Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

  I feel like a failure.  After tackling some pretty extreme conditions during my first few gravel rides - snow, ice, mud, water - along with completing a 72 mile group gravel ride with a group of fast and skillful guys and then a 104 mile muddy gravel event, I am embarrassed to say that I've now crashed twice on my gravel bike...in the past 8 days. Last Saturday was an unfortunate accident where I hit a deep hole during the Sumter Forest Gravel race and with the impact, my handlebars flipped forward, which caused me to lose control. I was able to "softly" land on my left side with only a small road rash on my hip and knee. However, upon the impact of my chest on the bike frame when hitting the hole, I must have bruised my ribs in my right chest. The road rash healed nicely after a few days but I was still experiencing uncomfortable pain in my chest while swimming. Although I had tenderness in my chest while biking (less while running), working out always made it feel bet...

When I met Karel in 2006, I knew him as a corner hoping, crash dodging, race in the hurt-box type of guy. In other words, I feel in love with a cyclist.  For a little over 6 years, I watched Karel race all over the east coast as a cat 1 cyclist. There were times when he would be on the podium, other times when he would just be happy he hung on to finish the race. There would be times when he missed a break and would have to settle for a sprint in the mid pack and times when he would be stuck behind a crash and his race would be over. No matter how good he felt going into his races, the tactics of cycling can be just as exciting as  they are frustrating.  Karel's transition to triathlons in the summer of 2012 meant that Karel was embarking on a new challenge. Not only with his fitness but also with learning about the sport of triathlons.  Karel brings a very interesting thought-process to the sport of triathlons and he owes a lot of it to his 20...