Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

  We are approaching our last key events in our 2023 season. I will be participating in XTRI ICON on September 1st and Karel will be participating in Breck Epic on August 13th - 18th. These events will test us mentally and physically and we are excited (and nervous) for the unknown. If you'd like to learn a bit more about these events, I'll share some info about the events. You can also follow me on social media (Instagram and Facebook) as I will be sharing updates from Karel's race (and then Karel will share updates from my race).  KAREL: Breck Epic - Breckendridge, CO ~220-240 miles ~40,000 feet of vertical gain All stages start at ~9,600 feet Stage 1: Pennsylvania Creek, August 13th 35.7 miles, 5700 feet Stage 2: The Colorado Trail, August 14th: 42.5 miles, 6565 feet Stage 3: The Guyot Loop, August 15th: 40.5 miles, 7100 feet (crossing the Continental Divide twice) Stage 4: The Keystone Loop, August 16th: 42.3 miles, 6473 feet Stage 5: The Wheeler Loop, August 17th: 24....

  Oak Mountain Alabama is a special place as it was the location of Karel’s first off-road triathlon in 2021. We actually drove to the race without his mountain bike as he bought a new bike online on race week and we picked it up in Birmingham, two days before the race. Karel had so much fun racing a triathlon off road. Karel’s excitement initiated my mountain biking journey (on Karel’s old mountain bike, until I got my own in 2022), which has been humbling and fun. Although we were very excited to participate in Xterra Oak Mountain, we were sad that we wouldn’t be able to race IM 70.3 Chattanooga. However, since Chatty was a team race for our athletes, we would still be able to spectate the day after our event. The days leading up to our Xterra event were a bit stressful. Campy wasn’t feeling so great, the night before we were supposed to leave, a tube got disconnected from our 70-gallon fish tank as Karel was doing a partial water change and it caused water to leak from upsta...

  We had a really great night of sleep. There was something special about this race course that had us both really excited to race. With this being only my third Xterra event (previously Xterra Czech in August and Xterra World Championship in Molveno in October), I continue to feel a little nervous about the start of the bike and I worry about holding up other riders behind me on single track. But I'm learning to just focus on my own race. The biggest confidence booster was knowing that we had ridden the entire bike course and I was able to safely get through everything. It was not overly hilly (~2000 feet) and it flowed really well. There was a legit rock garden and several fun obstacles to go over. The race director gave the option for those who didn't feel comfortable in the rock garden could go the "chicken" route which was around 4K longer.  After we ate our pre-race meal, we double checked our gear, loaded the car and left our Airbnb around 6:15am and arrived to...

Feeling a bit more rested on day 3, we started the morning with an open water swim. I thought we were swimming in the Indian ocean (which would be a first for us) but it was the Atlantic. Still, the furthest south I've ever swam in the ocean. Prior to our trip to SA, I emailed a lady that I found online who was in charge of the local masters group. She connected me with the Gordon Bay Sea Swim group on WhatsApp so that I could stay up to date with all the local swims. An older gentleman (Gordon – appropriately named 😊) said he would meet me and Karel for a swim, along with Harold – the local legend who has completed over 100 English Channel and Robin Crossing swims. The water was a little cool (upper 60’s) but with the warm sun at 8:30am, it felt prefect in our Roka wetsuits. We swam to and back from the old harbor which was ~1000 meters away. When we got there, we could stand on the sand (low tide) and regroup. Gordon was very helpful in that he would tell us where to swim as it ...

We woke up to the new sights and smells of South Africa. Our Airbnb was in the perfect location in Gordon’s Bay – just a few blocks (~10 min walk) to the beach and three blocks from the grocery store (SPAR). We could see the ocean from the owners balcony (which we could use). The owners of the Airbnb live on the top floor and we had the entire bottom floor (three bedrooms and three bathrooms + kitchen, family room, outside patio and a place to park our rental car (I used Hertz – Rav4 SUV) inside their gated house. The owners of the house (Hester and Thys) were extremely welcoming and provided us with lots of recommendations and advice before our arrival. After catching up on a few emails, we walked a few blocks to the Spar grocery store. picked up a few items at Woolsworth as well (kinda like a Fresh Market for those in the states). It was a bit easier to shop for food compared to Europe as everything was in English so we had fun collecting familiar and different foods to add to our gr...