Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

Thursday (2/19) After my morning workout (run followed by a swim), we loaded up the car and my mom, her partner Alan, Sunny, Karel, and me hit the road to Pelham, Alabama. The 6 hour drive was uneventful except for the obligatory crawl through Atlanta traffic. We arrived at our Airbnb around 6:30pm (a two-story townhome around 10 minutes away from the park). With two sleeps before race start, it was nice to not feel rushed before the Saturday race.  Sunny has become a great traveler. He loves road trips and exploring new places with us. I still remember our first trip together in 2024 at Ironman Chattanooga. We had just adopted Sunny and he was so anxious, scared and reactive. He has come so far thanks to his extensive obedience training with Dog Elite Upstate. We love making memories with him.   Dinner was Chipotle (delivered while we unpacked), which has become a ritual. This race-cation tradition started in February 2022 when Karel and I made our very first trip to Oak Moun...

Stage 3 - Circumnavigation of Mt. Guyot 39 miles  6200 feet  4:47  9th AG 40-49  Flat tire 😔 Video Recap HERE Karel went to bed and woke up very tired, sore and exhausted. Shortly after he got out of bed around 6am he said to me "I'm not even half way through the event. I don't know how I'll get through today." I knew the stage would be challenging for him based on Karel's feedback from last time so I gave him lots of words of encouragement. Karel was feeling nauseous and had a hard time eating his oatmeal.  Around 7:10am I drove up the street to drop off Karel's aid station bags. He decided to use two bags today. In aid station #2 bag he had 1 bottle of sport nutrition (INFINIT) and in aid station #3 bag he had another USWE hydration pack (1.5 L) with INFINIT. He started with a USWE hydration pack and had a bottle on his bike with sport nutrition.  A little after 7:30am, I headed out for my ride. My plan was to go to the village of Vail and back and then...

  Stage 5: Wheeler Mountain 25 miles 5300 feet 5.89 mph 4:15 time 21st 40-49 Karel heard the horror stories about Wheeler.  Although his body was extremely tired, he mentally prepared himself for a lot of hike-a-bike up the Wheeler trail. The state was set up as a "time trial" so that the early single track wouldn't get too crowded. Although his mind was in a good place for the uphills, he was not mentally (or physically) prepared for the downhills. He said it was the scariest routes he has ever done and he just wanted to finish. I think his stats tell the most. When it takes over 4 hours to ride 25 miles and when you can accmulate 5300 feet in only 25 miles, you know it's a really tough course. Here's Karel's recap of stage 5.  Since I had completed my big workouts, I was really looking forward to seeing Karel in action today. I left our place around 7am and drove to the trailhead on McCullough Gulch Road. A little after 7:30am, I started my 3 mile, 2300 f...