Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

In today’s culture, we are bombarded with artificially-produced, highly edited imagines of flawlessly sculpted bodies. As a result, achieving the “perfect” body has become the dominant measure of self-worth. Thinness has become a symbol of power, moral superiority, and even a measure of fitness/wellness. We have been taught that we can assume someone’s health status based on how they look or their weight. Weight stigma and anti-fat biases continue to strengthen these harmful beliefs. For example, how many times have you praised a friend or family member for losing weight? Are you more likely to follow health, diet and fitness advice from a fitness influencer who is lean or defined than one who may not have an “ideal” body? Has a doctor ever told you that losing weight will improve your health? Society has very strong views on how we should look, which impacts our thoughts about ourselves, which can then influence our food and exercise behaviors. Poor body image is often linked to dieti...

It's always a special opportunity for me to share my words in a podcast interview. Of course, a great podcast interview requires a great host and I was in great company for my two podcast interviews over the past two weeks. Enjoy! I COULD NEVER DO THAT - Carrie Sapp Barrett Marni Sumbal prides herself on dreaming big and working hard. It's evident in her work as a Board Certified Sport Dietitian with a Master of Science in Exercise Physiology in Greenville, South Carolina, where she also runs a successful multisport and nutrition coaching practice.  It's also displayed daily in her athletic endeavors as a 14x IRONMAN finisher and 6x World Championship Qualifier. Today, she discusses the fruits of her latest dream come true - her new book called  Essential Sports Nutrition - A Guide to Optimal Performance for Every Active Person. Essential Sports Nutrition  is the new authoritative reference to eat right for an active lifestyle. Sports nutrition is a vit...

Thank you  Real Food For Real Life  for the podcast interview! Scott reached out to me for a podcast interview in late August and a few days after Ironman Chattanooga, our schedules aligned for us to have our podcast interview. I really enjoyed this interview as we kept the focus mostly on nutrition, specific to how to eat and fuel to maximize performance for athletic events, while keeping the body in good health. We discussed the following in the interview: Details on my recovery post Ironman Chattanooga What I eat after an Ironman to help with recovery Keeping your immune system healthy after an extreme endurance event Importance of fueling/hydrating properly during training/racing How my education/knowledge as a sport dietitian has helped me create success as an endurance athlete Why athletes need to create a healthy relationship with food and stop the off-limit food lists Pre-race and race day nutrition issues and tips Sport nutrition product suggestions...

"That setback was just what I wanted"....said no one ever.  Setbacks are no fun. They are frustrating, distracting and depressing. Life is messy, with no shortage of obstacles to overcome. As an athlete, I recognize that setbacks are bound to happen. While some setbacks, like a cancelled race, an injury or sickness are frustrating, there are much more serious risks in life. Setbacks often put life into perspective and make you feel grateful for the great/good days.  Knowing that setbacks happen to everyone, we must not view them as failures.  Setbacks provide us with a powerful opportunity to persevere in times of defeat. Often times, we gain a new outlook on life. Over this season, Karel and I have had a lot of athletic success. I feel like we are reaching our prime years of endurance triathlon racing as we feel incredibly strong, resilient, healthy and confident with our athletic abilities. Plus, we are having a lot of fun training and racing. Although our tr...

A few months ago, I received an email from Vanessa who produces a weekly podcast, Trail Angels for an organization called The Project Athena Foundation. Before emailing back, I went to the  website  and immediately I responded - YES, I would love to be on your podcast. I just love connecting with athletes, especially female athletes. It's always a great honor to provide nutrition and training advice in an effort to be of help in the journey of another athlete. And ever since my dad passed away from cancer (May 2014), I have become even more passionate about inspiring other athletes and fitness enthusiasts to pursue athletic dreams and goals and to never ever waste a day of life. For a little more information about this amazing foundation: The Project Athena Foundation is a 501c3 non-profit foundation dedicated to helping women survivors of medical or other traumatic setbacks achieve their adventurous dreams. At Project Athena, we provide travel expenses, coaching, equ...

