Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

Last year I interviewed Karel to help me with an article on bike trainers. Over the past 10 years, Karel and I have had the luxury of spending most of our "winter" bike training, riding outside. There were always a few cold days each year when we would bike indoors on our Cycleops Powerbeam Pro but typically we would bundle up to brave the 40-50 degree chilly mornings in Florida (yes, I realize it's all relative!). But now we live in Greenville, SC. We no longer live close to a beach but by the mountains. We now have two trainers (we added a Computrainer to our bike gear family) and we are learning to embrace the cooler fall days which will turn into cold winter days. However,  we aren't complaining as we just love our bike friendly community which is also filled with great hiking trails and beautiful fall colors.  But with the cooler temps does come a shift in the riding environment for triathletes, cyclists and anyone who enjoys riding a bike. So I thought...

  Just a few years ago there was a study that included 1,800 U.S. Women over the age of 50 years. Every individual was asked a series of questions pertaining to the body. Of the participants, 27% were obese, 29% were overweight, 42% were normal weight and 2% were underweight. Here are the results of the study: - 4% binge eat - 8% purge - 70% diet to lose weight - 36% dieted ~50% of the time in last 5 years - 41% check body size daily - 40% weigh themselves at least twice a week - 62% report body weight negatively impacts their life - 79% report body weight affects self-image -64% think about their weight daily (source: Environmental Nutrition Sept 2012, Vol 35, No 9.) We are getting close to the holiday season which often makes individuals (not exclusive to athletes) very vulnerable to their body image due to the drastic shift in food choices associated with holiday food and the realization that another year has gone by. Come the New Year, ...

As athletes, we try to do our very best to be as mentally prepared as possible for race day. Typically we think about how to be strong when our body is aching, how to stay positive when obstacles arise and how to stay tough when the going gets hard.  When it comes to being mentally tough on race day, I am reminded of a quote that reads "When you are 90% done, you are only half way there." As athletes we do a lot of mental training throughout training, on race week and even in the hours before the race start. I often speak about controlling the controllables and not wasting energy on things out of our control and this all comes down to the mental component of being an athlete. We can’t control the weather, but we can control our gear/clothing for race day. We can also control our pacing, attitude and nutrition. We can’t control who shows up on race day, the course, how many volunteers and spectators are out on the course or the exact start time of the race. Although...

Last night, my mom, Karel and I yummed over this meal not only during the meal, but after. It hit the spot.  For a meal that tasted so yummy and looked so colorful, there was not a lot of work needed for this meal.  Green pea lentils - cook according to package and season with herbs/spices of your liking or just a pinch of salt and pepper Mashed cauliflower - steam cut/cleaned cauliflower in large pot until soft. Drain water and mash with fork or potato masher. Season with caraway seeds, a pinch of salt and pepper and garlic to your liking. Avocado and pear salad - Romaine lettuce (chopped), chopped pear, diced avocado, sunflower seeds and artichokes Hard boiled egg or other protein As we enter the holiday season and new year, new habits may be born but more so, old habits will be hard to break. It's likely that you have found yourself at a dietary breaking point once or twice in the year in terms of "enough is enough, this has got to end." So what is i...

Race week is an exciting time. It's a time to reflect on the hard work that allowed you to be physically prepared for race day. Race week is also a time to bottle up energy to use for race day. We always tell our athletes to save their  best performance for race day and race week is no exception. Patience is a virtue. Race week is extremely special because it signifies the end of a journey. There was once a time when you couldn't do the things that you can do now and that's because you had a timeline when you started training and you worked hard to get to where you are now. The deadline has come and you are ready.  You are ready to perform with your healthy, fit and amazing body.  There are many negative thoughts that can fill an athlete's head during training and race week magnifies those thoughts to the extreme. Every thought becomes bigger, scarier and more nerve-wracking. Some athletes do a great job of managing those thoughts whereas other athletes tend ...

Yesterday was our very first trip to Asheville, NC. A 85 minute drive from our home in Greenville, SC and it was one beautiful drive!! The fall colors were amazing and the mountains kept growing as we neared Asheville. We are absolutely in-love with Greenville and feel it is the perfect place for us to live and train but Asheville was a super nice treat. We were invited to join a group ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway and Karel and I were joined by Maggie Rusch, Kelly and Megan Fillnow and a few others. It was lovely to be around such positive energy.  I love nature, riding with fun people, being with Karel on two wheels, climbing mountains, descending and enjoying Mother Earth's beautiful gifts. It was a fantastic 2 hour ride as we also climbed/descended Mt Mitchell. 4100 feet of climbing and lots to love on two wheels.  Here are a few pics for you to enjoy. I wish we could have taken more (Karel was taking lots of pics) but it was a little chilly and super windy ...

Thank you to all the athletes who applied for 2015 Trimarni coaching! We reached our capacity before our deadline and we look forward to the opportunity to work with an amazing group of inspiring, motivating and hard-working age-group triathletes in 2015. If you are interested in applying our coaching methodology to your training, we will be offering our NEW 8-week transition plan in the next few weeks, which features specific strength training exercises that will yield positive results in swim, bike, run fitness. The transition plan will also help you build a strong foundation as you work on form and skills. We will also be offering the transition plan WITH our pre-built running and triathlon training plans. Stay tuned! -------------------------------------------------------- What comes to mind when you think of the word “smart” in relation to an athlete? Perhaps doing this well or perfect or being able to execute or not miss a workout? Well, certainly smart athletes are not ...