Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

DTWM - It's ok to be ok There’s no denying that life during this pandemic has been distressing. Everyone is feeling an emotional burden and each of us are having a different pandemic experience. At the devastating end of the spectrum are the tragic losses: loss of life, loss of loved ones, loss of job and loss of mental and physical health. There's also the loss of normal rituals and routines. We lost the predictability that we often took for granted. This is a frustrating time of uncertainty. Acknowledging the reality of our unpredictable situation, we must not demand that all circumstances should be favorable in order to be happy. There are plenty of reasons to struggle with our "new normal" but there are always bright spots in dark times. While it's "ok not to be ok," it's also "ok to be ok.” See the good. Be grateful. Celebrate. Spreading joy during sad times doesn't make you a bad person. The ability to feel multiple emotions is the res...

Resilience and mental toughness come to mind when summarizing this past weekend of training. Here's the run down: Saturday: Bike: 4:05 ride (70 miles) with 5700 feet elevation gain and one tough 4.5 mile (35 minute) climb up Sassafras mountain. Prior to that climb, we did a hard effort up to Rocky Bottoms - around 4 miles of climbing. Run off the bike: 2 x 15-20 min smooth effort running with 6 x 30 sec of hill bounding (with 45 sec rest) in between the intervals (total: 48 minutes, 5.64 miles, 407 elevation gain PM run: Smooth running for 43 minutes, 4.94 miles, 276 elevation gain) Sunday:  AM Run: Smooth endurance on rolling hills for 1:45, 12.7 miles, 617 elevation gain PM group swim: 1 hour/2800 yards Prior to this weekend, I had a solid week of training - a lot of frequency workouts. As the week went on, I was carrying around a lot more fatigue and working through a bit more niggles than normal but that's all to be expected at this point in my training block. Strengt...

Do you call yourself a hard working athlete? If you answered yes, YAY! You are already on your way to reaching your athletic goals this season! But now you need to answer an even more important question - are you a patient athlete? If you find that your hard work isn't paying off quick enough, you may loose motivation to train because of the long journey ahead of you with a race so far in the future, especially when faced with an obstacle or setback. Or, your high motivation to work hard may cause you to want to work even harder in order to speed the rate of improvement (especially if you are crunched for time with a rapidly approaching race) - Rest days become a waste of time, you give an effort harder than planned, sleep and diet are pushed aside in order to train more and you rush each workout in order to see faster results. While you may be a hard working, motivated athlete, hard work only works if you are patient enough to embrace the slow and steady path ahead of you. Far t...

A few days ago, Karel and I registered for the 2018 Ironman Austria. If you didn't know, this is my absolute favorite course because I love everything about this race. The mountain views, the silky smooth pavement on the bike course, the crowd support and the overall race atmosphere. This will be our 3rd time racing at Ironman Austria and I have a few big goals that I hope to achieve at this race which will be years in the making. With a two year intentional break from Ironman racing, I can't wait to complete my 12th Ironman in Austria next July 1st. To be honest, it has been incredibly difficult to resist the urge from signing up for an Ironman over the past year. Even now, I am itching to race a 140.6 mile event and there were a few times that I debated to sign up for IM Lake Placid and race with Karel. BUT, I have remained patient as my intention for taking a break from Ironman racing was to fully develop my skills, resilience and fitness so that when I return ba...

I knew it was going to be a tough weekend, mentally and physically.  But through our "train smart" plan, I knew that the timing was right and that I was ready for this weekend's workouts (after a challenging week of training).  I had worked really hard for several weeks in order to execute this weekend. With our "train smart" approach to training, one of the most important characteristics that is required is patience. With a masters degree in exercise physiology, I feel I have a good understanding of how to develop a practical and effective training plan. However, with so many variables to consider with training - intensity, frequency, duration, recovery - the athlete that wants to succeed must be patient with a well-formulated plan.  This is also true for any individual who works hard for results.  Karel and myself, along with our athletes, love to work hard. We are all very disciplined, we manage our time well to keep life balanced as age group...

Do you want the perfect life?  Life is not perfect. Healthy individuals get cancer, cyclists are an annoyance to drivers, employees who work less get paid more than you and when everything seems to be running smoothly, life happens and you feel unbalanced.  So what you can desire in life, is the ability to want the most out of your life. You can define your own definition of the perfect life by one that is consistent and involves a lot of hard work, growth and reflection.  Today I officially registered for the 2013 Ironman World Championship  in Kona Hawaii. This will be my 3rd experience on the big island, racing amongst the best (and most inspiring) age group and professional triathletes in the world. I will be arriving October 7th and departing October 15th. All the logistics of traveling are settled and all I have left to do is prepare my body and mind for my 7th Ironman. Nine weeks of another Ironman journey. Thank you body. One of my favori...

First Triathlon  2003 Ironman Wisconsin 2010 Ironman World Championship 2011 Are you a goal setter? Do you keep your eye on the prize day in and day out? My life functions the best with goals. I wake up excited to see what the day may bring and I go to bed, anxious for another opportunity tomorrow. I would assume that if you read this blog, you are motivated and passionate about health and fitness and I hope that you are spreading your wonderful energy to your friends and family in order to inspire others to live a more balanced active and healthy lifestyle. In the case of making progress as an athlete - such as building endurance, speed, confidence, mental toughness and skills, it takes a lot of work and much like studying for an exam, you can't cram for a race in 1 week and expect great results. You may be able to fake your performance (unlikely in longer distance races) but the body is not going to retain much after the race. You have to be patient and not alway...