Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

There's something special about racing close to home - especially in the thick of peak training. Pleasant Ridge Park in Marietta, SC is just 20 minutes from our house, making this a "local" mountain bike race. Karel and I have raced this event twice before but familiarity with the trails doesn't make racing (or training) at Pleasant Ridge any easier. The single-track trail system at Pleasant Ridge is directional, flipping between clockwise and counterclockwise every other month, with hikers and bikers going in opposite directions. In February, the course runs clockwise (in my opinion, the more technical direction, loaded with rocky features that have been challenging me all season but also includes several fast sections - that Karel loves). Over the past month, Karel and I have been putting in serious work on those features, and I finally strung together a few clean loops without unclipping or falling (a huge milestone for me that I've been working on for the past...

Thursday (2/19) After my morning workout (run followed by a swim), we loaded up the car and my mom, her partner Alan, Sunny, Karel, and me hit the road to Pelham, Alabama. The 6 hour drive was uneventful except for the obligatory crawl through Atlanta traffic. We arrived at our Airbnb around 6:30pm (a two-story townhome around 10 minutes away from the park). With two sleeps before race start, it was nice to not feel rushed before the Saturday race.  Sunny has become a great traveler. He loves road trips and exploring new places with us. I still remember our first trip together in 2024 at Ironman Chattanooga. We had just adopted Sunny and he was so anxious, scared and reactive. He has come so far thanks to his extensive obedience training with Dog Elite Upstate. We love making memories with him.   Dinner was Chipotle (delivered while we unpacked), which has become a ritual. This race-cation tradition started in February 2022 when Karel and I made our very first trip to Oak Moun...