Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

Around 7:15am, we left our condo and drove to the  shops at Mauna Lani  (North of the island) to start our ride. Karel had a 3-hour endurance ride on the schedule to flush his legs from yesterday's sessions. Since we hadn't yet ridden the Hawi section since arriving (we covered everything else on the Queen K), we thought it would be good to head out there early and get reacquainted with the back part of the course. As you may know, this is where the historic Kona winds are the fiercest and you can always tell from the white caps on the ocean if the winds will be blowing (no white caps = calm winds).   As we left the parking lot, Karel needed some time to loosen out his legs so the pace was rather easy to start just to move blood.  Although we started the ride at 8am, it was already hot. Thankfully we packed along plenty of hydration/sport drinks for our ride. From the exit of the Mauna Lani resort (turning North on to the Queen K), it's ~6....

With our Trimarni athletes in town (both first time IM Kona athletes), we planned their first workout on the big island with a ride to Hawi.  Justine and Leigh Ann both wanted to experience the winds in Hawi, which we really appreciated as they want to be as physically and mentally prepared for the many elements that they will encounter on race day. We drove to the Mauna Lani shops to park the car, before making our way out on the Queen K before turning off, on to Kawaihae.  We love our Alto Cycling wheels!  Before heading out on the ride, Karel gave our athletes a bit of a refresher for how to ride in the winds.  No, you do not lean your bike against the wind. You let your bike go with the wind direction and then you counteract the wind by shifting your weight toward the wind while counter-steering to keep your bike riding straight without feeling like you are getting blown off the road with your bike.  Thinking that we would get some strong ...