Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

Pre-race While the alarm was early at 3:45am, the recent time change made it only feel like 4:45am. Karel was quick to get out of bed for his morning espresso, followed by his typical pre-race/workout bowl of oatmeal. He ate standing to help with digestion and shortly after, he went for a quick jog around the neighborhood to get his digestive tract flowing even more. After getting all of his gear organized, it was time to drive to the race venue around 4:50am. It was a quick 2 mile drive from the Southern Dunes property to the Lake Eva community center/park (race venue). I drove Karel (and our other coach Joe) and dropped them off near the transition area. Campy and I then drove around to find parking. Thankfully, Haines City does a great job opening almost every parking lot available for their triathlon races. After parking in the lot of a pharmacy on 5 th street, Campy and I walked to the transition area to wait for Karel after he pumped up his tires. The weather was perfect ...

Every athlete is in pursuit for that perfect race. We'd all like to believe that if you keep racing, it’s bound to occur. But what if that perfect race never happens? Does this mean that all past races are failures? More so, what really defines the “perfect” race.....Is it a time, a place or a feeling? After 13 Ironman races, five Kona qualifications, several podiums, an Ironman PR of 10:06 and an amateur female win at 2017 Ironman Chattanooga, I'm incredibly grateful to my body for what it's accomplished over the past 12 years of endurance triathlon racing. But even with all those accomplishments, I have yet to have that race where I felt like it was perfect. In reflecting on my performance at Ironman Wisconsin, I feel that IMWI was a perfect race. For me, Ironman Wisconsin was the perfect race for a few reasons. Going into the race, I was full of emotions. Two weeks out, I felt so exhausted and tired. I felt flat during all my training sessions and my efforts f...

Karel and I waited for Thomas, our next athlete (of 14) to finish the race before we headed back to the parking garage to change out of our sweaty, sport drink covered, wet kits. I was moving very slow after the race and like usual, my body was not yet interested in solid food. I didn't feel dehydrated at the finish (no GI issues, nausea or anything abnormal) but I did take a few sips of water at the finish line to wash out my mouth. I went into the food tent and since the food selection was unappetizing to me at that time, I ate a few orange slices and grabbed a coke to give me some sugar and calories before heading over to bag/gear check-out. I know my body well (and Karel's body) and after an endurance event, it's amazing how quick the blood sugar can drop so sipping on some sugar (or having something with quick digesting carbs) is always good prevention to a possible post-race low energy moment. Anticipating what was coming next, my body started to tighten up and i...

The day before travel is always stressful. Packing, cleaning, finishing up work to-do's and of course, getting our furry crew together for a 1-mile trip down the road to "Grandma's". After a busy Monday, it was finally time for our trip to Kona on September 27th. Flying out of our local airport (Greenville/Spartanburg) makes for a smooth start to traveling. The airport is small, which means we can get through parking, check-in, security and then to our gate in less than 30 minutes (if that long!) but everyone is super nice. It is a pleasant flying experience!  With a 14-hour travel day ahead (divided into 3 flights - Greenville to Atlanta to Honolulu to Kona) I made sure to stay hydrated with a water bottle that I continually kept filled throughout our entire travel.  Karel and I both sported our new Trimarni Kona crew t-shirts, which made for a lot of friendly conversations throughout our travel....." You do all of that in one day????" I made sure...