feldman has helped me achieve my athletic goals. I continue to move forward in increasing my strength and endurance despite the pandemic, extreme weather and what ever life is throwing at me. Training with Coach Feldman keeps me motivated to continue training to reach my goals which are important to me. I know he may work with athletes that have more aggressive trainings schedules, but he works with my abilities to bring out the best in my performance.

I wish I had known about CTS years ago.

After several years of piecing together running information from the internet, I made the jump and hired a coach. No regrets. Custom training plans based on my race goals and schedule. Weekly phone calls that give me answers to my big and small questions. Lots of encouragement.

Chantelle has done an awesome job of building me up over the past couple of years. Helping me to set goals, aim high and then make plans to achieve them. She has a wealth of knowledge in so many areas , and nothing is ever a problem.
Particularly in these covid times, Chantelle has helped keep me focused and we’ve achieved some results I never dreamed of, including winning the Australian event in Bigs Backyard Ultra Satellite setting an Australian Record of 46hrs. This earned me a place to compete in Bigs Backyard in Tennessee in October 2021 where I’ll get to meet Chantelle face to face as she supports me for days in end as I aim to do Australia proud.
I could not be happier with my decision to work with Chantelle.

In all of my years of sports, I haven’t encountered another coach quite like Jason Koop – he is the real deal. Koop is extremely knowledgable and passionate about the sport and his work. Perhaps more importantly, he believes in me when I don’t believe in myself. I wouldn’t be where I am today if I didn’t have him as my coach.

Reid is engaging , positive and flexible. I have been riding for approx 25 years and Reid has been excellent at understanding my lack of technology skills and my old school training habits. It has been extremely easy to create our plan of course but also to change midstream if needed. Great experience.

I simply don’t write reviews for anything… Andy is the rare exception.

Working with Andy has truly been a life altering experience. Having been a runner and cyclist throughout my youth and into college and graduate school, the majority of my 30s were spent doing a whole lot of nothing athletically. By the time my 40s hit, I was completely out of shape, overweight, and on a path of potential long term health problems. About two years ago, I decided to make dramatic lifestyle changes with the primary goal of restoring a healthy balance to my life, but also to begin competing again in the endurance sports that I loved in my youth.

I first became aware of Andy and his coaching ability while racing bikes in graduate school many years ago– Andy coached a couple of athletes I knew well, and they always seemed to be winning races and doing amazing things.

Even though I was a middle-aged, out of shape guy with no real athletic accomplishments since the late 1990s, Andy took me on and began working with me to outline a series of goals and a plan to accomplish them.

Andy is an exceptionally knowledgeable coach — both on the bike and in endurance running. I continue to learn a tremendous amount from him. He is very patient, easy going and has an amazing ability to handle what I have viewed as setbacks (injury, illness, work/life/travel, etc) as no big deal. I’m continually impressed with how he tailors and adapts my workout schedules to meet my insanely busy schedule.

About a year ago, I told Andy I wanted to not only run my first competitive marathon (I’ve run the distance as part of ultras in the past but never raced it), and wanted to do so in a Boston Qualifying time. Most people who know me thought I was entirely detached from reality… not Andy. He let me know that it was certainly a do-able goal, but would require a lot of hard work and some luck (no injuries, etc.). Sign me up!

Andy has been an instrumental and vital partner in helping me train and accomplish all these goals. I got my BQ (by 3+ minutes), broke a 20+ year old PR in the half marathon (by 6 minutes), and set all-time PRs in every distance from 10K to the Marathon. I am in the best shape of my life — both running and on the bike. Had anyone told me two years ago that I would have accomplished all this, I would’ve laughed. Andy deserves way more credit than I can write in a review.

Many thanks and cheers!

Jason has been with me through my whole training cycle this year. By now I would have been injured at least 2 times, but at 7 months in, I have yet to have an injury and I feel that I am in the best shape of my career in running. The focused weekly plans have been steady, progressive, and thoughtful. Jason’s insights in the field of ultrarunning have enabled me to get much more out of each week than I typically had been able to get with even higher volume. I enthusiastically recommend him to anyone interested in improving their performance in ultrarunning.

I have been with Max almost 2 1/2 years. He is very patient, understanding, and knowledgeable. My fitness has improved 1000% even though I felt quite fit to begin with. He applies training stress methodically and I have benefited significantly from his approach. I highly recommend him to anyone looking for a structured approach to improving their cycling.

The most important aspects of working with Noah has been the encouragement and accountability he has added to my workouts.

Working with Noah has been great. I made some great progress in my ability to sustain power for much longer durations. I was doing really well then I fell during a gravel bike race and broke my hip. That put me out for a while and Noah has just about gotten me back to where I was before I fell. He is doing a great job with me and I look forward to continuing to work with him for a long time.

