Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

( this picture was not from race day but the same view we got to enjoy for much of 112 miles!) As I was settling into my rhythm on the bike for the short out and back section, I kept the effort very easy - light on the pedals. Karel told me that my "race effort" would start after I left Maria Worth as I was nearing the round about by the town of Velden. I needed to give myself time before settling into my Ironman bike "race effort" as I was ready to give a very sustainably hard (relatively speaking for an Ironman) effort on the bike for Ironman Austria. This year I have made/seen some big and exciting improvements on the bike - but as we all know, this didn't happen overnight. Seeing that I married a cat 1 cyclist turned triathlete, I really had no choice that I was going to become a good cyclist whether I liked it or not - thankfully, I learned to love cycling! The truth is that my cycling has been an ongoing developmental process starting with an evolving b...

Although my alarm was set for 3:45am, my body woke me up at 3:20am. I stayed in bed anxiously awaiting my alarm to get me up so that I could finally start my Ironman race day. I couldn't believe today was the day that I could FINALLY put all that training to good use and release some bottled-up energy that has been hard to hold on to for the past week. Karel woke up stiff in his back and I could tell that he was concerned about what his body would let him do on race day. I had taped Karel's back and hip on Friday which made him feel better but I knew he was not feeling even close to 100%. The good thing was that he felt no pain or issues when swimming so for the first time, he was actually looking forward to swimming and not looking forward to the bike (as the bike was causing him some issues in his back since we arrived in Austria). I woke up with a very nervous belly and the thought of eating was not on my mind. I forced down 2 Clif Bars, a glass of OJ and a ...

Karel and I packed all our gear bags on Friday and I also prepared my bike and run bottles with sport nutrition powder (and special needs bottles) which made Saturday much less stressful. But nevertheless, the butterflies were not yet in formation in my belly as I was full of nervous excitement.  I was feeling a bit more nervous than normal as I normally don't get too nervous for an Ironman but I am constantly reminded by Gloria that nerves are a good thing - it means you care and you are ready. On Saturday morning, I woke up around 5:30am as the sun was peaking through the window. After a few nights without AC, we purchased a fan which helped to cool off our bedroom as it was getting warm out (in the 80's during the day and 60's at night). It's amazing how bright it gets so early and how long it takes in the evening for the sun to set. The days seem long and my jet-lagged body was not liking the already short nights. While I felt I slept OK on Fr...

Dreaming big is easy. It's free, it it's not physically exhausting and anyone can do it, at any age or fitness ability. Dreaming big is a necessary part of goal setting. If you can't visualize yourself achieving your goals it's going to be very hard to believe your goal is worth achieving. And if you can't believe in yourself, you will likely not work hard enough to make your dream turn into a reality. Eight months ago I started my 2016 season (foundation phase) with one big scary goal. To be on the podium at the 2016 Ironman Austria for my age group (30-34).  For 8 months, I stayed present for almost every workout. Sometimes I lost motivation, felt too tired or found myself "too busy" to train but I never lost sight of my goal. I followed my training plan and took great care of my body to stay consistent with training. I didn't question the workouts that Karel gave me because we had a game plan for this season.  (and with the help ...