Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

"This is so hard!" "I don't feel like myself!" "I don't know if I can survive this!" For many athletes, the taper period before a race can feel harder than any interval workout. You've reached a point in your season when you put in countless hours of training, more miles than you would ever consider driving at one time and have accomplished so many workouts that you termed "impossible" when you started and now, the only thing between you and putting all that training to good use is a week or two of a drop in training volume, less total workouts and more rest.  Yes, now you can clearly see why athletes dread taper.  Your "normal" routine changes....... And we all know that most athletes do not do well with change.   Some athletes feel they may lose fitness during taper whereas other athletes feel "off". It's important to understand that every athlete handles their taper differently - an...

Taper is an interesting time.  Physically, it is needed for endurance events to ensure that the body is rested and well-fueled for the upcoming long haul but the style of tapering may differ depending on fitness ability and prior experience.  However, emotionally and mentally, here is why tapering can be rather difficult. On one end, you long for the first day of taper when you have a sigh of relief that the end of "training" is near but on the other end, a change in schedule, appetite, structure, etc. can make tapering a rather uncomfortable time.  With 8 Ironman and 8 half Ironman distance events behind me, I have not only learned the most appropriate taper for my body but also how to best taper each one of my athletes (although, it's only through a long term athlete/coach relationship that a taper is essentially discovered).  But most of all, I have learned to embrace taper.  It is a beautiful thing.  Many athletes go into taper ...