Tracey has increased my OVERALL HEALTH. That is mental, physical, and overall health. My goals of getting faster, and improving group riding skills, have improved. She is more than that, as she really is interested in me as a HEALTHY PERSON! She has communicated with my Physical Trainer in order to stay in “sync” in what we are trying to accomplish in “different blocks”. She is very encouraging,, knowledgeable, and goal oriented as far as having “fun bicycle goals” like traveling and trying other bicycle activities. . I feel VERY LUCKY to have her as a Coach.

Charlie , with humor but firmness, gets me to ride out of my comfort zone. He understands which of my systems need to be worked on and prescribes good workouts

Duncan is very much in tune with my and my training circumstances, I am working through some injuries, Duncan considers the big picture and makes necessary adjustments, looking forward to getting this LT100 done!!

I don’t think there is a coach that could be working better with me, with my challenges.

I give him a 5 star rating…

With Sarah’s help I was able to complete my first 50 mile run with no chafing and no blisters. It was in the summer in the Florida Keys so I fee pretty proud. She put up with a lot of inconsistency on my part but truly coached me through my ups and downs. When I needed a reality check around my marathon run in the lead up to the 50 miler, Sarah walked me through the thought process and helped me reach the tough choice of dropping the marathon event to get the best result out of the ultimate goal. Sarah has helped me feel good about my accomplishments and not let me get too worked up about the setbacks. There is a lot more within my power than I thought. I’m working on my next goal with her now.

My coach gives me workouts that are challenging and fun and encourages a proper amount of rest/recovery time as well. His workouts are easy to follow and understand. I’ve been able to achieve a high level of fitness and am able to ride in fast group rides with riders half my age. My primary goal is to be fit and healthy for an overall balanced life. Max encourages and promotes a balanced approach to cycling and other life activities. He is very responsive to any questions I have and frequently comments on my ride reports. I’m very happy and fortunate to have him as my coach.

Charlie and I have been working together for nearly a year. Charlie is very professional and has helped me a lot. I look forward to continuing my progress and hopefully climbing in Europe next summer.

Sarah is very easy to talk and work with. We’ve had regular conversations regarding my training and progress. She’s worked with me to adjust my schedule when life threw curve balls.

I chose to work with for a number of reasons. Communication was one. One of the other reasons was her experience with strength building. When we began working together I had painfully tight hamstrings. Her workouts help complexly eliminate this issue.

Her training protocols, strength training and communication helped me further develop my confidence, and performance leading up to my A race, leadville 100 run.

Jason is very mellow and easy to work with. He is extremely knowledgeable as a coach and he continually pushes me to reach new heights in my training. My power has improved dramatically since I began working with CTS, and Jason. Jason has pushed me in the best training blocks to prepare me for my races, and my success in these races is largely due to his exact training, that dials me in. Jason has done wonders for my cycling and is a fantastic representation of Carmichael Training.

Max helps on several levels: First by creating a training plan based on my fitness level and goals, then by constantly tweaking it based on my progress and life realities. Secondly, he gets the mental/emotional/intangible aspects and is a very steady hand and good listener as I roller coaster a bit mentally and emotionally. He is patient and positive, but also persistent. The end result is I have what I would call positive accountability. I have achieved the overall fitness level I wanted and can easily ride with the strongest riders in my two groups. My climbing is way better and I can put the hammer down to close gaps or drag everyone along at a brisk pace for long stretches. I now have the confidence that I can take it to the next level because sticking with it has shown that it really does work. I am very grateful that Max is there for me.

Jeanna has been great! She is very thorough, always taking the time to explain everything. She follows up during the week and always touches base with me prior to and after an event. She is definitely in my corner.

Working with Matthew has been great. He is accessible and responsive. He challenges me and is still very understanding that “life happens”. I’m very happy that I’m working with Matthew and look forward to the future training, goals, and events with his help.

Understanding my limits and pushing me towards them and understands how to get me there! Truly understand how to train a cyclist!

I have known Tracey for years. I have had some very challenging months taking care of my elderly parents. Father passed and now 91 year old mother is having health issues. Through all this Tracey has been very understanding and patient. As a coach, I know there are some great coaches in the CTS system but I prefer Tracey. She has been a great coach and friend.

Clayton has been an excellent coach! He reaches out frequently and is an excellent communicator and a supportive coach for the hard workouts. He responds to texts and emails promptly and frequently offers encouraging words.

