How to Design Ultramarathon Training Camps with CTS Coaches Ryne Anderson and Cliff Pittman | KoopCast Episode #185 (2022)
Episode overview:
The weekend training camp is an essential element of most ultrarunner’s training programs. Coaches Ryne Anderson, Cliff Pittman and host Jason Koop discuss how to set up the most effective training camp possible inclusive of goals, volume and the right timing relative to your race.
Ryne Anderson is a CTS Expert coach located in Knoxville, TN. He has been coaching ultrarunners since 2018 and joined CTS in 2021. Ryne has run and coached numerous athletes with limited access to mountains that had successful races at Bighorn 100, Leadville 100, CCC 100k, and San Juan Solstice 50. Integrating strength and mobility work is vital to an athlete’s overall development, and incorporates running-specific strength work with each athlete he coaches.
Cliff Pittman began pursuing his passion for endurance sports at the age of 11 when his parents signed him up for a community track club. He competed on a national level in both track and cross country through high school, but opted to enlist in the military shortly after 9/11, and delayed college until later in life. After a decade in the military, he transitioned into a corporate career, but continued to train several military athletes preparing for special operations. Cliff continued his passion for endurance sports by training for triathlons and marathons. In 2017, he launched a Life Coaching Practice that enabled me to leave my corporate career. But as he made efforts to grow that business, more and more athletes were seeking his help with their running goals and events. Cliff took this as a sign to align his purpose and efforts with what he is really passionate about – coaching athletes. In 2019, he transitioned to full-time run coaching with a specialty in helping ultra/trail athletes.
Episode highlights:
(45:06) Ideal scheduling for training camps: scheduling around training blocks, scheduling camps based on convenience
(48:38) Boundaries on training camp volume changes: using midweek runs as a benchmark, duration and frequency of runs, using races
(1:03:26) Summary: duration, scheduling, physiological versus psychological benefits, practicing race strategy and nutrition, specificity of mode, volume increases, have goals
Our conversation:
(0:00) Introduction: designing training blocks with the most specificity, making sure they fit in athlete schedules
(2:32) Setting the stage: the late-spring coaching rush, taking inspiration from cycling camps in Santa Barbara, getting more benefit per workload
(6:48) Ryne’s Hardrock athlete: capitalizing on athlete work schedules, concentrating volume, the importance of communication and recovery
(10:52) Coaching inside baseball: being reactive and sensitive to athletes
(11:59) Training before and during the camp: starting with athlete schedules, accounting for stress, specificity, daily volume versus training camp volume
(15:35) Training camp volume: doubling or tripling daily volume
(16:46) Making volume increases sustainable: entering the camp fresh, focusing on nutrition and hydration
(18:22) Nutrition report card anecdote: quicker recovery, better workload tolerance, improved adaptation, recovery
(22:28) Counting calories: looking at carb distribution, carry nutrition on your runs, setting good habits
(25:21) Terrain specificity: altitude and hiking at Hardrock, making the best of the terrain accessible to you, specificity within reason
(28:53) Cliff’s Western States athlete: background on athlete training, recovery after high volume, athlete schedule, prioritizing problem solving and confidence
(34:44) Confidence boosts from training camps: tapping into previous experiences to dig deep on race day, anecdote from Cliff
(38:27) Thought experiment: minimum and maximum tolerable volume increases and extreme training camp scheduling
(40:36) Ideal timing: planning for training blocks, 4-6 weeks for physiological adaptations
(42:37) Physiological versus psychological benefits: caveats, using camps for race strategy and nutrition versus fitness
(45:06) Ideal scheduling for training camps: scheduling around training blocks, scheduling camps based on convenience
(48:38) Boundaries on training camp volume changes: using midweek runs as a benchmark, duration and frequency of runs, using races
(51:39) Using races in training camps: drawbacks of compounded stress, practicing pacing, the community aspect
(55:09) Avoiding compounded stress: managing volume and intensity control
(56:24) Revisiting key points: training camp volume changes and nutrition report cards
(57:53) Drawing from past experience: using training history, knowing what you can handle
(59:24) Running versus hiking: using training mode to determine training load, balancing training stress, injury management
(1:03:26) Summary: duration, scheduling, physiological versus psychological benefits, practicing race strategy and nutrition, specificity of mode, volume increases, have goals
(1:05:34) Wrap-up: where to find Cliff, where to find Ryne
(1:07:08) Outro: parting words, summary of training camp benefits
Additional resources:
https://trainright.com/coaches/ryne-anderson/
https://trainright.com/coaches/cliff-pittman/
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