Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

It often starts well-intentioned or unintentional. You want to lose a few lbs or you find yourself too busy to eat so you don't worry about skimping on calories and carbohydrates.  You feel great during your workouts......until you don't anymore.  Training volume and intensity increase and now you are struggling with low motivation, niggles and fatigue. You dug yourself into an energy deficient hole.  If you want to perform at your best, you need to give your body the energy it deserves. Intentional or not, failing to eat enough energy to support training demands can lead to serious health consequences.  It's time to stop underestimating what your body requires in order to recover from your training sessions and to function optimally in life.

Hydration drinks, energy drinks, energy gels. With so many different products on the market, it's important to know how they compare (and differ) in their respective functions.  For endurance athletes, it's in your primary interest to maintain a state of hydration (fluids and sodium) while consuming adequate fuel (carbs) to optimize health and performance in training and on race day. Therefore, it's important to understand that not all sport nutrition products are created equal.  By understanding the formulation and application of sport nutrition products, you can select your sport nutrition products more effectively, knowing that the product(s) you are using are being quickly digested and absorbed.  Otherwise, there's a good chance that what you are consuming is sitting around in the gut, potentially causing GI issues, dehydration or bonking (and a waste of money).

"I pretty much eat the same things everyday."  In my sport nutrition practice, I often hear this response from athletes.  While the monotony and repetition can help with meal planning, there are two main concerns. The first is lack of nutrient variety and the second is not adjusting your diet to meet the demands of your training. If you stick to a limited food selection, you are likely missing out on essential vitamins and minerals found in different food groups.  If you aren't systematically altering your macronutrient intake to support higher volume and/or more intense training sessions, you may be in a constant state of low energy availability.  By strategically adjusting your meals and snacks, you can better support your training by providing your body with a full spectrum of nutrients and energy to support proper muscle function, immune system support and bone health while reducing the risk for nutrient deficiencies, fatigue and injury.

  Although we have a tremendous amount of research on sport nutrition strategies to optimize performance in runners, there's very little research on long distance triathlon.  It's impossible to isolate one variable in a triathlon-focused experiment. For example, with so many different environmental, physical, mental, terrain, pacing, fitness and physiological factors contributing to performance in a 70.3 or 140.6 mile event, it's impossible for research to create specific sport nutrition guidelines for swimming, biking and running when there are so many unpredictable and uncontrollable variables. We must recognize that running off the bike for 13 or 26 miles in a half or full distance triathlon (respectively) is very different than running a stand alone half marathon or marathon. For example, a stand alone endurance runner will start the race is cool or cold conditions, first thing in the morning with a body that is glycogen loaded and well-hydrated. Marathon races are oft...

It was 19 years ago when I trained for my first Ironman. I was 23 years old. I knew about the Ironman from the NBC coverage of the Ironman World Championship in Kona but I only knew a few people who had finished an Ironman distance triathlon. Back then, I felt alone in my Ironman journey. In 2006, I wasn't actively involved with social media. Facebook was still in it's infancy and Instagram didn't exist. As I was preparing for my first Ironman, I didn't find myself comparing my journey to anyone else because I had nothing and no one to compare it to. I didn't feel inclined to buy fancy gadgets or use specific nutrition products. I wasn't being "influenced" to buy certain things on social media. After the race, I had to call my friends to let them know how I did in the race. I didn't feel any pressure before or during the race because there wasn't a way to track my performance. Social media has become a standard part of our lives. I'm incred...

As an athlete, you have unique nutrition needs compared to the inactive. The interrelated roles of macro- and micronutrients, along with hydration, impact your health and physiology. As an example:  • Water is needed to maintain body temperature, remove wastes and lubricate your joints.   • Carbohydrates provide energy for your muscles, maintain blood glucose levels and fuel the central nervous system.   • Proteins are the building blocks of your muscles and help with rapid recovery.   • Fat is an essential nutrient that provides energy while supporting body functions necessary for human health.   • Vitamins and minerals optimize immune system health and provide the flame to metabolic reactions to help you turn food into energy during exercise.  No single food will help boost your health or performance but instead, it’s the synergistic role of all the foods in your diet that affects the functioning of your body during exercise. Your di...