Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

Pre-race visualization at Ironman Mont Tremblant Karel and I believe that our coaching company is more than a business. We coach a team of amazing, goal-oriented, hard working and focused athletes.  Each athlete welcomes us into his/her life and we feel incredibly lucky to be part of a personal athletic journey. For most of our athletes, we do not spend just one season training for races but instead, we have many athletes who have worked with us for several years. If you are a triathlete, we know that you are in an individual sport, but we want you to be part of something that is bigger than yourself. As a Trimarni athlete, you are not just one athlete. Every athlete brings something very special to our team, which is also your triathlon family.  We know that training can be unmotivating when you are always by yourself and sometimes your family doesn't "get you". We also know that it can be tough to dig through those low moments in a race when you...

Well, I'm about a week late on this post due to a very slow internet connection in our IMMT rental home combined with looking after and helping 7 Trimarni athletes (+1 former Trimarni athlete) who raced Ironman Mont Tremblant.  As we pack our bags and say good-bye to this beautiful, cute, triathlon-supporting town within  Québec,  Canada, we can look back on race day and confidently say that all our athletes had a very successful race.....despite 9+ hours of rain.  All of the Trimarni athletes accomplished what they came here to do..... Finish Ironman Mont Tremblant.  There was a lot of determination, focus, grit, hard work and  perseverance  out on the race course for 140.6 miles. With rough waters during the swim, pouring rain and cool weather temps on the bike and on and off rain during the rain, alongside a challenging bike and run course which can to be difficult to master in terms of pacing and execution, we could not be more proud of our athl...

RUN I feel many triathletes need a constant reminder that they are not runners. Certainly, runners do not need to be reminded that they are not triathletes. Runners absorb a completely training stress than the multisport athlete. Furthermore, the race day effort of a triathlete is based on the race distance, which determines what time of the day a triathlete runs and what type of mechanical fatigue the triathlete brings to the run. Thus, the pacing and fueling strategy for run training and running are very different than the single sport athlete. (Note - even for runners, I still find it valuable to set up aid stations or bring nutrition and hydration with you during long runs) For the triathletes, you can not think like a runner when you train for triathlons. For example, if you are doing a brick run, you can not think of your run off the bike as "only" a 20-minute run. I see it all the time - a triathlete is out on his/her bike for 3, 4, 5+ hours and then ...

BIKE It's unfortunate but many athletes underfuel in training and overfuel on race day. Why do triathletes do this? Underfueling can be from many reasons - fear of gaining weight, wanting to lose weight, trying to be more "metabolically efficient," not knowing how to fuel, not feeling that (more) calories are needed, thinking sport nutrition is bad/unhealthy, not bringing enough energy/fluids, not planning stops accordingly, poor planning/feeling rushed to get in a workout or not knowing how much energy/fluids are needed. Certainly, underfueling does not enhance performance and consequently, not meeting energy and hydration needs can sabotage health.  Overfueling on race day is often out of fear of not having enough energy . Sadly, no amount of calories on race day can make the body perform at an intensity that was not established in training.  And if you are an athlete who underfuels in training, not only are you missing an opportunity to boost fitness in trai...

Hopefully by now in the season, you have dialed in your fueling and hydration regime to help you adapt well to training and to keep your body healthy.  While there can be several pronounced and noticeable symptoms to let you know that you are not meeting your energy, electrolyte and fluid needs during your longer or more intense workouts, like headache, not feeling the urge to urinate during a long workout or for hours after the workout, nausea, bloating, fatigue, muscle aches/throbbing and dizziness, you may notice that even without a health or performance-related issue, with the intense summer heat, something is still off with your fueling and hydrating strategy. Important note: the symptoms I mentioned  are not "normal" just because you are an athlete, training hard, wanting to get faster or leaner or training for a long distance event. Over the next few blogs, you will learn a few simple tweaks that you can make to your current fueling and hydration regime. As a Board...

I have a Master Degree in Exercise Physiology....but I don't know everything about exercise physiology. I am a Board Certified Sport Dietitian....but I don't know everything about sport nutrition. I am a 11x Ironman finisher, including 4 Ironman World Championship finishes, but I'm really not that great of a triathlete. I don't lack self confidence but I have self awareness that to be an expert in anything, you have to focus on personal development, continuous education and the understanding that there is always someone smarter/better than you. As a coach and sport dietitian, I learn every day. Whether it's from an athlete, a research article or another expert, I am constantly learning. I hope that I never stop learning. Regardless of my educational background and professional experiences, it's simply not possible to know everything about what I do. And I'm cool with that. The reality is that sports are constantly changing, especially endurance sports when ...

Karel and I arrived to the race venue around 5:30am. My pre-race meal of a waffle sandwich with peanut butter, maple syrup and a banana digested great and I was only dealing with a few pre-race jitters.  I still get pre-race nerves but I feel like everything starts to feel more at ease when I arrive to the race venue on race day morning. And of course, once I get into the water for my pre-race warm-up, I feel relaxed, the butterflies subside and I become super excited to get going. After body marking and getting my chip, I racked my bike on the OPEN division rack in the front of the transition area. I spotted several Trimarni athletes and other Greenville triathletes which was fantastic to see so many familiar faces. I'm the type of athlete who enjoys being around other athletes and having others make me laugh before a race whereas Karel likes to do his own thing without anyone else around. Around 6am I walked back to the car with Karel and started my warm-up with dynamic stre...