As I mentioned in a previous blog post , Karel had his mind set on a top performance at Ironman Lake Placid. Sadly, a bad sickness (flu) knocked him off his routine and also compromised his recovery after a big peak week of training, just 2 weeks before the race. There was a lot of doubt and uncertainty during the sickness but with exceptional mental toughness and good race day management, Karel was able to put together a podium-finish race that required a lot of tools and tricks to help him get to the finish line. Although Karel had no control over the longevity of the sickness, he had control over his mind and that is what helped he achieve greatness on race day.                                            In a recent Intelligent Racer podcast interview, Karel and Adam have a very insightful conversation on how to mentally manage the Ironman race and how to overcome di...

A few months ago, I was interviewed by Brad Brown with The Kona Edge podcast. Over the past 11 years, I have had a lot of successes in the sport of triathlon and well, many great learning lessons. Brad gave me the opportunity to share some of the mistakes I've made over the years and to profile some of the highlights in my endurance triathlon journey. If you missed the first podcast, you can listen HERE.  But we didn't stop there! You can now listen to four more podcasts where I talk more specifically about nutrition, swimming, biking and running. Enjoy! Nutrition Podcast Swimming Podcast Cycling Podcast Running Podcast

For the first time ever, I am so thrilled to announce that Karel and I recently had our first interview together. We talk about our athletic backgrounds, our favorite race courses, a bit about our coaching and nutrition business and our best advice for athletes when wanting to experience improvements and excel on race day. As the public speaker of our house, I'm usually the one speaking in front of others on behalf of Trimarni. When I was asked by Adam, who is a Trimarni athlete and host of  Intelligent Racer Podcast , to be interviewed for this podcast, I knew that Karel needed to be part of this podcast with me as he has so much life, career and athletic experience to offer athletes. For those who know Karel, he is a great sarcastic/funny side to him but he is always upfront, honest, truthful and to the point with his advice. Plus, he is my business partner, training partner and life partner so it was only natural that he would join me on this podcast. We met 11 years ago ...

In mid October, I dedicated a blog post to recapping our 2016 season of triathlon racing.  If you missed it, you can read about it here:  2016 season recap.  Looking back, 2016 was a very successful season for me and Karel.    I fulfilled a long time goal of placing on the podium at an international Ironman, where I finished 2nd AG and 4th female amateur (10th overall female) at Ironman Austria. It was also my highest ever overall placing in an Ironman since winning the 18-24 AG at IMFL in 2006 (my first Ironman). Only this time, 11 Ironmans later, I finished 54 minutes faster than at my first Ironman (10:06 at IM Austria vs. 11:00 at IMFL).  I placed overall female at the  Lake James 50  triathlon.  Eight days later, I was leading the race by several minutes with 1 mile to go, at  Rev3 Knox,  until a pink arrow lead me and several others off the bike portion of the race course. Due to a 6+ mile de...

As I have mentioned several times, I just love the Ironman journey. This time around, sharing it with Karel has been extra special for we have both been able to see progress within each other and that is really neat to see. Karel continues to push me on the bike and in return I get the reply "great job, babe" as I smile every-so kindly to thank him for the suffering. But on the flip side, Karel has really worked hard on his swimming and I can't believe he just started swimming 1 year ago!! I have really enjoyed helping Karel learn to swim and to be there to witness his major swimming breakthroughs. Karel started very slow, working on form for he knew he had a year to train for the IM and there was no need to rush speed when form is the most important part of swimming efficiently.  The issue for many triathletes who struggle with swimming is the exhaustion that comes from swimming. No matter how fast or slow in the water, how long or short, it is just exhausting and i...

How can exercise and nutrition help improve your strength, increase your energy levels, improve your health and help you meet your fitness goals?  Whether you're a runner, swimmer, biker or a fitness enthusiast who is new to exercise, it's time to join me for an Iron Girl event, welcoming women from all fitness levels. The only requirement is that you are passionate about living an active and healthy lifestyle. Learn how to start living a more balanced lifestyle where food tastes good, fad diets don't exist and crossing finish lines is the reward of healthy living choices. Strong is now the New Skinny! Let's learn how to be healthy in our active lifestyle. Marni Sumbal, owner of Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition, LLC  will talk to us about her perspective on the importance of developing a healthy relationship with food and your body in order to reach personal health, fitness and body composition goals.  Join Kelley C...