Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

Tomorrow is the 2024 Men's Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. The females showed us great resiliency, strength and courage on/by the mountains of Nice, France and tomorrow the men will battle it out on an island. The heat and humidity in Kona is something that you have to feel to understand. The human body can do incredible things - like race for 140.6 miles - but it thrives within a limited range of body temperatures. Muscle contractions keep the body moving but a substantial amount of energy is converted into heat. As a result, the body generates a large amount of heat which significantly raises the body temperature. To help keep the body temperature somewhat stable and to prevent overheating, the body must dissipate heat through sweating, increased blood flow to the skin and increased respiration. For the body to do what it needs to do to help you maintain a stable core temperature, you have a responsibility to keep your body hydrated. And hydration doesn't m...

After nearly a day of flying, it's a relief to finally get outside and smell the salty, flowery Kona air. There's something indescribable about the feeling of stepping out of the last airplane of the journey, knowing that you have arrived to your final destination - the venue of the Ironman World Championship.   The Ironman World Championship is an incredible spectacle of an event. No matter if you are a participant, volunteer or spectator, it's worth the trip to the big island to experience all that is Ironman Kona. From all of the race week events to the massive expo to swimming in a clear, blue fish tank, the event itself is simply the icing on the cake. For seven years, the Ironman World Championship race week has always made for a memorable and inspiring experience for me.  But let's not beat around the bush. If you are participating in the Ironman World Championship, it can get rather expensive.  According to a  past article , the average income of an Iron...

The triathlete who qualifies for IM Kona will have invested a lot of time, money and energy into the craft of preparing the body and mind for this grueling 140.6 mile event. There are no shortcuts or secret sauces. It's a lot of hard work, sacrifices and investments. It's understandable that many Ironman athletes experience tremendous pressure to perform incredibly well on race day.  Far too many athletes arrive to a race fit, ready and prepared only to underperform compared to performances in training. It's likely that anxiety, fear or stress gets in the way.  Far too many athletes enter race week in panic mode and change the winning formula. Rituals and routines that were once in place to build confidence for race day or quickly replaced with haphazard, last-minute decisions and changes - all due to worry, fear and self-doubt. Sure, the Ironman World Championship is a big spectacle but racing with an outcome focused mindset can paralyze your abilities to have a great perf...

Photo: Bree Wee When I participated in IM Canada back in July, I had three weeks of no running going into the race due to sudden hip/glute/back injury. This is nothing new for me as my body tends to get "twisted". Thankfully, I've been able to manage it well over the years but this season gave me a hard knock in the back - literally. Luckily, I went into IM Canada with great run fitness but unfortunately, I wasn't able to show it as I had to manage the run with a lot of walking, stopping and shuffling. It was actually a big unknown if I was going to be able to complete the marathon portion of the Ironman in Canada as I was not able to make a step forward without pain in my groin/hip. Somehow my body allowed me to run for 26.2 miles - very uncomfortable but not painful. I share this picture above from the exit of the energy lab at the 2019 Ironman World Championship. I don't think the smile left my face for all 26.2 miles. Despite another "slow" Ir...

On Thursday evening, we went to bed a little later than normal due to the athlete briefing which ran from 8-9pm. We managed to get into bed a little after 9:30pm and I was quick to fall asleep. I made sure to stay in bed as long as possible on Friday morning to ensure I woke up as rested as possible - especially knowing that the sleep before any race is usually a bit interrupted and restless due to pre-race thoughts. After my normal pre-workout snack (2 waffles + nut butter + syrup) which I eat before every workout, all year long, I walked to the pier for a short and easy swim in the ocean. It felt good to be out of the condo and exercising. The nerves seemed to build when I was inactive so anytime I was moving around, I felt more at ease. Karel had his normal pre-workout oatmeal mixture before his workout. For my swim, I practiced in my race day one-piece kit (I brought two of them, one for race day and one for training) as I had never worn a one-piece rolled down un...

The energy is building on the island. With more and more triathletes arriving each day, you can feel the excitement building.  Now that Karel has brushed off most of the stiffness from travel, his training called for a 90-minute ride in the AM and an intense swim workout in the PM. I did a longer (and slightly modified) version of his swim workout in the morning. MS: 3x's 300 strong 6 x 50's fast 6 x 25's very fast 300 smooth w/ paddles and snorkel Total swim: 4300 yards I shared a lane with  Helle Frederiksen  which made it easy to step up my game during my faster efforts. A few other stars were in the pool - Lucy Charles, Joe Skipper and Sebastian Kienle. I rode my bike to and from the aquatic center (~4 minutes away) instead of driving. By the way, in case you didn't know, the Kona Aquatic Center is free for anyone to use.  Karel's meal Karel and I got home around the same time and we both enjoyed our post workout meal/breakfast on the patio. I ha...