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Episode overview:

Jim Rutberg is the Content Director for CTS. He has co-authored ten books on training and sports nutrition, including “The Time-Crunched Cyclist” and “Training Essentials for Ultrarunning,” and produced more than 20 full-length indoor cycling videos. He is also the primary author for the Research Essentials for Ultrarunning Newsletter.

Episode highlights:

(31:32) Finding coaching mentors: the best way to progress as a coach, personal example, collaboration and competition

(51:24) Second phase of coaching: growth and expertise, creating a product to innovate in business or sport, variability of duration, personal examples from Rutty and Koop

(1:23:55) Safeguarding you reputation: coaching is a small community, competitors may eventually be colleagues, be someone other coaches want to work with

Additional resources:

FastTalk labs- How to Remain Relevant in 10 years
Podcast with Lindsay Golich
Podcast with Andy Kirkland

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Information on coaching-https://www.trainright.com
Koop’s Social Media: Twitter/Instagram- @jasonkoop

View all show notes and timestamps on the KoopCast website.

Episode overview:

Coaching industry veteran and Training Peaks’ co-founder Dirk Friel takes over the KoopCast to discuss the business of ultramarathon coaching. The panel of coaches and coaching business owners includes Jason Koop, Heather Hart, owner/founder of Hart Strength and Endurance Coaching, and Jeff Browning, who owns his own coaching company.

Episode highlights:

(13:50) Jeff and Heather’s startup experience: technology and marketing background, taking baby steps, making the move to full-time coaching, transitioning from flexible gig jobs

(57:44) Heather on recruiting assistant coaches: Heather’s experience, admitting assistant coaches, your reputation is on the line, UESCA certification, networking but not actively recruiting

(1:50:23) Jason on coach-athlete ratios: athletes require roughly 1 hour per week, 40 athletes for a 40 hour work week, most CTS coaches are full time, Jason is able to take ~1 new athlete per year

Additional resources:

Heather’s coaching website
Jeff’s coaching website

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Become a certified ultramarathon coach
Buy Training Essentials for Ultrarunning on Amazon and Audible.
Information on coaching-https://www.trainright.com
Koop’s Social Media
Twitter/Instagram- @jasonkoop

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Episode overview:

Diego Jaén-Carrillo PhD is a postdoctoral researcher at Universität Innsbruck. Weighted vests are a common intervention used by both coaches and athletes, yet the existing research on weighted vests is virtually nonexistent. In this episode we discuss his pioneering study on weighted vests and their potential training applications for running and hiking.

Episode highlights:

(16:41) Research design: incremental speed and gradient test, 5-10% body weight vests represent in-race loads

(21:26) Stride length and stride frequency: both increase with speed, both variables were unchanged with weighted vests, individual preferred stride frequency and stride length

(29:08) Weighted vests for running economy: example ways to train leg stiffness, weighted vests training leg stiffness with greater specificity to running, ~5% bw is reasonable, application across a range of running velocities

Additional resources:

Training Specificity in Trail Running: A Single-Arm Trial on the Influence of Weighted Vest on Power and Kinematics in Trained Trail Runners

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Information on coaching-https://www.trainright.com
Koop’s Social Media
Twitter/Instagram- @jasonkoop

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Episode overview:

Didn't we all, at some point, feel that prick of regret at a mistake made or a lesson learned the hard way? As your devoted trail and ultra running coaches, we've had our share of missteps over the past year. From seemingly minor issues like failing to thoroughly educate athletes about the World Anti-Doping Agency's rule on IV fluids to more significant ones, we've seen it all. And today, we're pulling back the curtain on our successes and missteps alike to help you avoid the same pitfalls.

