Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

Cooler weather triathlon races bring unique challenges when it comes to clothing, pacing and mindset. But fueling mistakes are some of the most overlooked. Key considerations for include: ▶Cool enough that thirst/appetite may be suppressed, increasing the risk for bonking and dehydration. ▶A demanding/hilly bike requires a somewhat elevated effort and increased energy cost - alongside more time out on the bike course. ▶A flat run course - with "perfect" weather may feel great in the early miles but falling short on bike nutrition can lead to early fatigue.

  Going into this race, we had a lot going against us. Karel hasn't raced since May due to his broken hand (except for a local half in early August). I haven't had the best of luck in Ironman 70.3 World Championship events as I was injured in 2007 and I fainted in 2017 and smashed my face on the hard floor of the kitchen/bathroom. Both races were DNS - did not start. And now, going into 2021, we both had COVID (fully vaccinated) 2.5 weeks ago and unfortunately, we both got pretty sick which resulted in a pretty high viral load. For myself, after the three days of sickness, I had more lingering symptoms of a cough, headache and no smell (my taste has somewhat come back) whereas Karel's body fought pretty hard for the three days that he was ill. While these may sound like excuses, this was just the reality for us going into the race. It's hard to not be competitive when we line up to a start line but we both felt a big question-mark when it came to our race day readiness....

With less than two weeks until the 2021 Ironman 70.3 World Championship, there's a lot of nervous energy going around. This 70.3 "World" Championship event is a bit unique in that the majority of the participants will not be international athletes but instead, representing USA. Certainly this is understandable as we are still in a global pandemic and each country has different guidelines, rules and regulations for travel and quarantine. When an event is in your home country, it makes it a bit easier to travel to.  Although there was still a qualification process for every participant in this event, I've encountered many athletes who feel less deserving of qualifying because of the greater number of slots available at North America 70.3 events.  At Trimarni, we will have over 20 athletes participating in this event (including me, Karel and our assistant coach Joe). We ordered team shirts and tanks, we have team events planned and we are super excited to share this expe...

Source Although Karel and I had our plans set on focusing on IM Kona this year, Karel and I are having a serious case of FOMO (fear of missing out) in looking at all the incredible pictures of athletes at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Nice, France. What a beautiful race venue! But thankfully, we have four amazing Trimarni athletes who are participating and we can virtually share the experience with each of them. As it relates to social media, we can quickly see that people often post pictures and updates showing the highlights of life - the good moments. From this perspective, social media can be viewed as "fake" because we only see the best side of what's happening in the lives of others. However, this is not always the case. When used properly, social media is a way to connect with others, share experience and document important moments in life. Behind every smiling post is a story. As I scroll through social media and see picture after picture of a...

With Ironman Chattanooga in just two weeks, I was a little nervous about how Karel would manage his effort at the IM 70.3 WC as he is no stranger to giving a hard effort when he races. But I could tell from his attitude, especially after what happened to me on Saturday, that he was not going to take any risks and he was going to give a good effort, without leaving it all out there. Never has Karel raced a half Ironman just two weeks before an Ironman but there's a first for everything.  I set my alarm for 4am and slooooowly, got myself out of bed. Karel went through his normal pre-race routine of coffee (espresso), bathroom, food (for this race it was oatmeal + granola + almond butter + frozen raspberries) and then a short jog outside to help him move everything through his system. Karel also sipped on a scoop of OSMO pre load in water before we left the house. At 5:15am, we headed down to the race venue. Although I was still bummed about not racing on Saturday, I was ...

On Friday morning, I woke up feeling excited that I only had one more sleep until race day. While I loved the idea of having women and men race on separate days, it was a little strange to think that I would not be racing with Karel, on the same day. But at the same time, I was super excited to give my best effort on race day (Saturday) and then get back out there on Sunday to cheer for Karel. The morning started with us driving a few miles downtown so that we could get in a bike and swim workout. As we were driving to the race venue, I felt a little short of breath but I simply contributed it to nerves and my menstrual cycle (day 3). In other words, everything that I felt on Friday felt very normal to me. Once we got on our bikes, I felt much better and the excitement replaced the nerves/anxiety and I was itching to race. After our 70 minute spin on the race course, we followed it up with an open water swim. We heard the water temp had dropped and there was a good chance it would...

Life can be interesting. There are many times in life when we can plan, prepare and perform. Times like these make life easy and fun. And then there are times when life throws you a curve ball and you can't help but think "this sucks." As a lifelong athlete, I have experienced a lot of success in sport but I have also learned many important life skills and lessons. The hardest lessons are often the most valuable ones, as it's never easy to overcome obstacles and to manage a setback. This weekend was filled with highs and lows. As much as I wish I could be writing two race reports from the Ironman 70.3 World Championship, I can only write Karel's race recap and not my own. As you may have heard on social media, on Saturday morning (race day for me), a few minutes after my 4am alarm went off, I blacked out and ended up on the kitchen floor. My face took a good beating and since this has never happened before, it was very scary. I was alone when I got out of bed s...

Back in October, after we returned home from the Ironman World Championship, Karel and I sat down and talked about the 2017 season. With so many races to choose from, the first step on deciding our race schedule was to establish our 2017 season goals. Our races would be our road map and our big season goal would be the final destination. Karel's big goal is still to qualify for the 2018 Ironman World Championship at Ironman Chattanooga. Although he received a slot to IM Kona for this year at Ironman Lake Placid, he let that slot roll down as that was not in his road map for this season. My goal was to qualify for the 2017 Ironman 70.3 World Championship and to peak my fitness for my big race on September 9th, 2017. I planned on qualifying for the 70.3 WC at Ironman 70.3 St. George but I surprised myself when I won my age group (35-39) at Ironman 70.3 Florida back in April and earned my slot to the 70.3 WC. I was delighted to also win my age group at IM 70.3 St. George but even ...