Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

We made our way down South to Alabama on Thursday. It was a long 5.5 hour drive (thanks ATL traffic) but thankfully we gained an hour and had an exciting pit stop to look forward to. We left around 10am and arrive around 3pm local time.  A bit of a backstory.  About two weeks ago (just a few days before Karel raced the Peachtree International triathlon) I had mentioned to Karel about Xterra Oak Mountain after hearing about the effect on That Triathlon Life (from Eric Lagerstrom). I've always wanted Karel to do an Xterra event because 1) they take place in really beautiful places 2) I think he'd really have fun. Karel was interested in the idea and after sleeping on it, he became more and more excited about trying something new. Karel loves off-road biking but his mountain bike is a little over 10 years old and a bit too small for him - causing back pain on top of his already underlying back issues. Knowing that he was due for a new mountain bike, he started searching around. H...

After a strong weekend of training, I looked forward to my recovery day on Monday. I take my recovery days really seriously so if I am not up to purposeful movement, I don't. But on this past Monday, I felt like an EZ swim would be good to loosen out so after a good night of sleep, I went for a 40-minute, ~2400 meter swim. The meal picture posted above is the delicious dinner that I had at the end of my recovery day. A meatless burger topped with cheddar cheese and guac, roasted salty potatoes, salad w/ yogurt ranch dressing and chips.  On Tuesday, I was excited and recharged. I met my good friend Kristen at the aquatic center for a swim workout. She was able to join me for half of the workout before she left for work. I finished with 5000 meters and the main set was 3 x (7 x 100's on 1:45 tempo, holding 1:28-1:29 followed by a 300 smooth pull). It was one of those swim workouts where I never ran out of energy and just kept wanting to swim. I finally made myself get out at 5000...

  A few days after finishing IM 70.3 Florida, Karel was itching to race again. He enjoys racing a lot more than training so his ideal strategy is to race himself into great fitness. Knowing that our athlete and good friend Alvi was racing an Olympic distance triathlon just outside of Atlanta two weeks after IM 70.3 Florida, Karel decided to join him (I stayed home with the furry kids).  After a solid night of sleep on Thursday (allowing extra time to sleep in knowing that race night is never a good for sleeping), Karel had his daily pre-workout oatmeal before heading out on the tri bike for an hour ride. He followed it up with a 20 minute treadmill run. I packed up a cooler and bag of food for him (also booked them a hotel with a microwave and fridge) and he left around 11:30am to pick up Alvi.  Knowing that they had a long drive ahead (well, only a planned 3-hour drive but one that included Atlanta traffic), Alvi made sure to bring along some pastries. And if you ever wa...