Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

There's two things that go really well together - fall and trail running.  Over the past few years, I've fallen in love with running off road. I really enjoy being in nature, shutting off my mind and feeling myself getting stronger with every run. Although I still run on the road throughout the fall/winter/spring, I try to incorporate trail running into my weekly training routine. We have several great off-road options, from Dupont to Paris Mountain to the cross country trails around Furman University.  On Saturday, Karel and I participated in our first local trail run - the Paris Mountain 16K Trail race. It was a small event but we used it as a great training opportunity. Although we reconned the course last weekend, I missed a turn early in the race and ended up running .6 miles extra. I was upset about this as I wanted to push myself in the race so after I realized my mistake, I found myself needing to pass a lot of people on a technical section that required a lot of walki...

Before we left for Maui on the 29th, I found myself feeling nervous and excited for my third-ever trail run. In the days leading up to the event, I ran on some of the course and experienced several extreme weather changes (from sun to heavy rainfall). Seeing how exhausting it was to jog/walk/hike on the course when it was in great conditions, my worries of the unknown started to build as the trail got wetter and muddier.  The transition from road to trail racing has been a humbling experience for me. I find that I am good at it but not great. My endurance and resiliency has allowed me to experience some success within my age group at my last three events (Oak Mountain Alabama, Ogden Utah and recently in Maui) but I still have a lot of weaknesses when it comes to my skills and abilities. For example, I lose a lot in the downhill sections of trail running. But what I lose in my lack of skills and experience I gain in my love a new challenge.... even when my heart is beating out of my...

I was in rough shape the day after the IM 70.3 World Championship. I was empty and oh-so-sore. It felt like I had just done an Ironman! Karel was sore but not as exhausted as I was.  After a somewhat ok night of sleep, we took our time in the morning and did a little work on the computer. By late morning, we made our way to Snow Canyon for a scenic hike. Karel brought his mountain bike to spin his legs while Ashley, Zach and I walked around for ~2 hours. We met up with our athlete Gin and her mom so it was a fun time exploring the trails. Although there wasn't much for Karel to mountain bike on (only one trail which wasn't too technical), he said it was the perfect way to loosen out after the race. In the evening, Alvi, Karel and I went to our community pool to splash around. Karel swam ~1500 yards, I did a few laps (no swim cap, truly a splash) and then spent a little time relaxing my sore muscles in the hot tub.  On Monday, I was still sore and exhausted but I knew I needed ...

Before I talk about our last workout of the day, let's start with the first workout of the day..... Day two of our mini train-cation started with an outdoor swim....... My happy place. My comfort zone. My favorite sport! After my mental struggles on the bike yesterday, I was so excited to start Tuesday with a 75-minute, 4350 yard swim workout (prescribed by Tower 26 ). I had never done this workout before and really enjoyed it. WU: 500 Pre set: 5 x 200's with snorkel and fins with 20 sec rest as 200 swim 150 swim, 50 kick with board (head down in water stretching arms out while holding the edge of the board) 100 swim, 100  kick 50 swim, 150 kick 200 kick MS: 500 at 70% w/ 1 min rest 2 x 250's at 75% w/ 40 sec rest 4 x 125's at 80% w/ 30 sec rest 7 x 75's at 85% w/ 20 sec rest 25 EZ Post set: 500 smooth with snorkel, buoy, ankle strap 12 x 25's at 95% on 40 sec interval 50 EZ After the swim, we changed and headed to the gym for ...

The fall is an amazing time and we are loving the season change in Greenville. Sadly, we were not able to enjoy this season prior to moving to Greenville as we spent the past 10 years (14 for Karel) in Florida. Sure, it was nice in Jacksonville, FL when the temperatures dropped to 70 degrees and it felt "cool" but there's something special about the crisp fall air and colorful trees to remind you that it's a new season. Seeing that our 2017 triathlon training (foundation building) started a few weeks ago, there's a lot of structured back in our life as it relates to swim, bike, run. We are strength training 3 times per week, we are in the pool 4 times per week, we run 3-4 times per week (no brick runs) and we are biking 2-3 times per week. There's a lot of specificity which means choosing our terrain/environment properly to ensure proper execution. But then there's a nice sprinkle of "free" workouts where there is no focus....