Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

-At the beginning of exercise, your body uses carbs at a very high rate since fat metabolism can not keep up up with producing ATP (energy) fast enough, so early in a workout. Carbs are quick energy makers but we know that utilizing fat for fuel can be a sustainable energy source so long as the intensity and duration are reasonable. (This is why a warm-up is very important before you begin your actual workout to help lower your HR and taking short walk breaks fr equently in the first 2-3 miles of a long run or race. To help your body metabolize the right fuels for your workout, wait around 10-15 minutes into your workout/race to start fueling (ex. on the bike and on the run but do not wait any longer than 20 minutes to ensure that your body receives the fuel it needs to help last the duration of your race/workout). But did you know that carbs are a rate limiting fuel? In order to continue to burn fat for fuel, you need carbohydrates during your workou

Many athletes feel personal struggles with body image. Eating disorders and disordered eating habits are evident in athletes in all sports (and in non-athletes) and in all ages but specifically in sports where leanness associates with an improvement in performance (lighter = better).  It's extremely upsetting to hear of nutrition "experts" advising athletes to restrict food around workouts and to intentionally not fuel or hydrate during workouts as a way to improve performance or to lose weight.  Due to a society that has a poor relationship with food and overemphasizes leanness as the 'ideal' image for athletes, more and more athletes are becoming more and more dissatisfied with their bodies.  Athletes may experience strong feelings before, during and after workouts as if they do not have "an athlete's body" and ultimately underfuel in an effort to lose weight. Rather than fueling for success, good health and a stronger body, athlet

When I swim, I feel like a kid. When I bike, I feel strong.  When I run, I feel free.  But as Karel use to say in his cycling days " why would you run if you can ride a bike???" In honor of National Running Day, I wanted to share a few of my personal thoughts on running.  I like to run but I don't love to run.  But I LOVE being a triathlete.  My training plan includes swimming, biking and running so in order to excel in triathlons, I have to put in the time/miles for running just like I do for cycling and swimming.  Running is hard on the body. It causes injuries, it's easy to overtrain and it can bring on fatigue, sickness and health issues.  There are so people who love to run and constantly say that it feels amazingly great to run.... But for me, I don't feel comfortable calling myself "a runner". I am a triathlete. I have great joy for swimming, biking and running off the bike.  I run because I am a triath

I consider myself extremely lucky.  I just happen to have a sport psychologist/mental skills coach as my best friend. Gloria and I may live on opposite coasts but our friendship continues to grow year after year.  Gloria emailed me before my 2nd Ironman World Championship in 2011 and I could feel her positive energy through the internet. From one email she was a stranger who instantly became a close friend. From a simple email, our friendship began.. I knew she had a gift of knowing how to say the right thing at the right time and she has helped me season after season, year after year, in every one of my races. Her mental skills tricks and ability to verbalize what "we" as athletes think when we train and race is incredible. Ultimately, Gloria knows how to unleash great performances and it all starts with having a stronger, better, healthier mindset when it comes to training.  Karel and I have coached Gloria and her hubby on and off over the past few years for

My annual tradition. Carrot cake on my birthday! I've never been one to get excited for the New Year like I do for my birthday. When it comes to birthdays, we celebrate our life. Another year of growing older, wiser, smarter and healthier and another year to add to the list from when we were brought into this world to live our one and only life.   I find myself doing a lot of reflecting around my birthday as well as goal setting. I am not one for New Year Resolutions or using January 1st as the marker of when in the year I am going to begin to change my life.  Birthdays are exciting. As Karel wrote in my birthday card yesterday Birthdays are good for you. Research shows that the people who have the most live the longest!" My 33rd birthday celebration started on Friday when our friends/athletes Peggy and Anthony drove down from the DC area (with their adorable silver lab Brutus) for two RETUL fits from Karel. Of course, no weekend with us would be complet