Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

A few weeks ago I was contacted by  Smack Media  to see if I would be interested in trying some free products from  Perfect Fitness  in return for a free product review.  I browsed the website and came across the Perfect Cooling Towel.  With the hot and humid summer temps in Greenville and training for an October Ironman, anything to keep me "cool" sounded appealing.  I received the Perfect Cooling Towel  and followed the instructions to completely soak the towel and then wring excess water.  The towel is like a soft chamois when soft (like a board when dry), similar to what divers use when they exit the water after a dive. I remember using towels of this texture when I was swimming competitively in high school between events.  Although  reviews  for cooling towels have not supported the hype, I wanted to provide my unbiased feedback on the cooling towel from an endurance triathlete perspective.  After...

I can't believe that it was just one year ago yesterday, that Karel and I raced Ironman Wisconsin and we each earned our ticket to Kona. We spent a year training and racing with this one race in mind and we were both able to execute when it mattered the most..... On the same course and on the same day. Same age group placing. One hour apart from each other, to the minute.  Karel: 9:44, 3rd AG (35-39), 9th overall male amateur. Marni: 10:44, 3rd AG (30-34), 6th overall female amateur.  With exactly 30 days until the 2015 Ironman World Championship, we are about to close this chapter of our life by crossing the same 140.6 mile finish line in Kona.  But you see, this triathlon lifestyle that we share hasn't always been this way. Nine years ago when Karel and I were set-up on a blind-date (we met before a group ride - dressed in athletic gear), Karel was a cyclist. Quickly after we met in May 2006, Karel upgraded to Cat 1 and raced well at this  level. ...

It may seem like common sense to resist trying/buying food on a whim at your race venue, to write down your thoughts on a piece of paper for a better night sleep in the 48 hours before your race or to remove yourself from energy suckers on race week but you'd be surprised how many athletes become someone else on race week......especially when this anxious and nervous athlete arrives to the race venue and begins to doubt their own fitness and preparation.  I see it and I hear about it all the time - the athlete who has a fine-tuned race and nutrition plan and then changes everything on race day for no good reason other than "Someone else suggested that I should do this instead" or "I don't know what I was thinking." It is important that you not only have a plan when it comes to minimizing pre-race jitters, anxieties and nerves but that you trust your plan. With self-doubt that your plan may fail on race day, you may find yourself "trusting...

We have approached the "less than 5 week" countdown until Kona!!!  After we returned from Boulder, I mentioned that  I was overly exhausted  after our 9-day train-cation in Boulder. After taking several days to recover, I was able to get back to my planned training but I did have to make some modifications.  With so much climbing and hard efforts in Boulder, I came back with a body that was not very happy. Nothing new to me with many years of back issues but with less than 6 weeks left until Kona (at the time), I did not want to take any chances for a tight back to turn into a back injury to turn into a hip injury (which I have had much experience with in the past - 6+ years to be exact from 2007-2013). My right scapula was so tight/inflamed that I was barely able to swim last week. Additionally, because of the tightness in my upper back, it was tugging on my lower back and hip area and my right leg felt very weak (again, nothing new to me from past hip ...