Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

Panama City Beach holds a special place in my heart. Not because it was where I spent my spring break in 2000 for my senior year of High School but because it was the location of my first Ironman. I had my mom and dad with me for support as well as my boyfriend Karel (dating for 5 months). With less than a mile from the finish, Karel yelled to me "Babe- you are going to Kona!" I never saw Karel run before so I was smiling and laughing at him (although he had no trouble keeping up with me). And then, without thinking, I yelled back "I Love you!" It was the first time that I told Karel that I loved him but it just felt right. Not only was he out on the course supporting me but I just knew he was the one for me because he "got me." It's hard to explain to someone why anyone would want to swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles or run 26.2 miles for what looks like all for a medal and a t-shirt. But it's so much more than that. I can't describe this li...

As we wind down the 2015 season,  I find this a great time to talk about how social media may affect your decisions over the next few months.  First off, I'd like to share a little story.  Nine years ago I was training for my first Ironman. I was 23 years old when I registered for IMFL and I met Karel on my birthday (when I turned 24).  Even though I had a lot of friends who were triathletes, I didn't know a lot of people who had finished an Ironman. I was a swimmer, turned runner, turned triathlete. I knew about the history with the Kona Ironman (World Championship) but every Ironman race seemed like an extreme challenge. Karel and my parents thought I was out of my mind for wanting to put my body through a 140.6 mile event but they still supported me. In a weird way, it was really cool to feel like I was the "only" one who was doing this crazy distance triathlon.  Now you may be asking how this is even possible to feel alone i...

Meal planning can be tough after a long, exhausting day of life. The other day, I was talking to a friend/athlete about meal prep and they mentioned about how they plan their week with theme meals. For anyone who loves to cook, a theme meal each day of the week may not be necessary but for those who are not so creative in the kitchen, theme meals can be extremely helpful for extra inspiration and motivation when it comes to cooking (especially when it comes to grocery shopping and meal prep).  Consider having a theme for each dinner meal of the week. Here are a few ideas: -Sandwich/wrap -Brinner (breakfast for dinner) -Soup/stew/chili -Comfort food -Ethnic (Italian, Mexican, Asian, European) -Quick and easy -Semi-homemade -Meatless/Vegetarian   -New recipe Any other ideas? When it comes to deciding what to make for your theme meal, search blogs, recipes, websites, magazines, cook books or books for inspiration. You can search by meal, theme, ...

After spending the past 10 years living all over Florida (Davie, New Port Richey, Dunedin, Jacksonville) I welcomed our first experience (in a long time) of seasons when we moved to Greenville, SC in May 2014. By October, the trees were changing colors and the weather was getting cooler. We are now getting our second opportunity to enjoy the fall season and like most triathletes, the fall coincides with the off-season. Whereas cyclists often swap out the road bike for a mountain and/or fixie for cross training, the off-season for triathletes is a great opportunity to improve cycling skills and to have some fun on two wheels....without being in an aero position.  Although it is not required that you rush out and buy a road bike (the sport of triathlon is expensive enough as it is with one bike!), if a road bike purchase is an option or you have been neglecting your road bike in your garage/storage room over the past year, I highly recommend giving your triathl...

Last weekend we had our friends/athletes Anthony and  Peggy  in town (and their furry child Brutus) and we had a lot of fun. The primary reason for traveling from DC to Greenville was to get a RETUL fit/re-fit from Karel on their new tri bikes but we also did a little working out (exercising) and a lot of eating. With every meal, there was a lot of yumming. Like us, Anthony and Peggy share a love for home cooking but we couldn't resist going out for crepes at  Tandem Creperie  on Sunday morning after an hour run (our longest and 2nd run since IM Kona). After our "brunch", we picked up the doggies and we headed downtown for a few hours.  The dogs were almost exhausted as we were (we all hiked at Ceaser's Head on Saturday morning so our legs were a bit tired) so by 3pm, we drove back to our place with a quick stop at Publix to get some ingredients for our pizza dinner. Here are a few pics from our beautiful hike:  An...

When Karel was growing up in his small town of Znojmo, Czech Republic, eating out was a very special treat, only enjoyed on very special occasions. Eating out was also an opportunity for Karel and his siblings to practice their good table etiquette. Eating out wasn't cheap either. But at the end of the day, nothing tasted as good as his mom's home cooking. Over the past few decades, our society has changed in terms of how we live our life. It seems like everyone is so busy these days with extra curricular activities, we never have to worry about being hungry thanks to limitless options to get food and with many families having two working parents, home cooking is difficult to accomplish most nights of the week. Has our society become comfortable with living a lifestyle that doesn't emphasize home-cooking or, do we have easier ways to nourish and fuel our busy lifestyle that we don't need home cooked meals? And by the way, what is home-cooking these da...

We are all aware of how diets work - follow rigid food rules and you will lose weight. If you can follow the diet for a specific period of time, you will lose weight. It's as simple as that. With every diet, there are certain foods that are allowed at certain times of the day, a specific amount of food that is allowed to be eaten and foods that are forbidden. This is why people love diets - they are nothing more than a plan telling you how to eat so that you have a reason to avoid certain foods and to ignore biological hunger cues. With a diet, you don't have to learn how to be a mindful eater or how to eat with intention. You become a robot in that you only have one program for x-weeks and that is all you have to focus on. Ask any person who has followed a diet plan and she/he will likely say that food rules offer boundaries or perhaps a level of discipline that the person wasn't able to do on his/her own and this is why diets work so well. Whereas once a ...