Corrine simply put has helped me realize gains in performance and personal goals that I would never have realized on my own. Her approach is a unique intersection of coaching science, discipline and fun mixed with the pragmatic reality that running is an important part of my life but not the only part. She is always accessible to answer questions, walk through race strategy or to help understand and incorporate feedback and thoughts on data from Training Peaks or personal thoughts and experience. Her approachable manner and deep experience both in running and competitive sports at the highest level brings a unique resource to the ‘everyday’ athlete. Her commitment to your success and satisfaction is tangible and importantly genuine. It is a unique opportunity to find that great intersection of the scientific coaching coupled with the experience of a high performance athlete who can meet you where you are and help you improve but also enjoy the journey along the way! I cannot give a strong enough endorsement and would recommend Corrine without reservation to anyone who has a serious desire to learn, improve and enjoy the process.

I have improved my fitness tremendously with Maddison. He is always prompt with questions and is always available when I need him. He has taught me the importance of accountability. He has also stressed the need for rest/recovery. We are both enjoying the process of helping me to perform at my best.

I’m very lucky to have Sarah as my coach. She is very knowledgeable, always available for any question or to adjust my training if anything happens and she is such a positive and kind person. Her training has helped me get faster in my running and her strength training has hugely helped me get rid of some annoying muscle pain. I just love her!

I have become much more knowledgeable regarding how to train correctly. I am more disciplined and structured with my training. I have seen consistent power, maintained and improved my FTP. I enjoy have a structured training plan and a schedule weekly and monthly. Maddison keeps me focused on the goals.

He is an inspiration. He will be back on his bike soon just needs to get better.

I trust Corrine to set a plan so that I am able to reach my goals. My goals being “not dying while running a trail ultra”. When Corrine sets my schedule, I know this is what I have to do to stay on track to complete my next race. It enables me to be accountable to myself, because I can say to myself “I need to do this today, so that I can complete the race that’s two months away”. Without Corrine I’d probably just run 4 miles a day which would keep my healthy, but wouldn’t prepare me and wouldn’t progress me. With Corrine it’s not just “someone else” setting my schedule “it’s someone I trust” setting my schedule. Corrine makes it so I don’t over train or under train, which is exactly what I need.

Working with Coach Shute has helped me better understand the full realm of what it means to live an active/athletic life.

I came into the CTS program as a beginning marathon/ultra marathon runner. I am somewhat of a mid-pack runner and have really looked at taking that next step in my training to progress in the sport and stay healthy during the process. Coach has helped me embrace all parts of the training process including hydration, fueling, recovery, and amazing training plans. We have really started working to cross functionalize in cycling as well as adding varied gym and cardio work. I feel like I’ve progressed significantly over the last 6 months under his guidance completing both a PR 100k in 11.5 hours along with a PR Half marathon in 1:34:XX.

Along with the cardio and strength training that comes with our coach/athlete relationship, I’ve learned that calmness of mind and balance of spirit are essential to adapting to the training stimuli. I know I’ll never be the FASTEST guy at the local 5k, half marathon, or Ultramarathons, but I’ve learned that being the best version of myself for those around me is all we can really search for in this life. Amazing life lessons that I’ve picked up through my time with Coach Shute.

I have made excellent progress in my first year with Coach Paul. He has a great attitude and deep knowledge. He also respects my goals and work constraints. I am making good progress on my goals, which is to continue to learn, improve, and stay injury free. My thanks to Paul!

John has tailored a workout plan that covered a blood clot in my leg and me getting covid. John gave me good advice for buying wheels, shoes and a new Modone. He is easy to talk with. We discuss a wide range of cycling topics. I would be happy to recommend John.

He has pushed me way beyond anything I have done in the past. He is also very good at working with my schedule and making the best use of my time. I am a busy lawyer and we have been very successful in making the schedule work. I have certainly improved since starting this program and really enjoy it.

Ivana is great! She really knows what she is doing and she goes beyond the coaching helping with nutrition, and health issues in general.
She is very organized but at the same time adapts to the athlete’s needs. I saw my times improving in all three sports and feel that I’m training much more efficient than before.

Jane turned me from a strong 12 hour rider to someone who managed to finish RAW solo. I’m 57 and I’ve never been faster on a bike. I couldn’t do it without her

The coaches are simply amazing. From customized training plans accessible via mobile app to fully immersive training camps, you can find the right level of guidance and education you need to reach your full potential. As a personal trainer, I can vouch for the efficacy of having someone else tell you what to do to help take some of the guesswork out of training, as well as avoiding common training mistakes. I just attended an ultra-running camp held from their Brevard, NC location and came away feeling strong, confident and informed. If you’re considering taking your training up a level – whether trying to finish your first running or cycling event, or maybe you want to see if you can find a competitive edge – definitely reach out to CTS!

Great coaches, good value. Have worked with several through the years and enjoyed coaching relationship with each of them.