Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

Oddly, I'm very calm with one sleep to go before race day. With no expectations or pressures for this race, I'm most excited to kick off the 2018 triathlon racing season and go through the motions and emotions of swimbikerun in a competitive setting. I am also so pumped to race with over 30 of our coaching athletes as part of the regional Tri Club Championship. There's something about seeing familiar faces out on the race course (and the sidelines) that makes for a fun, energy filled day of racing. Here's a list of all of our athletes who are participating: Ironman 70.3 Florida Alvaro Velez Chris Anuszkiewicz Christine Feiherr Curt Kloc Erica Nagy Fiona Martin Greg Marshall Heather Anderson Heidi Hogan Jane Green Jim Nitz Julie Huyett Justine Waters Kathy Petri Kevin Drury Kim Crist Lisa Comer Lisa McCartney Lisa Heath Melanie Ziarko Meredith Rigdon Mitch Przybelski Natalie Ramello Tricia Rado Rebekah Miller Reid Thomas Stephanie Gibson ...

After a busy morning packing up the car, squeezing in a short outdoor ride and getting our furry crew ready for "grandma", it was time to hit the road down south. We headed out around noon (but didn't make it far until Karel realized he forgot our Di2 charger) and then we officially hit the road. I had prepped a lot of meals before we left to make it easy for us to eat when we arrived to our rental home in Florida, as well as lots of snacks to minimize the need for grocery shopping. We stopped a few times to stretch our legs, go to the bathroom and pick-up dinner at Moe's but other than that, it was a smooth day of traveling without any major traffic delays. We arrived around 7:30pm and made it to bed just before 10pm. To help break up the drive, we stopped at our friend's house (Joe and Erica) in Jacksonville, FL for a good night of sleep before the rest of our trip on Thursday morning.  To shake out the stiffness from our long day in the car on Wedne...

Don't you love it when everything comes together on race day and you feel incredible at the finish line? Ha - as someone who has raced 12 Ironman events, 4 Ironman World championship events and countless half IM events, I wish I could say that everything always comes together on race day. Some of my "best" performances have included race day mishaps and obstacles to overcome in order to reach the finish line. For endurance athletes, it's rare to hear of an athlete who never experiences nutrition problems on race day. While not every nutrition issue is a limiter to performance, it seems as if athletes are quick to blame nutrition when a race performance goes wrong. Recognizing that endurance events place extreme stress on the human body, the athlete who develops, fine-tunes and perfects a fueling and hydration plan in training and practices in key long workouts and low priority races will naturally be at a competitive advantage come race day for nutrition is a cri...

We all have our own ways of tapering so it would be a mistake to say that there is one "right"  way to taper for an upcoming event. As we develop our fitness and skills, our ideal taper methods may change. However, it's a common mistake to assume that tapering = resting.  Tapering is defined as a short-term reduction in a training load before an important athletic event.  While you may not be accumulating as many weekly training hours during your taper, a short-term reduction in load can occur in many ways. As an example, your typical long ride of 2-2.5 hours can still be done 6-8 days before your upcoming event so load as you reduce the overall "stress" of the workout. By fueling smart, allowing ample recover between any intense intervals and not chasing any paces/watts, you can still ride "long" and feel rested without a massive drop in training volume. Certainly, your taper is dependent on the training that you did and didn't do in the ...

High Fives All Around!! It's race week!  I've waited seven long months since Ironman Chattanooga to say those words. On Sunday, I get to experience all the nerves, excitement, questions, low moments, pain, what if's, emotions and fun of participating in a half Ironman. But this time it will be extra special as Karel and I will be sharing the race course with over 30 of our Trimarni coaching athletes as part of the Tri Club Regional Championship at IM 70.3 FL! Nearing the age of 36 years old, I think back to almost 12 years ago when I participated in my first half IM event in Disney. I had no idea what I was doing yet I loved every mile of it. Fast forward to 12 Ironman finishes, 4 Ironman World Championship finishes and too many half IM events to remember, I feel stronger, healthier and fitter than ever before but my love for the sport hasn't changed. I love the sport of triathlon as it keeps me healthy and happy and provides me with so many amazing opportunities...