Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

      Almost every triathlete wishes to be a faster runner off the bike. Perhaps if the swim was the last sport in a triathlon, athletes would all wish to be faster swimmers and would spend more time in the water doing speed work and long workouts. I use to wish to be a faster runner. I would create workouts in my endurance training plan that I felt would help me be a faster runner. I would add more miles to my weekly and long runs to make myself feel more ready for race day. Sadly, I found myself either injured or never able to run what I felt was my "true potential" on race day.  Rather than changing my goals, I changed my plan. I learned how to train and race smarter.  For the past few years, I have developed a great appreciation for seeing what my body is capable of achieving in training without getting too stuck on the end result. I enjoy goal setting to keep me motivated but rather than training at all costs to move closer to my go...

I had only one goal for this race on the bike and that was to break 2:40. In 10 half ironman races, I can't recall myself ever riding faster than 2:42 in a half ironman and based on how strong I felt at  Challenge Knoxville , I went into this race with confidence that I could achieve a PR bike. All I wanted to see was a 3 behind 2 hours and I would be happy.  Aside from my first three half ironman races (at Disney), the majority of my races have been very low-key events. Rather than racing with 2000+ athletes, the typical athlete count is around 500 or less.  Because of the low number of athletes on the course, this always provides a very fair race yet also an very individually paced race (with minimal drafting).  With most of my rides averaging around 16.5-17 mph in Greenville, I went into this race with excitement to see what my body could do on flatter terrain. Karel has worked really hard to help me learn how to "chase" athletes but still sta...

My alarm went off at 4:05am which gave me 10 minutes to make some coffee with the help of our home electric kettle that we brought + instant coffee (Nescafe Classico), take Campy outside and then fill my Nathan hydration belt flasks (2 of them) with cold water. I sipped on aminos + electrolytes in a small bottle of water and a mug of coffee w/ milk and grabbed my T2 gear (in a drawstring bag that I brought) which included: running shoes, my dad's Corvette hat, race belt,  number (safety pinned), Nathan hydration belt + flasks (with extra nutrition in my belt pocket: margarita Clif blocks, salt tube  and Clif Bar Gel)  and a small towel and headed 10 minutes down the road to T2. I parked and made the 10-15 minute walk to transition. I decided the night before the race that I would go to T2 first thing in the morning (it opened at 4:30am) to drop off my run gear by myself. Since my mom was driving us to the beach (T1/race start) we did not need to board the bus shutt...

After a 1200 yard swim at Furman University around 8am and a delicious drink of Clif chocolate  protein recovery mixed with 1% Organic cow's milk, we packed up my car, loaded the bikes, ate some breakfast (for me - waffle sandwich with syrup, raisins, cinnamon, peanut butter and banana and handful of blueberries) and hit the road. Campy was excited for his first trip to Virginia and since it was our first trip to Williamsburg, we were excited to make lots of memories together as a family. We picked up my mom (who is a great spect-athlete and a wonderful Campy sitter/aka "grandma to Campy") and we started our 7-hour trip to Williamsburg. Our in-car entertainment was several podcasts of  The Real Starky  (which we love to listen to when we travel). We all took turns driving which was good to not be stuck behind the wheel for too many hours at once.  We had plenty of snacks for the trip, including PB, bread, saltines, baked potato chips, hummus, carrots, ...

Obstacles are put into your way to see if what you want is really worth fighting for.  As athletes, we are going to peak only a few times in any given race season. Within every season, we will race on a variety of courses, in a variety of different conditions. Never will two races ever be the same. We will experience highs and lows within every race and between every race, there will be obstacles to overcome to get to the starting line.  As athletes, sometimes we feel so prepared and we fail with our physical attempt on race day. But with every bad race,  we learn how to move on. We continue to fight until we conquer our own personal demons, weaknesses and past setbacks. Sometimes on race day, it all seems to come together. Far too often, it's when we feel least prepared, not ready or feel scared to set goals that are within our reach that we do the impossible with our body on race day. Regardless if we have a great race but it comes with a fight an...

As we were walking toward the transition area around 5:50am, I felt sprinkles of rain falling from the sky. From what I heard from other athletes, there was a chance of rain that morning.  The atmosphere at the Challenge Family Knoxville event was all positive - you could just feel the energy. The transition area was not massive and there were plenty of potties for athletes to use without long lines. I really enjoy the lower-key events and seeing all the athletes that come from all different backgrounds and fitness levels.  When we entered the transition area, I helped Karel pump up his disc wheel (it's a two person job for one person - me- to hold the extender valve inside the disc wheel opening and the other person-Karel-pumps) and then I headed toward my bike in the far end (bike out) of the transition area.  I laid out my gear on my pink Oakley towel.  I placed my Brooks Pure Flow 4 shoes on the right of my towel with my dad's Corvette hat behi...