Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

  1.8 mile SWIM: 56:57 2 nd female Although ICON was only my 2 nd XTRI event, I’ve learned that a lot of preparation is needed going into the event (much more so than a normal Ironman). I checked in for the race on Wednesday (race on Friday). Karel (my support) had to be there with me. We checked in our mandatory T3 bags which had to be left with the staff until race day. Inside, each bag was required to have; headlamp, shirt, pants, gloves, hat, waterproof jacket with hood. On Thursday we attended the mandatory English race briefing at 4pm. We were notified that the swim would be shortened from 2.4 miles to 1.8 miles due the combination of the air and water temperature. I was extremely nervous on Thursday. Karel suggested that we swim at the pool as that is a happy place for me. He was right, I felt so good swimming and it relieved a lot After a 33 minute, ~2200 yard feel good swim at the aquatic center (long course meters), Karel and I went for a short ride to spin the leg...

  8/29 We woke up around 6:45am to somewhat clear skies. We could see the snow on the mountains. It was cold out (upper 30's) but no rain. We were hungry for breakfast around 8am and ordered some eggs along with our "continental" food options. We then layered up for our bike ride. We had been following the Haute Route online (they just finished up the 7-day stage in the Alps which we did last year and heading to the 5-stage Dolomites next). They shorted stage 1 from Bormio to the iconic Stelvio pass due to wet and snowy conditions. Karel was planning to ride up and over Stelvio but he modified his route (but still went to the top of the Stelvio). I rode with Karel to around Tornante (~1 hour, which was mostly climbing). We were in good company as there were some UAE cyclists just ahead of us and a lot of other cyclists. Even with the cold conditions, there were so many people out riding, hiking and walking. I felt really good climbing and was reminded of all the climbing ...

  With a 6:30pm flight out of Atlanta, we were able to get in a workout on Saturday morning (8/26). Karel went for an hour run (7.97 miles) and I did a 90-minute workout on the trainer (MS 6 x 90 sec high cadence w/ 2 min EZ spin. Then 4 x 4 min steady effort w/ 2 min EZ spin). I watched the live broadcast of the 70.3 World Championship while on the trainer. I did a quick 2.4 mile/19 min run off the bike. I felt really good for this brick workout.  We ate, finished up last minute packing, said good-bye to Karel's mom and all our furries and left for the Atlanta International airport around 11:15am.  It's always hard to leave Campy, especially since his dementia is getting worse. He threw up bile twice on Monday and wasn't eating (and was really lethargic) which wasn't like him. He really enjoys his walks throughout the day but something was off. He's also been coughing for over 2 weeks. We had him on a med for it but it wasn't getting any better. I made a vet ap...