Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

Today's workout required a lot of mental focus, strength, fuel and well, a really strong body. I can't believe that I will be racing my first key race of the season here in two weeks at Challenge Knoxville ! Karel and I will both be racing and we are excited to race a Challenge event and explore Knoxville by swimming, biking and running in the city.                                                                                                                                I had no time for pictures this morning so I am sharing a few pics from earlier this week (including the pic above from climbing up and over and then up and over again on Paris Mountain). This ...

If you missed the last two blogs, I recommend to read before continuing on: Appetite Awareness Is hunger a bad thing? APPETITE AWARENESS TIPS:  - In reference to the above hunger rating chart, numbers 4 and 5 are ideal when you think about when you eat and how you feel when you eat. It is normal to feel number 3 as an athlete and often times, you may experience number 6. You should be able to identify the numbers that you do not want to experience as an athlete and if you do experience an unwanted number, recognize how to prevent that from happening again. Feeling very full or irritable are not enjoyable outcomes from eating (or not eating).  Use this chart to think about your current eating habits on a daily basis and if you are eating too much or too little, focus on that one specific meal/snack in your day to try to tweak. Ideally, you should be eating three meals that leave you satisfied for at least 2.5-4 hours. Although a mid morning snack may be needed to h...

                  ( Source) Although perfecting the appetite control centers seems overwhelming, there are a few ways to help you become more aware of your appetite and to better manage your hunger, all in an effort to help you meet your energy and nutritional needs for a quality-filled life.  But before I go into these appetite awareness tips (next blog), I want to touch on a topic that I mentioned in my  last blog . Appetite.  Appetite is the desire to eat. Often times, we associate appetite to hunger.  There are so many diet pills on the market marketed to "stop hunger". Just take a pill and you will not be hungry. You may have recently heard a friend or training buddy say that since they started their new diet, they are never hungry. They can go long hours without eating, they have no cravings any more and they are just never, ever hungry! Sounds too good to be true, right?  What lucky ...

As athletes, our appetite can be a bit interesting at times. Have you ever been so hungry you can't even think straight? Sometimes it feels like we can never feel satisfied whereas other times, the appetite is non existent. So weird, right? As you are aware from experience, your appetite is important because it regulates food intake and helps you fuel your active lifestyle. It drives you to eat and it also tells you when you can stop eating. Your appetite can also affect your mood  - it's likely that there are times when your friends/family just know that you are hungry. Although the appetite mechanism works well to help you meet your body's energy and nutrient needs, it is likely that as an athlete, you feel that you do not have a "normal" appetite. Far too often, athletes put blame on themselves for not eating the "right" things at the "right" times. They get mad at their body for being hungry too often or for getting...

I LOVE watching bike racing, especially criterium racing.  The tactics, endorphin rush, speed....there is so much going on with every loop that you can't help but stay glued to the race to watch everything unfold. To really understand crit racing, you have to know the riders, the teams and well, really be in the race.  Thank goodness I married a cyclist! For 6 years, I would spend many weekends throughout the year at bike races because my cat 3 boyfriend, turned cat 1 fiance, turned cat 1 husband Karel (now turned triathlete) has been racing bikes for most of his life. I learned so much about cycling, bike racing/training and how much Karel loves to suffer.  Karel's last season of bike racing finished with the NRC Speedweek in 2012 and a few months later, Karel started his first triathlon season with a sprint, olympic and then half ironman triathlon. In 2013 Karel raced his first Ironman ( IM Placid) and in 2014, Karel qualified for the 2015 Iron...