Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

The alarm woke me (and Karel) up at 5:30am so that I had time to eat a pre-race/event meal (2 waffles + PB, syrup and banana for me) and to warm-up with a cup of coffee. My athlete/good friend Meredith arrived to our house (via car) at 7am and we all drove to the parking area for the Hincapie Gran Fondo, about 20 minutes away. I rode with Meredith to chat about the execution for the "fun" 80-mile bike event while Karel followed in his car. I'm sure you can agree with me when I say that you can't help but get excited when you see other like-minded individuals doing what you love to do. Despite the mid 40-degree temps, there was a big field full of vehicles, all with bike racks and a road lined with cyclists, heading a mile down the road to Hotel Domestique. It was very nostalgic as it reminded me of all of the bike events that I went to with Karel.  After riding our bikes on the hwy for 1 mile (we had the shoulder, which was marked off with cones...

Thank you Erin   for the pic.  As I rolled away from the transition area, I noticed that my power meter was not picking up on my Garmin 810 and all I could see was speed (this season, I haven't worn a HR monitor when I race). This is not the first time that this has happened as sometimes power meters just don't pick up and I have to restart my computer. I made the mistake of trying to get the power to show in the most "technical" part of the course - the first 8-10  miles in town. I should have just waited until I was on the Queen K hwy with no distractions instead of trying 3-4 times to turn it on, wait, turn it off, turn it on, wait, turn it off... Although several athletes were "racing" right from the start, Karel and I both used this first section to find our legs. I tried to avoid the thoughts of "how am I going to feel on the bike" while swimming so instead, I used this first section to wake up my legs. I kept the effort easy a...

I had only one goal for this race on the bike and that was to break 2:40. In 10 half ironman races, I can't recall myself ever riding faster than 2:42 in a half ironman and based on how strong I felt at  Challenge Knoxville , I went into this race with confidence that I could achieve a PR bike. All I wanted to see was a 3 behind 2 hours and I would be happy.  Aside from my first three half ironman races (at Disney), the majority of my races have been very low-key events. Rather than racing with 2000+ athletes, the typical athlete count is around 500 or less.  Because of the low number of athletes on the course, this always provides a very fair race yet also an very individually paced race (with minimal drafting).  With most of my rides averaging around 16.5-17 mph in Greenville, I went into this race with excitement to see what my body could do on flatter terrain. Karel has worked really hard to help me learn how to "chase" athletes but still sta...

I think we can all agree that it takes a great amount of fitness to ride a bike for 112 miles. It doesn’t matter if you are riding 15mph or 25 mph because it takes a great effort to power your body for 4+ hours in order to turn two wheels, continuously, to move your body and machine in a forward motion. Throw in wind, heat, rain, rolling hills, descends, bumpy roads, potholes, etc. and it takes more than good fitness to ride smart (with a fit body) for 112 miles. But the Ironman is more than being fit enough to ride your bike 112 miles. The Ironman is not a bike race (if you don’t believe me, ask Karel). In bike racing, your primary focus is on the other riders and staying with them. There is nothing "individual" with a bike race for if you are not with the leaders or the pelton, well you are not in the bike race and unlike triathlons, there are no finisher medals in bike racing. A triathlon, unlike bike racing, is all about an individual effort. If you forge...