Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

I've been smiling a bit bigger this week. I can finally run and I'm feeling really good about it. Unfortunantly, I think my position and components on my road bike needs to be fixed so Karel and I will work on that this weekend. My crankset is a bit different than my tri bike and old Blue so Karel is going to swap his Cervelo crankset with mine.....or something like that. Not sure what he does with my bike but I trust him 100%. He is the best mechanic in my opinion and he is a true perfectionist only because he is so passionate about bikes. I think my groin bursitis is not healing as quickly due to the bike so I've been laying low on the cycling this week. Luckily, it is working and I can run!! I'm planning on riding with the guys tomorrow but I think just resting my leg a bit and not riding as much is helping a lot! Anyways, yesterday I thought it couldn't get any better. After a 3,000 yrd easy swim workout I jumped on the treadmill and started walking. After 5 min...

I haven't been on my bike since Sat. but I've been running and swimming to keep myself feeling some kind of burn. I love my road bike but sometimes I get bored riding the same routes all the time. Unfortunantly, I'm not blessed with hills or open roads in the clearwater area. I'd love to get to Georgia, Clermont or Colorado so that I can get some good climbs on my bike. For the people stuck in freezing weather, snow drifts and ice I am sure that my complaining about 70-degree winter weather and no climbs is pretty inconsiderate of me. I know I have talked about my start in triathlons but I wanted to talk about my love for spinning (spin class). When I heard about a triathon which involved swim, bike and run I thought that would be a lot of fun. However, I've never really biked, only for fun. I had almost finished my Junior year of college and was getting burnt-out of competitive swimming. I had so many back problems from swimming 200 butterfly, 200 IM and 100 breast...

Since I usually write about myself on this blog I'd like to feature Karel and his up and down weekend. As I mentioned in the last blog, Karel forgot his key on sat. morning. He headed out for a 3-hour ride and it was one of his hardest workouts this season. 87 min. tempo ride just below threshold. Since he uses his power meter he usually stays in the lower 200's (I think around 230W) for his power. I'm not really sure exactly but I know he always comes home beat up when he has to hold his wattage for almost an hour and a half! Not only that, he has already trained for 4 days, including the weight training that we are doing right now. So I am on Sand Key bridge doing repeaters and around 9:15am I see Karel climbing over the bridge on his way home. I give him a quick smile and a 2-finger wave (the kind where you are holding on to your bars but you can kinda raise 2 fingers for a wave) as I am climbing up. NO talking for me as i am climbing but as I am descending and about to ...

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