Episode highlights:

(2:04) Nicole’s mistake: IV fluids are banned in and out of competition, reasoning, example where an athlete gave themselves IV before a race, the role of coaches as educators

(18:41) Ryne’s mistake: considering weather and training, factoring in heat and humidity to long range plans, key training blocks happen May-July, examples, being proactive with scheduling, using cooling strategies in training

(25:23) Sarah’s mistake: assuming athletes make good recovery decisions, example, forcing athletes to take recovery when they need it

(41:43) Koop’s mistake: accounting for the stress of travel, time zone changes and long-range travel for athletes, examples

Additional resources:

Time Shifter app
SUBSCRIBE to Research Essentials for Ultrarunning
Buy Training Essentials for Ultrarunning on Amazon or Audible.
Information on coaching-https://www.trainright.com
Koop’s Social Media
Twitter/Instagram- @jasonkoop

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Episode overview:

Dr. Nicolas Berger is a Senior Lecturer in Sport & Exercise at Teeside University’s Centre for Rehabilitation. In this episode we discuss Nic’s new study on the limits of ultramarathon performance, which brings together a who’s-who of researchers in the ultramarathon space to create a framework of performance that will be foundational for years to come. We focus on the myriad of factors that influence performance outside of pure fitness including GI distress, psychology, durability, and the integrative way in which these factors combine to affect performance.

Episode highlights:

(28:26) Stephen Seiler’s chart: physiological improvement plateaus with time in trained athletes but performance does not, performance is multifactorial, during longer duration events multifactorial factors matter more, examples, small changes with big impacts

(43:40) Malleable strategies: recognizing that strategies must change based on environmental factors, example, gastric emptying, cycling example, taking advantage of features of the race

(46:54) Durability: Andy Jones and physiological resilience, how we perceive fatigue matters more than the physiology itself, nerve blocking example

Additional resources:

TU Research Profile
Google Scholar Profile
ResearchGate
Twitter
Limits of Ultra: Towards an Interdisciplinary Understanding of Ultra-Endurance Running Performance

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Information on coaching-https://www.trainright.com
Koop’s Social Media
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Episode overview:

CTS coaches Addison Smith and Adam Ferdinandson join the podcast for an insightful coach roundatble. We discuss subjectivity from coach participation in sport, the delicate balance of simultaneously supporting and challenging your athletes, and the importance of being there either in-person or virtually for your athletes before, during, and after events. We round out our discussion with takeaways from the UESCA conference and the developing professionalism of ultramarathon coaching.

Episode highlights:

(20:24) Addison’s takeaway: supporting your athlete while managing expectations and challenging them as athletes, being the cheerleader while also pushing challenge, fueling example

(28:50) The athlete owns their training: a material coaching philosophy, taking the ego out of coaching, examples, your athlete’s training is not your training, changing vocabulary to reflect coaching philosophy

(35:58) UTMB example: Addison on UTMB, feeling like you have a teammate, example of an athlete who lost all their gear on the way to UTMB, impromptu Billy Yang care package, athlete feedback

Additional resources:

SUBSCRIBE to Research Essentials for Ultrarunning
Information on coaching-https://www.trainright.com
Koop’s Social Media
Twitter/Instagram- @jasonkoop
Buy Training Essentials for Ultrarunning on Amazon and Audible.

View all show notes and timestamps on the KoopCast website.

Episode overview:

Michael Rosenblat is a researcher and coach with expertise in kinesiology, physiotherapy, and exercise science. In this episode we discuss his three most recent meta-analyses on interval structure, including how to translate cycling intervals to protocols for runners, interval duration and macrostructure, and the relationship between VO2peak and time trial performance.

Episode highlights:

(14:24) Translating interval structure: it depends, direct translation usually works, tendon loading, injury prevention, recovery, metabolic load is probably 1:1

(32:59) HIIT volume: example of 20x1min versus 4x5min, metabolic differences, total session volume does not correlate with improvement, duration of work bout does, maximizing versus optimizing time at intensity

(51:14) VO2max vs. performance: %change in VO2peak does not correlate with %change in performance, Paula Radcliffe example, VO2max plateaus with years of training but performance keeps improving, CTS lab example

Additional resources:

Papers discussed-
The Additional Effect of Training Above the Maximal Metabolic Steady State on VO2peak, Wpeak and Time‑Trial Performance in Endurance‑Trained Athletes: A Systematic Review, Meta‑analysis, and Reality Check

Effect of Interval Training on the Factors Influencing Maximal Oxygen Consumption: A Systematic Review and Meta‑Analysis

Programming Interval Training to Optimize Time‑Trial Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta‑Analysis

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Koop’s Social Media
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Episode overview:

Dr. Fedoruk is the Chief Science Officer for USADA. In this episode, we discuss the landscape of anti-doping solutions and what USADA does to combat doping within the sports they have jurisdiction over.

