Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

Later today, we are boarding a plane to Italy for the Xterra World Championship. It feels a bit strange to fly to Europe when early October has become synonymous with us heading to Kona, Hawaii. While I'm loving all the Kona spam, I'm really excited for something new and out of my comfort zone. Since our race is on the 1st, this means that on October 6th and 8th, we will be glued to our computers to watch the pros compete at the Ironman World Championship, and to cheer on our 8 athletes who are racing.  Nutrition is one of the most commonly blamed reasons for a bad race and it's also the most worrisome factor that athletes try to tightly control.  A lot of learning lessons have occurred after 9 trips to the Big Island for the Ironman World Championship. If you are racing in your first IM Kona or 10th (or somewhere in between), here are a few nutrition tips to keep your body functioning well over 140.6 miles.  Carbo-loading should not be confused with overeating. Effe...

Today would have been the start of the Ironman World Championship race week. If you've ever been to Kona at this time of year, it's an incredibly special and inspiring week. Although Karel and I were not planning to race this year, we had a few Trimarnis on the start list. Although it's sad to know that their IM Kona dreams are now on hold, we know the wait will be worth it and they will get their Ironman Kona experience and a one-of-a-kind finish line feeling.  Around this time in October, I've spent seven of the last 13 years on the big island of Kona, Hawaii. Five of those years as an IM Kona athlete (2007, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2019) and two of those years as a spectator for Karel (2016 and 2018). We have been privileged to call Kona our second home for so many years for at least a week in early October.  In honor of this week being IM Kona "race week" I will share a few of the lessons I've learned as an Ironman World Championship participant (and spectato...

After a surprisingly great night of sleep on Tuesday, we woke up just in time for the sunrise while sitting out on the patio enjoying a pre-workout snack. We wasted no time with our first workout on the island and headed straight to "dig me beach" for a 40-minute open water swim.  Sadly, the water was a bit more cloudy and there weren't a lot of fish. It was also rather warm. However, it still felt amazing to swim in the ocean with the sun shining down on us.  Karel and I swam an easy 40 minutes (~20 minutes out and back). We kept it fairly easy throughout but built the effort on the way back. The focus was just to move blood after travel and to have fun in the ocean.  Even though it's still 10 days out from the 2018 IM World Championship, the swim venue was pretty busy. It was nice to be surrounded with so many triathletes from all different parts of the world. Karel is looking forward to connecting with some of his Czech friends next week.  ...