Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

I think we can all agree that it takes a great amount of fitness to ride a bike for 112 miles. It doesn’t matter if you are riding 15mph or 25 mph because it takes a great effort to power your body for 4+ hours in order to turn two wheels, continuously, to move your body and machine in a forward motion. Throw in wind, heat, rain, rolling hills, descends, bumpy roads, potholes, etc. and it takes more than good fitness to ride smart (with a fit body) for 112 miles. But the Ironman is more than being fit enough to ride your bike 112 miles. The Ironman is not a bike race (if you don’t believe me, ask Karel). In bike racing, your primary focus is on the other riders and staying with them. There is nothing "individual" with a bike race for if you are not with the leaders or the pelton, well you are not in the bike race and unlike triathlons, there are no finisher medals in bike racing. A triathlon, unlike bike racing, is all about an individual effort. If you forge...

PRE RACE After we checked in our bikes and racked our transition bags, we headed back to our flat in downtown Klagenfurt, prepared our nutrition for race day (powder in bottles to fill with cold water in the am), put on our compression and comfy clothes and prepared dinner around 4:30pm. Karel had chicken, rice and veggies which is a typical pre race meal for him along with minestrone soup. I had the soup as well, along with a veggie and basmati rice mix that we made the other night. I felt very fueled for race day thanks to enjoying my typical low fiber/fat diet in the 2 day leading up to the race, with plenty of easy to digest carbs that leave my tummy happy. After we ate around 5pm, we got together our things for the morning, set the alarm (more like multiple alarms for me) and laid in bed around 7:30pm and fell asleep between 8:30-9pm. Alarm #1 woke us up at 3:45am and it was finally Ironman Austria race day!! Although I was not super nervous, I could tell that I...

Over the past 8 years I have found myself standing at 6 different starting lines (IMFL, IMKY, IMWI, IM Placid, IM Austria and IM Kona). For all 8 of my Ironman races, I have felt the same flood of emotions as I wait anxiously for the start of my 140.6 mile racing day. Despite feeling the same mix of emotions from a nervous belly to fully body excitement, I have discovered that every IM journey to reach the starting line is unlike the last journey. Sure, every Ironman journey shares similarities such as an investment in time and a greater investment in money alongside commitment, hard work and discipline but there are also many differences, specific to what is happening in life while training for an IM. Over the past 8 Ironman finishes, I have learned that the pressure to arrive at the starting line healthy and hungry to race is always the ultimate goal because racing with a healthy body and mind is simply the result of my body positively adapting to the right amount of tra...

  Preparation The activity or process of making something ready or of becoming ready for something. Things that are done to make something ready or to become ready for something. A state of being prepared.  We all have our own definitions for being/feeling prepared. For the athlete, it may be following an arbitrary training plan and for others, it may be putting all your trust into a coach to design the perfect plan for you to peak and taper properly and execute on race day.  I'm sure we can all think of a time when we felt prepared and things didn't go as planned. And of course, the times when we didn't feel prepared and it showed.   But then there are those times when we didn't feel prepared and we surprised ourselves.  Some say that preparation is key to success. Failing to prepare is like preparing for fail.  When it comes to carrying the human body for 140.6 miles, preparation is certainly key. There's always that ...