Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

Watch any major endurance event today - a marathon, an Ironman, a cycling grand tour, a gravel race, an ultra run - and you’ll notice something has changed. The athletes at the front aren’t just fitter. They’re fueling and hydrating smarter. For a long time, race day nutrition was treated like an afterthought. If you were fit, you could be competitive with a haphazard fueling plan. But that strategy doesn't work any more because everyone arrives fit and prepared.  These days, those who perform at the top approach fueling with the same intention as their training: structured, tested, and personalized. As a sport dietitian, I am loving this because athletes are finally recognizing the value of personalized fueling and hydration (and we have dozens of sport nutrition companies who are making it easier for athletes to fuel and hydrate).  Dialing in what to eat, when to eat, and how to hydrate must become part of the training process. Every long run, every ride, every brick run, ev...

How I Fueled 440 Miles, 48,000 Feet of Climbing & 8 Consecutive Race Days The Absa Cape Epic is not the race where you wing-it with haphazard fueling plan. Eight stages across the Western Cape of South Africa (440 miles, 48,077 feet of climbing, and nearly 40 hours of racing) required a fueling strategy that was tested and practical. As a sport dietitian and endurance athlete, I take the application of sport nutrition seriously. What I put in my body before, during, and after every stage is not guesswork. It is research, practice, and intentional across months of training. This post breaks down every product we used at Cape Epic, the science supporting each choice, and the practical reasoning behind our strategy. Most of our products were sourced through The Feed, which made the logistics of packing for a 2.5 week trip to South Africa very manageable. The ability to search by carbohydrate content, sodium level, product type, and price is something I rely on for events like this. A...

Hydration drinks, energy drinks, energy gels. With so many different products on the market, it's important to know how they compare (and differ) in their respective functions.  For endurance athletes, it's in your primary interest to maintain a state of hydration (fluids and sodium) while consuming adequate fuel (carbs) to optimize health and performance in training and on race day. Therefore, it's important to understand that not all sport nutrition products are created equal.  By understanding the formulation and application of sport nutrition products, you can select your sport nutrition products more effectively, knowing that the product(s) you are using are being quickly digested and absorbed.  Otherwise, there's a good chance that what you are consuming is sitting around in the gut, potentially causing GI issues, dehydration or bonking (and a waste of money).

  Although we have a tremendous amount of research on sport nutrition strategies to optimize performance in runners, there's very little research on long distance triathlon.  It's impossible to isolate one variable in a triathlon-focused experiment. For example, with so many different environmental, physical, mental, terrain, pacing, fitness and physiological factors contributing to performance in a 70.3 or 140.6 mile event, it's impossible for research to create specific sport nutrition guidelines for swimming, biking and running when there are so many unpredictable and uncontrollable variables. We must recognize that running off the bike for 13 or 26 miles in a half or full distance triathlon (respectively) is very different than running a stand alone half marathon or marathon. For example, a stand alone endurance runner will start the race is cool or cold conditions, first thing in the morning with a body that is glycogen loaded and well-hydrated. Marathon races are oft...

It's been 18 years since my first Ironman. Eight days ago I completed my 20th Ironman (23rd long distance triathlon) in Chattanooga and it was my best-ever Ironman day in terms of speed and power on the bike and pace on the run. At the age of 42 years, I feel incredibly strong and healthy. I contribute much of my continued success in long distance triathlon to the understanding and application of sport nutrition and nutrient timing. Although there have been several significant advancements in the science of sport nutrition over the past few years which have contributed to faster race performances, I've kept three things the same with my training and race day fueling....... ⚡KEEP IT SIMPLE - my fueling and hydrating strategy is simple (and easy to tweak depending on the weather/distance). It's not complicated, it requires little thinking, it's easy to digest/absorb and I can stick to my strategy on any terrain or in any weather conditions. ⚡LESS IS BEST - more nutrition...

Your body is going to perform differently when it's 60 degrees outside than when it is 90 degrees. Although exercising in hot weather requires extra planning and caution to avoid health risks, it is possible to improve performance, enjoy your training sessions and not feel completely drained when training in the heat. There's a good chance that you are not making good decisions when training in the heat and as a result, your performance and health is being compromised. Running without a hydration belt, not planning stops accordingly on the bike, showing up to workouts dehydrated, not fueling properly (or eating enough) and not rehydrating properly after workouts will negatively impact your body's thermoregulatory process. The human body is remarkable when it comes to exericising heat, so long as you take the necessary steps to acclimate gradually, pace yourself and look for opportunities to minimize dehydration and cool the skin.

  Every endurance (and ultra distance) athlete wants to show up to an event/race feeling physically prepared. But what about being nutritionally prepared?  A long distance event places a lot of stress on the human body. Extreme environmental conditions further exacerbate the physiological (and mental) demands during physical activity. While physical preparation can improve the chance of completing the event or setting a personal best time, gastrointestinal issues are likely to cause the body to underperform. Or even worse, you may not be able to complete the event due to a nutritional complication.  Research states that around 30-70% of endurance and ultra endurance athletes experiences GI issues on race day. In other words, at an Ironman triathlon of 1500 athletes, around 1050 athletes will experience some type of GI issue. This is a very alarming statistic considering how money, time and effort go into preparing for an endurance event.  I've worked with many athlet...