Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

Last night was early to bed like usual. As for this morning, I had one of those mornings. I wanted to ride but I just wasn't feeling it. The wind was blowing (not in my favor), the ground was wet and I was alone. I usually ride an hour alone before Gearlink rides and since we were doing bridge repeaters today I wanted a nice spin before those "climbs". I guess I had a lot on my mind cause it was just one of those mornings where I debated about going back home and calling it a morning. I wish I could run cause I really wanted to be outside. I stayed on my bike because of that reason and I'm glad I kept riding. I met the group at 8 and completed all the repeaters at my effort and finished the ride with 50 miles. Karel has a Tough workout today...87 minutes at tempo pace (according to a certain power) with a total of 3 hours on the bike. Actually, he was out for about 4 hours since he forgot his key. Poor thing..he didn't bonk during the ride but he bonked so bad Aft...

Training for a Marathon: When planning your training for a marathon or any road race, use a training plan. Not only are plans designed to help you improve your fitness and help you reach your running goals but the plans keep you scheduled so that quality workouts are not replaced with junk mileage. If you have minimal running experience or you are coming from a background in another athletic sport, give yourself 2 months to build a running base before specifically training for your marathon. During those 2 months, focus on running skills, drills and economy and fall in love with running. Even if you are a vetran in the sport and you are planning on running 1 or more marathons a year, give yourself a chance to enjoy the art of running and exercise for fun without actually training. For newbies, run for time (not distance) for a 4-6 weeks and once you feel comfortable running between 45 min and 75 min, start increasing the speed through intervals and try to cover more distance in that de...

The talk this evening went great. I was so super nervous. I always get nervous before I talk but once I see the crowd and know that I have the chance to help people, I get really excited. I had a big turnout at the American Running Company (great shop!!!) and I just loved the enthusiasm of everyone in the room. This was one of the few talks I have given to only runners, but when it comes to sports nutrition I always have useful tips and advice for all athletes. Tomorrow I will post some of the info that I discussed this evening. I handed out a lot of business cards so I'm hoping that I get the opportunity to help more athletes with their nutrition. I am happy to say that I am jogging now, without pains or weird feelings in my legs! I did 4 miles on the treadmill with the first 30 min. of walking at 6% grade at 3.8 mph. I was reading over my talk for the evening so time just passed by. I was feeling really good on the treadmill so I decided to bump up the speed. Wow baby...6.1 mph a...

NUTRITION TALK TUESDAY DECEMBER 11, 2007!!! Marni Rakes, MS- Exercise Physiology,certified sports nutritionist, and Hawaii Ironman Come out and listen to our local sports nutritionist. She will be speaking on topics such as: Marathon fueling. Running efficiency. Nutrition for all different types of runners/walkers. How to get ready for a workout of different lengths. How to recover properly, to allow you to continue your workouts. DETAILS: FREE Tuesday, December 11, 2007. 6:00pm - 7:00pm Dunedin Store (1689 Main St, Dunedin) Hot Chocolate Served. Bring friends, family and co- workers welcome. http://americanrunningcompany.com/newsletter.html

Last night karel and I went to a holiday party. We met a lot of people and saw many familiar faces. I love socializing and chatting with people and the ring on my left ring finger never gets old as a great conversation starter :) So, many people ask me for advice for holiday party's and how to not overdo it with the food. I simply tell people to enjoy times with friends and family, try to eat small portions, avoid the "bad" stuff and eat a small meal before the party. Apparently I didn't realize how hard it is to not want to try EVERYTHING at a holiday party!!! All that wonderful food and when there is no cooking prep or clean-up, eating is at its best! I will use this blog as a resource for beating the weight gain during the holidays. Mission: Go to a holiday party, eat and socialize and leave without feeling grossly stuffed. My first step for the party (which I knew of in advance) was to eat foods during the day which I assumed I would not be eating in the evening. ...

I thought I knew what was coming today. The smell of coffee woke me up around 5:50am. However, Smudla crying woke karel up around 5:15am. Apparently, Smudla (our cat/alarm clock) needed some attention so she jumped in a tall laundry basket and couldn't get out. Don't feel sorry for her..She is spoiled, always needs attention and well, we love her to death so we have no one to blame but ourselves. Instead of oatmeal I had toast w/ PB and a few walnuts. In addition to my water and coffee, I needed something super easy to digest before today's workout. I said bye to Karel around 6:30am as he head out the door for his 3 hour solo ride. He had 72 min. of threshold work to do at a given power range. Although some days are better than others (he was super tired last night), I am just impressed with his effort and determination on the bike. I headed out for an easy hour warm-up before I met the guys at CVS. I always say "the guys" because Gearlink is mostly made up of mal...

It's no surprise that I love triathlons. During graduate school I wanted to become a strength and conditioning coach. I wanted to work with pro athletes, mostly working with football or basketball players. During my last semester of my masters I took a nutrition class with a free space in my schedule. I absolutely loved the class and since then I knew I wanted to do something with nutrition. I started running more and by then end of my Masters I had completed a marathon without knowing a lot about sports nutrition. After bonking for 5 miles of the Miami marathon in 2005 (miles 18-23) I wanted to learn more about sports nutrition. Since graduating with my masters in exercise physiology I have found a deep passion for sports nutrition. I am currently in the proces of getting classes together in order to go back to school and get my dietetic degree. I know the road will be a semi-long one but the next couple years will be worth it. Once I finish my dietetic courses and do my internshi...