Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

In two days, I will be racing my 9th half ironman distance triathlon.  In 5 months, I will be racing my 10th Ironman distance triathlon and 4th Ironman World Championship.  In 9 years, I have covered 1827.8 miles with my body.  That's like swimming, biking and running from Miami, FL to Maine!!! INCREDIBLE!! One thing I have learned throughout the past 7 years since starting endurance racing, is that patience, hard work and commitment help me accomplish a lot with my athletic goals but life isn't fair or simple when you are an athlete.  Throughout every training and racing season, I found myself experiencing great highs and lows. With the highs, I have won races, qualified for Kona, set PR's and have traveled to really cool places in order to race. Most notable with the lows, I always found myself with yearly chronic hip/glute/back injuries (that would keep my from running for several months at a time), regardless if I felt I was taking risks to p...

NUTRITION/BODY IMAGE Rock the race day breakfast Changing your perception of "race weight" Eat for performance, not reward Go ahead, indulge! Post Race indulgences Don't be afraid of sport nutrition  Don't let your body image ruin your race Simple and effective race fueling tips Avoid dehydration  PERFORMANCE Successful athlete tips Embrace your competition on race day Race smart in unfavorable conditions Race tips - get yourself race ready Master the mass start How to spectate like a champ  (for your family/friends) Let it go: How to move on from a bad race Recovery tips from race to race Mental skills tips (from Dr. G) How to find your race week zen Taper do's and dont's Enjoy a healthy taper TRAVEL Going international - travel tips for athletes Smart meals for traveling triathletes Race-cation: plan smart Here are some videos that I did with Oakley Women:  PRE RACE NUTRITION TIPS ...

"This is so hard!" "I don't feel like myself!" "I don't know if I can survive this!" For many athletes, the taper period before a race can feel harder than any interval workout. You've reached a point in your season when you put in countless hours of training, more miles than you would ever consider driving at one time and have accomplished so many workouts that you termed "impossible" when you started and now, the only thing between you and putting all that training to good use is a week or two of a drop in training volume, less total workouts and more rest.  Yes, now you can clearly see why athletes dread taper.  Your "normal" routine changes....... And we all know that most athletes do not do well with change.   Some athletes feel they may lose fitness during taper whereas other athletes feel "off". It's important to understand that every athlete handles their taper differently - an...

"You never know how strong you are until strong is your only choice" - Bob Marley This is one of my favorite quotes. I often think of this saying before I race for I always feel like I find myself in uncomfortable situations on race day and in order to find success, I have to stay physically and mentally strong. It's amazing how strong you can be when your only choices are to find a way or to simply give up.  This past year has been incredibly tough for my family.  Almost one year ago, my dad lost his 10 month fight with cancer. For anyone who has lost a close friend, family member or loved one, it's very easy to feel depressed, lonely, sad and angry People will often say "stay strong" but it's just not that easy.  Everyone grieves differently but eventually, the survivor of the loved one is destined to continue on with life. It never gets easy and the loved one is never forgotten but life does go on and we should try to not wast...

Have you been told that if you want to be faster, you need to lose weight? Well let me tell you that athletic performances cannot be accurately predicted based solely on body weight and composition, assuming that if you are "less", you will gain "more". I have seen and worked with many athletes who don't recognize their past/current successes in their healthy and strong body. Despite good, great and/or better race results through proper fueling/eating, the athlete feels he/she does not have "an athletes body" and is constantly trying to lose weight through overtraining and underfueling in an effort to train for a lower body composition.....not for better performances.  We must also understand that to race "fast" we have to consider how you physically and mentally prepare for your races. Ultimately, the athlete who remains in the best health throughout a training cycle will out-perform a lean, yet underfueled, injur...

In a previous blog, I talked about  tips for healthy eating while dining out . It's nice to get dressed up every now and then and enjoy food prepared from someone else and to not have to worry about cleaning up dirty pots, pans and dishes.  Trimarni athlete Jim N was training with us in Greenville for his own private 3-day "camp" and there's nothing better than working out with our athletes and reflecting on workouts, with happy tummy food.  One evening, we want to  Breakwater  restaurant, downtown Greenville on Main Street. The atmosphere was great and Karel and Jim enjoyed a local IPA. We all yummed over the bread basket which was filled with bite size corn muffins and biscuits with a side of orange butter. For starters, I got the SPRING HERB SALAD: artisan and arugula lettuce, basil, cilantro, tarragon, split creek farm feta, spicy pecans, citrus vinaigrette For my vegetarian entree, I combined two sides which included:...

Healthy Eating Without Following a Diet Plan (for the original source, visit  USA Triathlon multisport zone ) By Marni Sumbal, MS, RD All fitness enthusiasts and athletes must understand the importance of consuming a balanced, wholesome diet. And above all, this diet shouldn't leave you unsatisfied, without energy, feeling isolated, requiring an excessive amount of planning and prep or costing you a lot of money. It’s time to start thinking about food for fuel and health.  Here are six tips for eating a healthy diet without following a diet plan. 1. What's your motivation to change?   If you feel the need to eliminate or add certain foods to the diet, be sure to have a really good reason to do so. A good reason would be doctor's/dietitian's orders or lab work that reflects the need to place emphasis on certain areas of your diet. Weight loss is typically a top priority for most people wanting to change nutrition habits but a better focus would be on wha...