Episode highlights:

(32:48) Global anti-doping structure: USADA is one of over 100 signatories of the World Anti-Doping Agency, protecting the independence of the anti-doping framework, application to professional sport, examples

(45:40) Therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs): why TUEs exist, medical prescriptions, ADHD example, independent specialists examine blinded samples to confirm diagnoses are legitimate

(56:14) Contamination: supplements, increasingly precise tests pick up on contaminated medication, examples of contamination from pharmaceutical manufacturers and restaurants, solutions, minimal reporting limits, aligning technology and policy, examples

Additional resources:

https://www.globaldro.com/Home
USADA Athlete Resources-https://www.usada.org/resources/
USADA Reasoned Decision-
https://www.usada.org/athletes/results/u-s-postal-service-pro-cycling-team-investigation/
SUBSCRIBE to Research Essentials for Ultrarunning-https://www.jasonkoop.com/research-essentials-for-ultrarunning
Information on coaching-https://www.trainright.com
Koop’s Social Media
Twitter/Instagram- @jasonkoop
Buy Training Essentials for Ultrarunning on Amazon and Audible. 

View all show notes and timestamps on the KoopCast website.

Episode overview:

Guillaume Millet and Vincent Viet manage the Salomon High-performance program for their elite athletes.

Episode highlights:

(12:57) HPC coaching structure: team sports the U.S., the high performance coordinator, bringing in other experts

(24:30) Building athlete confidence: the process takes time, not all athletes are interested, being careful with the framing of HPC, examples, injury prevention

(44:08) Who should create HPC: example of athlete concerns about the HPC as a screening process within Salomon, recognizing bias, theorizing athlete-driven HPC, data confidentiality

Additional resources:

SUBSCRIBE to Research Essentials for Ultrarunning
Information on coaching
Koop’s Social Media
Twitter/Instagram- @jasonkoop
Buy Training Essentials for Ultrarunning on Amazon or Audible.

View all show notes and timestamps on the KoopCast website.

Episode overview:

Originally released on October 14, 2021.

Nick Tiller Research is a fellow at the Lundquist Institute at Harbor-UCLA where he studies clinical respiratory and exercise physiology, and the physiology / pathophysiology of ultra-endurance exercise. He is also a columnist at Skeptical Inquirer Magazine, and the author of The Skeptic's Guide to Sports Science.

Episode highlights:

(20:01) Recap of potential cardiovascular health effects: athletes who train high volumes are not at risk, races and high intensity training are more likely to be problematic, the emergent state of ultramarathon research

(27:20) Respiratory risks of racing ultras: chronically no different than other endurance sports, drops in acute lung function, most are not clinically significant, asthma or other conditions mean you start from a lower baseline and can experience clinically significant problems

(35:23) The renal system: UTMB health policy, banning NSAIDs, duration, heat, altitude, dehydration, and hyponatremia all compound, NSAIDs make everything worse, acute kidney dysfunction in ultras is common and generally non harmful, chronic effects are unknown

Additional resources:

Potential Long-Term Health Problems Associated with Ultra-Endurance Running: A Narrative Review-https://www.researchgate.net/publication/354387155_Potential_Long-Term_Health_Problems_Associated_with_Ultra-Endurance_Running_A_Narrative_Review
Nick’s Interview on Triathlete magazine-https://www.triathlete.com/culture/the-fight-against-pseudoscience-and-bad-training-advice-in-endurance-sports/
Nick’s Book: The Skeptic’s Guide to Sports Science-https://www.amazon.com/Skeptics-Guide-Sports-Science-Confronting/dp/1138333123
SUBSCRIBE to Research Essentials for Ultrarunning-https://www.jasonkoop.com/research-essentials-for-ultrarunning
Information on coaching-
https://www.trainright.com

Koop’s Social Media
Twitter/Instagram- @jasonkoop
Buy Training Essentials for Ultrarunning on Amazon and Audible.