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Showing posts from September 22, 2013

Kona prep: the puzzle is complete!

22 weeks is a long time. 140.6 miles x 2 is a long way for the human body to travel.  My journey of training for two Ironmans is now complete.....and now I anxiously await the day when I can stand at my 7th Ironman starting line.  I am so very grateful to my body for allowing me to train for 2 Ironman distance triathlons (with the second round being 100% injury free) within 6 month time span. I trained for 10 weeks specifically for Ironman Lake Placid and after a 2 week unstructured bike/swim routine from training (with only 1 run/walk at the end of that 2 week period) I dedicated 12 weeks to preparing for the Ironman World Championship.  Aside from needing to clean my car (My triathlon bag explodes in there almost daily), I am very excited to be approaching my active recovery week and then race week which will be my official "taper". Active recovery week allows my body to recover from many weeks of structured, quality "train hard, recovery harder" training

Trimarni Tip: Inside-out sandwich

I'm sure you can only imagine the fun I had at the grocery stores in Czech Republic during our  trip in May.  And oh did it all taste great too! Have you been adding to your "off limit" food list over the past few months/years? How about rethinking your meals as you learn how to develop a healthy relationship with food? It's time to free yourself from food rules and "bad" food. Trimarni Tip (from the Sumbal household who always has a loaf of fresh local bread in the house at all times): Pics from our Czech Republic trip in May I find many people are all or nothing. Either you LOVE bread and eat it all the time or bread is bad and it is off limit. I think the same is true for any food or food group. People hear low and they think no and if they hear something is good, it is consumed in excess. Since when did our society become so extreme with everything? The key is balance for any meal but hopefully you are looking for easy ways to cr

Kona prep mind over matter: Train the brain

Well, it's finally official.  MARNI SUMBAL (30-34 age group): BIB NUMBER 1933 With this week being my last week of Ironman training before an active recovery week followed by race week taper, my body feels amazing. With our approach to Ironman training being enhanced every year, I really feel Karel and I nailed my training for my 7th Ironman and 3rd Ironman World Championship. Every go-around we reflect on what didn't work and then we stretch the boundaries on how much I can get my body to adapt with the least amount of training stress. With this "less is more, train hard, recover harder approach" I have experienced bitter sweet feelings before my last three Ironmans. Absolutely I am ready to taper and rejuvenate from all this Ironman Kona specific training and I am excited to experience the normal "hunger" I experience on race week to get out there and let my body do it's thing. But my body and mind feel healthy. They feel strong and c

Traveling eats: Trimarni style

Who said it was hard to find veggies while traveling?  Early Thursday morning, Karel and I headed to Pittsburgh for my brothers wedding.  We traded our spandex for our bridesmaid and groomsman outfits and danced the night away.....well past our bedtime.  Keeping with a healthy relationship with food and making sure I eat for fuel and for health, my body was extremely happy during my travels to and from Pittsburgh.  Here are a few (of many) of my delicious traveling eats..... My number one way to maintaining a healthy relationship with food and the body is to never give the body a chance to experience low blood sugar. In route to Pittsburgh  and there were two endurance athlete bodies on board feeling great before  breakfast in ATL: wasa cracker with PB and raspberries at 4:40am, long doggy walk and core/hip work (in place of cardio today) at 5-5:30am and a Trimarni bag of yumminess (and water bottle to be filled after security) including a 7:30am snack of

Nutrition tips for food lovers

Farmers market shopping in downtown Znojmo, Czech Republic  (Karel's home) Every day I am reminded of our trip to Czech and the  lifestyle that we lived during our trip . The trip was life changing but it was even more enjoyable to live such a great lifestyle while in Czech.  When it comes to "healthy" eating, there are many tips, suggestions, fads, thoughts, rules and styles that is can be very overwhelming. When it comes to disease prevention there are many research studies as to what people do consistently well that reduces the risk for disease and illness and what people do that increases the risk for certain diseases and illnesses. We can not avoid cancer but we can reduce the risk so when it comes down to following nutrition advice in a society that loves food, it's really not that complicated.  Eat a plant strong diet, rich in fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds and whole grains. Choose heart healthy fats and low fat dairy (up to 3 servings daily). Re