Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

Friday was a busy day. Before I knew it 6:15am came and I was out for a morning 40 mile ride with 3 intense interval sets (4 x 2 min. w/ 1:30 recovery) and a 4 mile run. Afterwards, the smoothie was made and I was out the door for a one-on-one session of personal training at 11am. I barely saw Karel in the morning as we quickly crossed paths as I was transitioning for my run. After the personal training session I was back home for a quick lunch and out again for some errands. As usual I made a great dinner for Karel and I (I think I have mentioned that I love friday nights since Karel and I can spend time together). Salad, sweet potatoes and cuscous w/ mushrooms and green peppers. Yumm! I always keep cut-up veggies in the fridge so putting together a meal is usually pretty easy and quick....since Karel and I usually want a quick and easy meal after p.m. training. Oh, Karel prepared chicken for himself. I try making meat-meals for him at times but I get worried before he tastes the foo...

Something I've neglected to do on this blog is talk about my fabulous sponsors! Zoot and Hammer are amazing! The clothing by Zoot is the only clothing that I will wear during training and racing because it is so comfortable. The best part about the cycling/running shorts are the well-thought of pockets on the sides. Makes for quick gel access during a run with the pockets at your hips! As far as Hammer Nutrition, there is no better nutrition company than Hammer. They really understand what athletes need during training/racing conditions. The science and research behind Hammer is top-notch and coming from an Exercise Physiology and sports nutrition background I believe they couldn't do any better in making endurance products! If anyone is intereseted in purchasing Zoot clothing, enter the promo code august07 when you are finished ordering. Also, if you are purchasing Hammer Nutrition products, mention my name or code 97495 for a 10% discount on any Hammer product. Besides nutri...

As my journey to the Ironman World Championship continues I get more nervous and excited. I've had a lot of great advice from people and the best suggestion is to just take the course for what it is. I've done the work on the bike and I will continue to get stronger and faster in the next couple of weeks before my taper. Hopefully everything will come together and I will peak just in time for race day! Tonight was pretty excited. After a morning of swimming 3400 (thanks Matt for the 10 x 100 IM pull set!!!), 7.2 miles on the treadmill for my interval workout and a hot 30 mile spin in the afternoon I am spending my evening reading (and re-reading) the Ironman Athlete Guide!!! http://www.ironman.com/assets/files/races/worldchampionship/pdf/2007cig.pdf Now everything is getting real. The only thing left is to get my aero helmet and get my race number! Karel is really helping me out and getting Seduza race-ready. New tires, new tubes and lots of maintenance needs to keep her in goo...

Saturday night Karel and I joined some of the Gearlinkers for dinner at the Thirsty Marlin in Palm Harbor. Good music, food, drinks (for them, water for me) and company made for a great evening but with all the fun comes a late night. Karel and I had a big day of training planned for Sunday so we were anxious to get to bed and get the day started. My morning started around 5:15am when I prepared the coffee and oatmeal. I got Seduza ready w/ extra CO2's and I got my nutrition ready. As I was getting myself ready, Karel and I went over our plan for the day. He was going to San Antonio for his group ride at 8am which normally ends around 11am. But because he wanted to get in extra miles for the day he drove to San Antonio and he was going to ride home to Clearwater after his ride. As for me, I was going to ride to San Antonio on my bike and finish my workout in San Antonio w/ a run (shoes were in his car). The plan worked out great even though Karel and I never saw each other in San A...

Good thing I just got my Starbucks tall carmel frapachino light or else I'd be fast asleep right now. Yesterday I rode with Karel as he was spinning his legs for an easy hour on the bike. I was going to do an hour with him and continue for a 2 hour ride but what a bummer, I got a flat. I'm always thankful when Karel is there cause he is changes flat tires faster than it takes me to pump up my tires! I was totally bummed about my tire because this was the 3rd flat I have gotten in 3 days of riding Seduza. Karel even put new tires and tubes on my bike but with bad luck following me I have had several opportunities to practice changing flats. I was so bothered by the flat tire that I decided to head home with Karel and go for a nice run. A longer run than I had planned but I was listening to my music and the time was passing by. I ended up with 10 miles of running and I was happy with my pace. I got a haircut on Friday and I must feel a lb. lighter and less hot because of my short...

Last week was big and I anticipate that I have bigger weeks to come. With around 8000 meters of swimming, 287 miles of cycling and 46 miles of running I deserved my day off on monday. Tuesday, wed and thursday were normally training days and I have been searching the web for as much information on the Ironman World Championships. Whereas I didn't let myself google competitors, look at course maps (in detail) and check out anything Kona-Ironman related, I am now devouring myself in everything Kona-Ironman related. I can tell I'm getting stronger and everything is coming together nicely. I don't just want to go to Kona and participate, I want to race. I want to give it my all and leave everything out on the big Island. I have the 70.3 clearwater world championships to have fun and participate but there is nothing "fun" about Kona. I am going there and staying focused when I am there. OK-so I am sure I will have a blast talking to people, taking a billion pictures an...

For me..I'd rather ride 100 miles and that is what I did on sunday. As part of my Kona training last year, 100 miles was my biggest training ride and I did it 4 times prior to IMFL. Now I am 8 weeks away from the World Championships and I have been feeling a little unprepared for the long workouts. Mostly because my long rides have been around 60 miles with the Gearlink guys. So, although I have been pushing myself for 40 mile workouts and tough interval training sessions I had no idea how I would feel for 100 or more miles at my own pace (whatever that may be). The goal of Sunday's workout was to practice my nutrition (fluids, gels and bars) and to stay within 120-130 HR zone. Last summer I could barely get my HR up to 120 without feeling the burn due to my inexperience on the bike and a tendency to create lactic at a low percentage of my max heart rate. My HR is much lower on the bike than for running but that is expected. When I started my ride I could barely get above 17 mp...