Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

The other night, Karel and I were watching an ITU triathlon on  Triathlon Live .  We watch little cable TV but absolutely love watching swimming, cycling, running and triathlon.  While the female triathletes were in the water, the commentator mentioned how swimming becomes more difficult as the triathletes get leaner during peak training. When the female triathletes were on the bike, the commentator mentioned how they need strong legs to be powerful but not too bulky or else it will affect their running. And for the run, words like lean, light, little and small were used to describe the female triathletes as they ran efficiently to the finish line. It was only a few days prior, while watching the Tour de France, when the commentator mentioned that Peter Sagan "would be a better climber if he lost weight." I love watching strong, fit and fast bodies in action. For me, I am captivated by movement of the human body. When I watch an athlete, I see determin...

It feels great to be back home in Greenville, SC. We are back to our routine of work and training and of course, back to the routine with this little golden nugget who enjoyed his "summer camp" with our dear friend Christi for almost 4 weeks..... As wonderful as it is to be back in our home environment, I have to be honest and say that adjusting to life, without all of our meals prepared and served to us, has been hard. We were heavily spoiled by Karel's mom, while we were in Znojmo, Czech Republic, with over 2.5 weeks of really good authentic Czech recipes, all home cooked and prepared with love. With Karel and I continuing to train for the races that we have planned for the rest of the season (next up in August, Lake Logan Half Ironman for me and Ironman Mont Tremblant for Karel), life certainly isn't slowing down for us, with little extra time to shop, prep and cook food. BUT, we have to make it a priority because our bodies require food ...

Endurance triathlon racing involves many complex physiological, sociological, mental and motivational factors. Therefore, when training for a multi-sport event of long duration, the human body experiences many metabolic, immune, hormonal and mental stressors in excess of what would be experienced in a single event of the same duration. It's often said that triathletes and runners can get away with a lot in short course racing but without a well-practiced, well-planned and well-formulated fueling and hydration plan for long course racing, the body will not perform to it's full capabilities (and health may be compromised).  This is why many athletes struggle in long course training and racing..... how can you expect your body to perform well, hour after hour, if you do not know how to fuel and hydrate it properly? Sadly, it takes a lot more than motivation and will to get you to the finish line of an endurance race (or to successfully execute a long workout). A succe...

 For over 2 weeks, I had most of my meals prepared by Karel's mom. And we only ate out five times in the 3.5 weeks throughout our time in Austria and Czech. I can't tell you how many new foods I tried or how many times I yummed. It's very common that eating outside of your home environment, whether for a work conference, an event, vacation or celebration, can make you feel a lack of control, thus making you think you are doing something wrong. I also hear individuals talking about how they feel after eating when traveling, using words like gross, fat, heavy, bloated and uncomfortable. After extended periods of eating outside of the home environment, it's common that individuals will say things like "I need to cleanse" or "I need to get back on track" or "I'm going to be really good for the next 4 weeks" or "I need to diet". There can be an immediate need to gain control and in the mind, the "best" opti...

Nearing the last day of our European race-cation which included 1 week in Klagenfurt, Austria and over 2 weeks in Karel's home town of Znojmo, Czech Republic (with only 2 of those days as an overnight trip to sight see in Prague), I thought it would be fun to reflect on my many eating experiences that I have enjoyed, while on vacation. It's going to take me a while to put all my food pictures into one blog (I'm thinking I'll let the food pics do the talking) so I wanted to share what it is like to grocery shop here in Znojmo, Czech Republic. While I love eating new foods and meal creations when traveling, I find it important to understand the culture behind food. Whether it's understanding the agriculture (which is an important sector of the economy) or simply learning how to the food gets from farm to table, it's all very exciting to me. With the "local" grocery store just a block from Karel's mom's flat (and in route to his dad's fla...

It's often said that traveling is one of the best ways to step outside your comfort zone.  A new routine, a new lifestyle, new sights and perhaps even a new language that you do not understand. Every time you travel, you welcome the opportunity to experience a new way of living. And above all, when you travel somewhere new, there is a good chance that you will eat new foods or new meal creations that are not familiar. Perhaps you are the individual who loves putting yourself into situations where you are forced to try new foods and adapt to new cuisines and eating traditions and customs. But for many people, traveling can be an overwhelming experience because it requires eating foods that are not so familiar and that can make you feel uncomfortable (often more mentally than physically).  While it is good to have a style of eating that works for you on a daily basis, if your eating boundaries are very limited, you may find extreme difficult to step beyond the pla...

You can't have a race report without the post race details...... With quads that were no longer working, I slowly hobbled my way to the big white tent with Karel (only athletes allowed inside) to grab my street wear bag. Karel told me that there were showers outside the white tent for showering. I could not wait to clean myself up after racing for 10+ hours. I walked over to the showers, thinking that there was only one set of showers but thankfully, there was a men's and a women's shower. The line to the male showers was long and not only was it filled with men but naked men. Oh my - what a sight (when in Europe)! When I opened the door and walked into the women's shower "cubicle", there was at least 8 individual showers (and curtains) and no wait! With warm water, I cleaned myself up and it felt amazing. What a treat to have indoor showers right at the race venue after an Ironman. After I got dressed, I met Karel and my mom j...