Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

  We held our first training camp in March of 2014 (picture above). It's wild to think that it was 11 years ago when I told Karel that I wanted to bring our coaching athletes together for a group training camp.  At the time, we lived in Jacksonville, Florida. Clermont, Florida was a few hours away and the perfect location for a triathlon training camp. After a successful first camp, I started planning the next camp. We learned a lot and I wanted to make it even better. A few months later, we moved to Greenville, SC. We continued hosting our early season training camps in Clermont for a few more years, while also holding a second training camp (endurance camp) in our new home of Greenville, SC. 2020 was the year of our last training camp in Clermont, Florida. The world shut down due to Covid the week after we finished our camp. Since then, we have held all of our triathlon training camps in our incredible playground of Greenville, SC. Over the past few years we have added ...

  Bonking. Hitting the wall. Lights went out.  Whatever you call it, lack of energy doesn't feel good.  When muscle glycogen stores are depleted, the muscles do not receive the fuel needed to produce energy. When liver glycogen stores are depleted, the liver is unable to maintain blood glucose levels, which are crucial for brain function. As a result, the body shuts down to slow you down in order to protect your health.  Although proper fueling and hydration during workouts is key for slowing the rate of glycogen depletion, the most important strategy for optimizing energy stores is to start the workout with adequate energy on board in the muscles and liver.  By consuming enough carbohydrates throughout the day to meet energy needs, and maximizing recovery nutrition, your fuel tank will be more filled, which means it will take longer to run out. In other words, would you rather start a road trip with a full tank of gas or a tank that is 1/4 filled? But unlike a ...

The 2025 Ironman Pro Series kicks off in North America on April 5th with Ironman 70.3 Oceanside in Southern California. The event has its challenges because of the weather. The water is cold, the morning starts off chilly and by the time athletes start the run, the weather is perfect. Racing in cooler temperatures presents unique challenges for athletes but with a few adjustments to your fueling, hydration, gear and pacing plan, you can set yourself up for success. 👊

After 19 consecutive years of long distance triathlon, it's crazy to think that I am preparing for my 24th Ironman distance triathlon. 😮  I can tell I'm carrying around a lot of fatigue but if I would have listened to my body (and mind) every day this week, I wouldn't have finished any workout (let alone started the session).  Fatigue is an important component of endurance training but it can be a slippery slope. You need to endure challenging workouts and accumulate training stress to optimize fitness but if you push your body too much, you put yourself at risk for getting injured, sick or overtrained. While some athletes are guilty of ignoring noticeable signs that the body is experiencing unexpected fatigue, others are guilty of constantly skipping and modifying sessions during times of good (and needed) fatigue.  Are you good at knowing when to push through and when to back off?

Carbohydrates receive a lot of attention among the endurance athlete community. Recently, endurance athletes have reported consuming well above 90g carbohydrates per hour. As a result, athletes are demonstrating impressive performances during extreme endurance exercise. Because energy needs are high and carbohydrate stores are limited in the muscles and liver, high carb intakes have provided great value to athletes who are expended a great amount of energy during continuous efforts of long duration and/or intensity.   However, with "high carb" being all the rage these days, daily fiber intake has become an afterthought. This doesn't fair well when a significant portion of Americans consistently fall short in meeting dietary fiber goals due to diets high in processed, refined and fast food. Although we know fiber is an essential component of a healthy diet, consuming fiber around (and during) workouts is well, not so healthy.  As with most sport nutrition guidelines, ...

This weekend we held our third gravel skills camp in DuPont State Forest. We welcomed former gravel skills campers and a few new faces. We spent over 11 hours, spread over two days, discussing, demonstrating and applying important bike handling skills for riding off road.  On Saturday, we met at Fawn Lake parking lot and discussed PSI and puncture repair kits. We then rode out to the airstrip and spent the next two hours discussing and working on specific skills (ex. cornering, descending, stopping, heavy feet/light hands). We took a break for lunch and ate in the parking lot and around 1pm we headed out on our adventure ride through Dupont forest and around Cascade Lakes. It was a beautiful day with warm temperatures in the upper 60s.  On Sunday we met at Tuxedo park in Zirconia, NC. We started off with a refresher of skills around the lake and then headed out on an 8-mile road ride before hitting the gravel into Dupont. We had a 4 mile steady gravel climb and then did a loop...

On Saturday Feb 22nd, we participated in 6 Hours in the Ridge. After Hurricane Helene, we weren't sure if our favorite mountain biking trails would ever open (or be the same) again but local organizations and volunteers have worked tirelessly to get the trails back in great condition.  However, over the past few months, our winter conditions have not been in our favor for staying consistent on our mountain bikes. We've had a lot of rainy and cold days which means closed trails. I've done very little mountain biking in 2025 following not being on my mountain bike since May 2024. Although we registered for 6 hours on the ridge a few months out from the race (it sells out at least a month out) I was feeling very unprepared. Karel and I did a 2:20 hr ride at The Farm (a great new trail system a few miles from where we live) on January 5th and then I did a panic recon ride at Pleasant Ridge (race venue) on Tuesday of race week. We also did a 1-hour pre race ride at The Farm the ...

You don’t have to be a “dieter” to be caught up in diet culture and, as a result, struggle with a diet mentality.  A diet mentality refers to the thoughts and beliefs that come from past dieting experiences, or current ideologies reinforced by diet culture.  Diet culture is a system of beliefs that worships thinness, equates health to weight and demonizes certain foods while glorifying others.  Because thoughts and beliefs influence behaviors, a diet mentality can significantly impact athletes by promoting a harmful focus on body image and weight control, often leading to restrictive eating habits that can detrimentally affect athletic performance and health.  It's time to check in with your thoughts.  Is your diet mentality negatively impacting your health and performance?

It often starts well-intentioned or unintentional. You want to lose a few lbs or you find yourself too busy to eat so you don't worry about skimping on calories and carbohydrates.  You feel great during your workouts......until you don't anymore.  Training volume and intensity increase and now you are struggling with low motivation, niggles and fatigue. You dug yourself into an energy deficient hole.  If you want to perform at your best, you need to give your body the energy it deserves. Intentional or not, failing to eat enough energy to support training demands can lead to serious health consequences.  It's time to stop underestimating what your body requires in order to recover from your training sessions and to function optimally in life.

Hydration drinks, energy drinks, energy gels. With so many different products on the market, it's important to know how they compare (and differ) in their respective functions.  For endurance athletes, it's in your primary interest to maintain a state of hydration (fluids and sodium) while consuming adequate fuel (carbs) to optimize health and performance in training and on race day. Therefore, it's important to understand that not all sport nutrition products are created equal.  By understanding the formulation and application of sport nutrition products, you can select your sport nutrition products more effectively, knowing that the product(s) you are using are being quickly digested and absorbed.  Otherwise, there's a good chance that what you are consuming is sitting around in the gut, potentially causing GI issues, dehydration or bonking (and a waste of money).