Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

  Source Quick stats:  Marni: 4:45.14, 1st overall female  Swim: 29:07 T1: 4:15 Bike: 2:25:57 T2: 3:25 Run: 1:42.30 Karel: 4:33.27, 2nd AG (45-49) Swim: 31:47 T1: 3:56 Bike: 2:23.20 T2: 3:14 Run: 1:31.10 Pre Race We drove to Louisville on Thursday morning. Karel and I were able to get in a short 30 minute swim at Furman before we left around 9:30am. On the 9th, Karel started to feel sick after his morning swim. On Saturday, he went for an hour run and came back feeling awful. He tested positive for COVID shortly after. He did nothing on Sunday as he was exhausted, coughing, stuffy and low in energy. He did no exercise on Monday and Tuesday. On Tuesday, I started to feel run down and had to stop my bike trainer workout because I was feeling empty. I ended up with a head cold but thankfully I was able to fight the virus but I was left feeling stuffy. Thankfully, on Wednesday morning I felt a little better so I was able to get in a longish trainer ride and brick run in the m...

With a job title of "triathlon coach", Karel and I have the big responsibility of help our team of athletes, physically prepare for races while keeping them in good health.  Coaching is much more than writing workouts as it requires understanding the athlete as an individual and stepping inside the athlete's life to provide the most appropriate training plan for consistent athletic development.  Karel and I take our coaching job very seriously and part of our job is putting on training camps. We absolutely love the camp experience as a way to interact with athletes in a group training environment.  Seeing that Karel and I are not only coaches but we are also athletes, it's important to stress that we understand exactly what our athletes feel and experience with training and we are very aware of the fact that training for triathlons, in a busy life, is not easy. But, on race day, we are reminded of the why in our triathlon hobby. Race day is what we ...

Although the Lake James 50 race was not a key race for me and Karel, we gave it our best effort as that is what race day is all about. No training session will ever prepare you for all the emotions that you feel on (and before) race day when you want/expect your body to perform and no workout will take you through all the motions of racing as race day is dynamic and you are constantly trying to be proactive to set yourself up for a better next mile, all while trying to delay fatigue. As I mentioned in my last blog, this venue was absolutely beautiful. The challenging bike and run course allowed us to race and to not be tied to any metrics to control or time goals to achieve. Rather than writing about the race, I thought I would document this special double win occasion with a video. And rather than just me giving all the play-by-play details, Karel joined me for a special video blog recap from the Lake James 50. A few extra details that we left out of our recap: PRE RACE...

I heard about the Lake James 50 event (by Set Up Events) from a nutrition athlete of mine (thanks Stephanie!) a few weeks ago. After giving it some thought and talking it over with Karel, I figured it would be a great opportunity for me to get out some nerves before Rev3 Knoxville. It was only 2 weeks ago when Karel mentioned that he was interested in the race too so we thought it would be a fun opportunity for us to both race together on a tough course. And for only $100 as the registration fee, it was hard to turn this race down, even if just for a "tune-up" race. The event featured a 1 mile swim, 40 mile bike and 9 mile run (although it was shortened to 8.4 miles on race day due to logistics of the run course in the state park) which was just long enough to test our endurance fitness before our key races next weekend. Seeing that Karel and I will only be racing together in Ironman Austria this year, I looked forward to the opportunity to race with Karel - as he has...

How do you define winning?  Coming in first or succeeding better than everyone else?  Although there may be a universal definition of winning that often relates to sporting event or competitions, we shouldn't forget that winning can apply to many of life's amazing experiences and challenging events.  It's very easy to find yourself in a place in life and feeling a bit down on yourself. Comparing yourself to others who have it better than you or perhaps feeling as if nothing goes your way or the odds are always against you. And even if you find that glimmer of truth that you are in a good place to succeed, it only takes a quick moment to find yourself doubting the progress you have made.  I have a quote on my refrigerator which I have kept with me over the past decade or so since my parents gave it to me from the local Newspaper. I am surprised it has survived many moves over the past few years but perhaps that is because it is very special to me....